The King's Kingdom

Emile Calliette grew up in a small village in France and went on to become professor

of philosophy at Princeton Theological Seminary in the middle of last century, around the

20th century.

During his college days, Emile was not a believer and wasn't sure that God existed at all.

He loved his books, he loved his philosophy, but he had never picked up a Bible.

He went on to serve in the French Army during World War I, and of that time he wrote,

The inadequacy of my views on the human situation overwhelmed me.

What use the philosophical banter of the seminar when your buddy, at the time speaking to you

of his mother, dies standing in front of you with a bullet to his chest?

One night, a bullet got Emile too.

His life was saved and he returned to his books.

He read, reading literature and philosophy, and he found himself searching for meaning.

He wrote, during long night watches in the foxholes.

I had in a strange way been longing, I must say it, however strange it may sound, for a book

that would understand me.

And since he knew of no such book, he decided to prepare his own one for private use.

He read widely and he would file away passages that, as he wrote, spoke to his condition.

And the day came when Emile put the finishing touches on what he referred to as the book that would

understand me.

And he hoped that this collection of words and sentences would help him through life.

And it was a beautiful day.

It was a sunny day.

And Emile went out, sat under a tree.

He opened his book and he was disappointed.

In his own words,

In that moment, in his disappointment, Emile's wife walked into the garden and she had with

her a Bible in the French language from a pastor that she had just walked by in her morning

walk.

And as she stood in front of him, Emile literally grabbed the Bible out of her hands, rushed into

his study, and he opened it at the Beatitudes in Matthew's Gospel.

And he read, and he read, and he read with what he described as an indescribable warmth surging

inside.

These are his words.

I could not find words to express my awe and my wonder.

And suddenly, the realization dawned upon me.

This was the book that would understand me.

I continued to read deeply into the night, mostly from the Gospels.

And lo and behold, as I looked through them, the one of whom they spoke, the one who spoke

and acted in them, came alive to me.

The providential circumstances amid which this book had found me now made it clear that while

it seemed absurd to speak of a book understanding a man, this could be said of the Bible.

It's pages were animated by the presence of the living God and the power of his mighty acts.

And to this God, I prayed that night.

And the God who answered was the same God of whom it was spoken in the book.

That happened to me 25 years ago.

The Bible came alive in a way that it is hard to describe.

And more specifically, Jesus came alive to me in a way that it's hard to explain.

For the first time, having read through the Bible at least three to four times prior to that,

and known of Jesus for the very first time, Jesus became alive to me.

Real.

Real.

Not just someone to know about, but someone who was calling me to follow him and adore him

and worship him and obey him and love him.

Next 13 weeks, we are working our way through Mark's gospel.

And my hope, my dream, and my prayer is that many will have the experience that I've had

and the experience that Emil Caliat has had and experience that many have had

and that Jesus will come alive to us even as we look to who Jesus is.

You see, my concern in this gospel is that we have access to the real Jesus.

The Jesus who is unpredictable and yet reliable.

The Jesus who is gentle yet powerful.

Authoritative and yet humble.

Human and yet divine.

Access to the real Jesus is something that every generation and language and people

are in desperate need of today.

That's because Mark's gospel conveys something very important about Jesus.

Jesus is not merely a historical figure.

He is a living reality.

You see, Mark's gospel declares that Jesus is God.

Our creator God who rules everything and speaks to us today.

And he says as such in the very beginning sentence, the very first sentence,

Mark tells us that the God who started history is the God who has broken into history.

The beginning of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

And Mark here communicates his style is a sense of crisis.

The status quo has been ruptured.

God, sorry, Mark wants us to see that this Jesus is still disrupting the status quo

and he's still calling for decisive action in our lives now.

So have a look at it with me.

Mark 1.

He wastes no time in establishing the identity of Jesus.

He abruptly and bluntly asserts that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

And the title Christ means an anointed royal figure.

It's another way of referring to the Messiah.

The Messiah was the one who would come and administer God's rule over on the earth

and rescue Israel from all its oppressors and all of its troubles.

But Mark goes further than just calling Jesus the Christ, the fulfillment of all of Israel's hope.

He calls him the Son of God.

It's an astonishing term.

It is a claim of outright divinity.

He expands on it when he quotes here the prophet Isaiah and asserts that John the Baptist

is the voice that Isaiah referred to who is calling out in the desert.

So Mark equates John with the one who was to prepare the way of the Lord.

So the clear inference is that Mark is equating Jesus with the Lord, with God Almighty himself.

And so Mark connects Jesus in the deepest way to the ancient religion of Israel.

Jesus is the one who has come to rule and renew the entire universe.

But more of Jesus' identity is revealed.

Striking scene of verses 9 to 11, if you cast your eyes down there.

It says,

Now this is a familiar scene.

But at first glance, we don't often know what it is specifically that we are looking at here.

The Spirit of God is described as a dove.

And it's a description that many Christians are familiar with.

You go to Kurong and you'll see stickers of doves that are meant to represent the Holy Spirit.

It was, however, very rare when Mark was writing.

In all of the ancient writings of Judaism, there is only one place where the Spirit of God is likened to a dove.

And it's in the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, which was the Bible that the Jews of Jesus' time, and Mark's time, read.

And the one place is the creation account of Genesis 1 verse 2, where it says that the Spirit hovered over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2

And the Hebrew word for hovering is fluttering.

The Spirit fluttered over the face of the waters.

And to capture the vivid image of the Holy Spirit in that moment, the rabbis translated this passage like this.

The earth was without form and empty.

And darkness was on the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God fluttered above the face of the waters like a dove.

And God spoke, let there be light.

There are three parties active in the creation of the world.

God, God's Spirit, and God's Word through which He creates.

And notice that the same three are present at Jesus' baptism.

The Father who affirms love for the Son.

The Son who is the Word.

And the Spirit fluttering like a dove over the Son.

And Mark is deliberately the beginning of his gospel.

The beginning of the good news is pointing us back to the beginning of history.

Just as the creation of the world is the work of the triune God, so is the rescue and the renewal of it.

The Christian teaching of the Trinity is mysterious and intellectually challenging.

The Bible teaches that God is one God eternally existent in three persons.

It isn't tritheism with three gods who work together in harmony.

And it isn't unipersonalism, which is the idea that God takes one form and sometimes He takes another form.

But He can't only be one form at any one time.

Another name for unipersonalism is modalism.

Both.

It's a heresy.

Trinitarianism holds that there is one God in three persons who know and love one another.

God is not more fundamentally one than He is three.

And He's not more fundamentally three than He is one.

Told you it's challenging.

And many have, over time, have tried to use all kinds of illustrations to try and get a picture of just how wonderful and beautiful and majestic God is to try and capture it.

He is truly mysterious.

And all illustrations in one way or another fail.

And the best I could do to illustrate it is to draw a circle in red pen.

And then to perfectly, absolutely perfectly, go over the red circle with a blue pen.

And then to absolutely perfectly, go over the blue pen with a green pen.

So when you looked at it, you looked at one circle.

But the red line's not the blue line and the blue line's not the green line.

That's the best you can come up with.

Best I can come up with.

Three separate lines making one perfect circle.

When Jesus comes up from the water, the Father envelops Him and covers Him with love.

Verse 11.

You are my Son whom I love.

With you I am well pleased.

And the Spirit covers Him with power and sends Him out.

In verse 12.

What we have here in the baptism of Jesus is just a glimpse.

And obviously you need to read the rest of the Bible to get a fuller picture.

But a glimpse into the interior life of the Trinity that has been for all of eternity.

Mark is giving us a glimpse into the very heart of reality.

The meaning of life.

The essence of the universe.

And C.S. Lewis describes the essence of the universe like this.

In Christianity, God is not a static thing.

But a dynamic, pulsating activity.

A life.

Almost a kind of drama.

Almost, if you will not think me, irreverent.

A kind of dance.

Let me try and explain why Lewis called it a dance.

That the heart of who God is, a dance.

We glorify something when we find it beautiful for what it is in itself.

We don't glorify it for what we get from it.

We glorify it for what it is.

When it's a person that you find beautiful and magnificent in that way,

what you do is you serve them unconditionally.

On the other hand, when we say,

I'll serve you so long as I get benefits from you,

it's not glorifying.

It's not actually serving.

It's serving ourselves through them.

We serve ourselves by serving them.

That's the goal.

You see, that's not circling them.

It's not orbiting your life around them.

It's using them in order to get them to orbit around you.

No.

That's what happens.

Now, of course, there are many of us who look unselfish and dutiful in our serving,

busy in our serving, simply because we cannot say no.

In that case, we are serving out of our own need.

And it is a million miles from glorifying.

To glorify others is to unconditionally serve them,

not because we are getting anything out of it,

but because of our love and appreciation for who they truly are.

And so, and let me be honest,

there are rare glimpses of that at all in our world.

And yet the Father, the Son, and the Spirit

are each centering their lives on the others

and adoring the others and serving the others.

There is no self-orientation in the Godhead at all.

And so God is therefore infinitely and profoundly happy.

And that is what God has enjoyed for all of eternity.

It is the essence of reality.

That relationship.

Theologian Cornelius Plantinga puts it like this.

The persons within God exalt each other,

commune with each other,

and defer to each other.

Each defined person harbors the others

at the center of his being.

In constant movement of overture and acceptance,

each person envelops and encircles the others.

God's interior life overflows with regard for others.

And so the Father, the Son, and the Spirit

for all of eternity have been pouring love and joy

and adoration into each other.

They are infinitely seeking one another's glory.

And so God is infinitely happy.

And this is the God who created the world.

And that's why C.S. Lewis refers to ultimate reality as a dance.

But he goes on to suggest that a self-centered life is a static life.

It's a stationary life.

A self-centered person wants to be the center of the universe

and for everyone and everything to orbit around them.

We might even help people.

We might even have friends.

We might even fall in love.

So long as there's no compromise in my individuality,

my individual interests and whatever needs I need.

Whatever meets my needs.

I might even give to the poor.

So long as it makes me feel good about myself

and doesn't hinder my lifestyle at all.

Self-centeredness makes everything and everyone

a means to an end.

And that end is the self.

What happens when everyone declares in their hearts,

no, no, you orbit around me.

Imagine we stop Kids Church right now,

brought all the kids in and said,

we've got to play on right now

and you all are the number one star player

and the star player stands here.

What do you think would happen?

This would happen.

I'm not moving.

Everything becomes static.

Nobody gets anywhere.

The dance becomes impossible.

It's a static life.

But ultimate reality,

the Father, the Son and the Spirit

are characterised in the very essence

of mutual, self-giving love

as they circle each other consistently,

pouring love and joy and adoration into the other.

Each one voluntarily orbits around the other.

And yet,

there is also headship and submission

in ultimate reality.

This is a truth that explodes

with life-shaping, glorious implications for us.

If this is the God who made the world,

then relationships of love

are at the centre of what life is all about.

Also, if this is the God who made the world,

then you've got to ask yourself,

why on earth did he make the world?

Why did he create it?

Why create humanity at all?

It's not like he's lonely.

It's not like he's looking for more friends.

He doesn't need anyone to serve him.

That's what they've been doing for eternity.

He didn't create us in order to get joy from us.

He must have created us in order to give us joy.

He must have created us

to invite us into the dance

of infinite happiness.

And if we centre our lives around him,

if we glorify him,

if we find him beautiful for who he is,

then we step into the dance for which we were made.

We weren't made by God just to believe in him

or to be spiritual in some kind of sense.

We weren't even made him to pray to him

or to get some help from him in times of trouble.

We were made by God to centre everything in our lives on him.

We were made to serve him unconditionally

because that is where we find ultimate joy.

And so every single human being needs more than anything else.

Anything else they need

is to be in this divine dance with God

where everything orbits around him.

And that, my friends,

is where the battle rages for us

in verses 12 to 13.

All of humanity is born outside of this dance,

outside of this relationship with God.

In Genesis,

the spirit moves over the face of the waters.

God speaks the world into being.

Humanity is created.

History is launched.

And what happens next?

Satan tempts the first human beings,

Adam and Eve,

in the Garden of Eden

to make them themselves,

take care of yourself,

make you the centre of the world,

make God orbit around you.

Ignore God.

God's holding something back from you here.

You look after yourself.

If you want what's best for you,

you look after yourself.

And Adam and Eve failed that test.

And every human being since

except Jesus.

See, Jesus was tempted in the same way

to make it about him,

to not trust God,

his goodness, his word.

And so what happens to Jesus

immediately after baptism?

He finds himself

away from the Father and the Son,

in the wilderness.

Take a look at verses 12 and 13.

At once the Spirit sent him out

into the wilderness

and he was in the wilderness

40 days,

being tempted by Satan.

And he was with the wild animals

and the angels attended him.

You see, Mark treats

Satan as a reality,

not a myth.

The Bible asserts that he's real

and he tempts us away

consistently

on centering our lives

around God.

And throughout the remainder

of his life,

Jesus is consistently

assaulted by Satan

again and again and again.

And the climax

of the assault

is in another garden.

the garden of Gethsemane.

It was the night

of his great anguish

over God's plan

just before he's rescued

and just before his execution

and he knows

he's heading to the cross.

And God says to Jesus,

you obey me, Jesus.

Obey me about the tree.

Adam and Eve didn't,

but you obey me about the tree.

Only this time the tree

was a wooden cross.

Obey me about the tree

meant for Adam

that he would live forever

in infinite joy.

But Jesus,

obey me about the tree

would result

in rejection

by his father

with whom he had

experienced

infinite joy

and he would die.

And so Jesus

went into the battle

with Satan

for us

in order to draw us

back into the dance.

What he has enjoyed

for all eternity

with the Father

and the Spirit

he came to offer us.

He steps out of it

to offer it to us.

Jesus offers us

a relationship

of unconditional love

with God

the only source

of infinite joy.

And he calls us

at the end of this passage

to come.

He calls us

into this relationship

in verses 14 and 15.

We have all failed

like Adam and Eve

before us

and we have all

attempted to make

everything,

everyone,

all but around us.

And the very first words

that you hear

from Jesus

in Mark's Gospel

is the call

that he still calls

on every life

today

in 2018

around this world

and ever since

he first uttered it

repent

and believe

the good news.

The word repent

here

means reverse course

or to turn away

turn away

from having the world

orbit around you.

In the Bible

it means

to specifically

turn away

from the things

that Jesus hates

and towards

the things

that he loves.

And the good news

is another way

of saying gospel.

The word gospel

literally means

news

that brings joy.

And at the time

of Mark

they used

the word

it

meant

history making

life

shaping

history

altering

as opposed

to

the nightly

news bulletin

about some

cat

stuck up

a tree.

the gospel

was news

of some

event

that changed

things

in a meaningful

way for

everyone

in the Roman

Empire.

The words

good news

can

you can see

the difference

between

Christianity

and every other

religion

in those words

good news

including

may I add

the religion

of no religion.

the essence

of other

religions

is

advice.

Christianity

is essentially

news

good news.

Other religions

say this

is what

you need

to do

in order

to connect

with God

forever.

The Christian

gospel

says this

is what

has been

done

in history

this is

how Jesus

lived

this is

how he

died

to earn

the way

for you

to God

and therefore

Christianity

is joyful

news.

The call

from Jesus

is to turn

away from

the lies

of Satan

and to

trust God

turn away

from being

king of

your own

life and

surrender

to the

true king

turn away

from the

life of

self-centeredness

of self-centeredness

destroys every

relationship

around you.

Nothing

makes us

more miserable

than self-absorption

because self-absorption

leaves us

static.

Wars

class

struggles

racism

family

breakdown

they all

have

the root

their root

in the

darkness

of self-centeredness.

When we

decide to be

our own

center

our own

king

everything

falls apart

physically

socially

spiritually

psychologically

everything

falls apart.

We have

left the

dance

a mutual

love

relationship

with God

and yet

our longing

in every

human heart

is to be

there.

The good

news

the history

altering

news of

Christianity

is that

Jesus has

come back

to bring

us in

and the

call of

Jesus

repent

and believe

the good

news.

They are

the very

first words

of Jesus

in Mark's

gospel.

Have

you heard

him calling

you today?

2,000 years

later have

you heard

like Emil

Caliet sitting

in that

garden

have you

heard him

calling you

today?

Do you

have any

sense of

a warmth

in there?

I want

to give

you an

opportunity

to respond

to Jesus

today.

To simply

respond to

his call

on your

life and

on the

back of

your service

sheet there

is a

prayer.

It's a

very simple

prayer but

it is a

life altering

prayer.

It's down

the bottom.

It's a

prayer similar

to what

Emil

Caliet would

have prayed

nearly a

century ago.

It's a

prayer that

I have

prayed and

many of

you have

prayed.

The

Jesus who

was alive

who is

ruling and

calling then

is doing

exactly the

same now.

He calls

you to

repent,

to believe

and to

have your

life orbit

around God

and find

infinite

everlasting

joy in

him.

God's

call on

your life.

Pray it

and join

the dance

with God.

If that

is your

prayer, I'm

going to be

down the

front with

a couple

of others

after this

service.

But I

want to

urge you

strongly to

pray that

prayer and

rejoin that

dance with

God today.

Amen.