How to Enter Christ's Kingdom (John 3:1-8)

Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning in to New Sung Churches Podcast.

We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.

May God bless you today through his life-giving word.

Our first scripture reading this morning will be taken from Daniel chapter 7, verses 9 to 14.

Daniel 7:9–14

As I looked, thrones were placed, and the ancient of days took his seat.

His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool.

His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued and came out from before him.

A thousand thousands served him.

And ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking.

And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

As the rest of the beast, their demin, as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.

All that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Let's pray.

Blessed are you, Lord God, King of the universe.

Your testimonies are very sure, and holiness adorns your house forever.

Lord, we've come to hear your testimonies once again.

We have come to hear your true and life-giving word.

Lord, Holy Spirit, would you illumine this word to our hearts?

That we would exalt Jesus as King and be found happy and joyous and free in his kingdom forevermore.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So if you've seen, let's say, five epic movies, whatever you would qualify as epic, maybe you're thinking of a couple right now.

Chances are, well, if you're willing to bet, chances are at least one of them has some kind of a chosen one character.

Isn't that kind of a common feature of these sorts of epic movies?

It was Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars, after all, of whom it was prophesied that he'd bring balance to the force, right?

That he'd bring peace to an otherwise warring galaxy.

Hey, Star Wars, I just put that together.

Right?

Neo and the Matrix, he's the one who is liberated from the computer simulation that we're all trapped in.

He's the one who can liberate others from the tyranny of this computer simulation.

Even the clumsy and unremarkable Poe is chosen as the dragon master who will liberate his village from an evil tyranny in Kung Fu Panda.

Now, a cynic might say this sort of chosen one feature is really more of a result of lazy writing.

It's really more of a trope than anything else that ascribes significance in a way that is just artificial, let's put it that way.

But I'm not so sure.

Stories like this are stories we are wont to tell over and over and over and over again.

We will pay 10 bucks, and then five years later 15 bucks, and then two years later 20 bucks, at the theaters to see the same story told over and over and over again.

And what is that about?

Why do we cherish stories where the world or a valley or whatever is in need of such rescue?

And we can imagine a better world where that world is rescued, but what we need is a champion, a redeemer to do the thing that we ourselves can't do.

Why do we want to see that story told over and over and over again?

Here's my theory.

My theory is because it resonates with the true story, the true story that we live in, the story that we long for, the real history of all creation.

It's because this story is true that we want to hear it told in variations over and over and over again.

And so we come to Christ the King's Sunday, which every year reminds us that we are in desperate need of rescue, but reminds us that God has such plans for restoration and renewal that He has sent Christ to be our Redeemer, our Redeemer King, who does for us through the cross and resurrection what we can't do for ourselves, and invites us to reign and rule with him forevermore.

Amen.

The story of Christ's kingdom is the true story.

And because that's the case, I want us to ask three questions this morning.

Number one, I want us to ask, who is the king?

Number two, I want us to ask, what is his kingdom like?

And then number three, I want to ask, how can I enter his kingdom?

Let's probe that idea a little bit.

The story of Christ's kingdom is the true story, and we're gonna let our readings this morning answer these questions for us.

Maybe you're here and you're rather unconvinced by the biblical story.

Let me just say I'm so glad you're here.

And I hope that, if nothing else, you can catch a glimpse of what makes this story so epic and desirable.

Or if you're considering Christ, or if you're a believer this morning, I hope that you are encouraged by what it is that you hear and can find your place in it.

Let's explore the true story together.

Who is the king?

Sunday school answer, right?

Sermon over.

But do we understand the significance of the king and what that means?

Daniel chapter 7, you're gonna want your order of service, by the way, because we're gonna be doing some flipping around this morning.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

If I were to ask you what the most important passage in the Old Testament is, I wonder what comes to mind.

Maybe the story of creation, that's pretty important.

Maybe Moses and the Exodus, that's really important too, all good candidates.

I'm sure there's not a bad candidate that comes to mind.

But if you were to ask a first-century Jew living in Jesus' day what the single most important passage of the Old Testament is, you might be surprised to find that they would point you to Daniel chapter 7, this strange and puzzling passage in the middle of the prophets here.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

The prophet Daniel is writing this book in exile.

He's been taken out of his homeland in Jerusalem, and now he's in the heart of Babylon, Jerusalem's fiercest and most oppressive enemy.

And here, Daniel, amongst these kind of exiles, is receiving words and visions from the Lord that point to an even greater and glorious future that the Lord is working in their midst.

And so in Daniel chapter 7, Daniel is transported, as it were, into the very throne room of God Himself, the ancient of days, the one who reigns and rules over all of history, including difficult moments like an exile.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

But he sees something very curious in God's throne room, something that gets the rabbis debating for centuries afterwards.

Verse 13, he says, I saw in the night visions, behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man, and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Okay, so what's so puzzling about this passage?

Here it is.

Here we are in God Almighty's throne room.

Who do we expect to be exalted?

God, right?

What does Daniel see?

He sees a Son of Man, a human being, being exalted in God's throne room.

It's this human being who sits on this divine throne and exercises God's own authority.

What is that about?

That is the last thing a Jewish reader of the Old Testament would expect to see.

And so the debates rage.

How can you have someone who sits on God's own divine, transcendent, infinite throne, who is simultaneously a creaturely human being?

How do these two things coincide?

The debates rage.

Because the importance of this passage is this cosmic significance is going to tie together all of history.

So what's all this about?

I wonder why.

In fact, when Jesus is put on trial before the Pharisees and all of the authorities there on the night that he's betrayed as he's heading towards the cross, the question that, the final question, let's say, that puts the nail in the coffin of this trial is this.

The high priest asks Jesus, Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?

This is Mark 14.

Jesus responds by saying, I am, and you will see the Son of Man, sitting at the right hand of the mighty one, and coming on the clouds of heaven.

Hmm.

I wondered what he's referring to.

At this, the high priest tore his clothes.

Why do we need any more witnesses?

He asked.

We have heard the blasphemy.

What do you think?

And they all condemned him as worthy of death.

With our 21st century eyes, we might just glaze through this passage, wouldn't we?

But it'd be unmistakable to a first century Jew reading exactly what Jesus is saying in that moment.

He is saying, we all remember the most important passage of the Old Testament, right?

Daniel chapter 7, right?

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Yeah, that's me.

I'm the Son of Man, fully God, fully human, and I'm the one who's going to be exalted.

So you can imagine why that would tick off some of the religious authorities invested in keeping the status quo.

Jesus, the God man, reigns as king over everything.

And if this is true, you might rightly ask, if Jesus reigns as king, why is there so much suffering and disorder in this world around me?

And that is a good and important question and worthy of a sermon all of its own.

But let me say two things in passing.

If Jesus reigns as king, we need to recognize he reigns not despite his cross, but because of his cross.

Jesus is not first glorified without first being crucified.

Jesus goes into the suffering that we experience, not around it.

And if Jesus is king because of the cross, probably we should expect to take up our cross and follow him too.

And we also need to bear in mind, number two, that the promise for Christians is not an absence of suffering in life.

The promise, rather, is that there is no suffering that is beyond redemption, that there will be no evil or suffering that will not be answered on the last day.

We cling to that promise.

We live with that promise.

Jesus, the God man, reigns as king over everything, and we look forward to that day where his reign and rule will be fully realized in glory.

And friends, this should hearten us.

Because we, like Daniel, often live like exiles, don't we?

Knowing we can know, even as exiles in an often tumultuous and hostile time, that there is nothing beyond our Redeemer's reign.

He sits on the throne of everything.

And therefore we can trust him with history.

That's why John in the book of Revelation can write that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth.

He is the king of kings.

There is no greater authority than him, and all of history sits in his hand.

So if Jesus is the king who reigns over everything, then we might want to ask, well, what's his kingdom like?

And John, who's already signaled Jesus as king, has an answer for us in Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

Let's continue.

Second half of verse 5.

John writes, To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

What's his kingdom like?

Again, here's John also in exile on this island of Patmos, receiving heavenly visions and writing these visions to persecuted churches, to encourage them to stay steadfast, to persevere through difficult times.

And John wants these persecuted churches to know what this kingdom is going to be like, what this kingdom is, so that they have the strength to persevere.

What does John say the kingdom is like?

John says this is a kingdom in which the king loves us, first and foremost.

To him who loves us.

Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

That's what our Lord Jesus says.

I just finished a book on the history of kind of the dynasty of the Caesars in ancient Rome.

And the thing that strikes me from one Caesar to the next is just how conniving and power-hungry and just generally awful people they are.

Not the kind of people I would want babysitting.

The thing about earthly rulers like the Caesars is they are interested in more, more than anything else, in power, in accumulating more power for themselves, not so our Lord Jesus.

While Caesars would do anything to gain more power, Jesus would do anything to love us with all he has.

There is nothing he withholds.

He goes to the cross and back for our sake.

He loves us.

This is a kingdom in which the King loves us.

This is a kingdom in which the King has freed us, writes John.

He has freed us from our sins by his blood.

We've been freed from sin, the consequence of our unbelief and distrust and rejection of God, and our human displacement of God at the center of reality.

Jesus has freed us from the separation and alienation that we experience.

That's evidenced by a purposeful disobedience.

Sin is lawlessness, and the consequence is separation from God.

But the king has freed us.

He has taken the consequence of our sin on himself and done away with it on the cross.

He's freed us.

We live free.

He's freed us by his blood.

Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that's the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

By his wounds, you have been healed.

How did Jesus free us?

He became our substitute.

He took on the punishment of our sin on himself so that we could have his righteousness.

The king has freed us.

And finally, the king has consecrated us.

Did you see that in Revelation?

He has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.

We are a kingdom of priests, consecrated priests.

Peter writes, You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.

That's what Christians are.

A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

What do priests do?

Priests go into the Holy of Holies, where God's presence is made most manifest, and they minister to God's people and to the world.

There is no separation between God and his people, because we are all made priests through Christ's priesthood.

And finally, the king is returning for us.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds in all of his glory, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

Even so, Amen.

We confess this every week, don't we?

I believe in Jesus Christ.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

We have a hope that our king has not abandoned us, but will come and establish his kingdom right where we live, and will renew all things.

In Christ's kingdom, we are loved, freed, consecrated, and awaiting his return.

That's the kind of kingdom we live in.

The closest I've ever gotten to our sovereign, who at the time was Queen Elizabeth II, was about 20 feet away while she was in a motorcade leaving the Parliament buildings.

She was visiting one Canada day, and I happened to be in the crowd.

I'd like to say 20 feet away or so, and I would like to say that we locked eyes.

And I saw her waving.

And I'd like to say that she saw me waving back.

That is as close as I have ever come to come to our sovereign.

Or, you know, head of state.

That's not how Jesus rolls.

He doesn't go by 20 feet away in a motorcade and waves at us as he passes by.

This is a king who loves us, frees us, consecrates us, and is coming back for us.

He's a king who wants to live in our hearts.

He wants us to abide in him, and he wants to abide in us.

There is no separation between us and our heavenly King.

And that's the work of the Holy Spirit.

Who's our King?

It's the exalted Lord Jesus.

What is his kingdom like?

It's a kingdom unto which we're loved, freed, consecrated, and awaiting his return.

And I hope all of this makes us long to ask the third question, which is this How can I enter his kingdom?

I want to be a part of that.

How can I be a part of that?

That's the question that Nicodemus doesn't know he needs to ask in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

He has this clandestine meeting with Jesus after hours because he doesn't want his buddies to know that he's associating with this rabble rouser, right?

But he comes to Jesus very sheepishly and he says, Jesus, the only way all of this makes sense is if you are from God, because you are proclaiming and doing the things of God.

But Jesus wants to get him on the right track.

Verse 3, Jesus answers him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

You must be born again.

And so Nicodemus.

Obviously a pragmatist, has the wrong sense of what Jesus means.

How can a man be born when he's old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

So, number one, gross.

Number two, Jesus answers, no, no, take my meaning.

I'm not talking about a physical birth.

Sure, we were born into this world in which Caesar rules, but I'm talking about a spiritual rebirth.

I'm talking about a greater kingdom.

And what's the means by which this spiritual rebirth takes place?

First off, Jesus says, verse 5, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

We must be reborn by water, that symbol of cleansing and renewal that goes as deep in the Bible as it gets.

Ezekiel 36 is a promise that God will sprinkle clean all of his people.

Water will wash away their sins.

And it's this principle that's carried forward in Christian baptism.

Jesus commissions us to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that we can have a share in Christ's Trinitarian life.

That's why the Book of Common Prayer includes this very reading in the baptism rite.

We are reborn, as it were, through water, but it's not magic water.

Let's be clear about that.

What's the second means by which we're reborn?

One needs to be born of water and the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit who through faith unites us to our Lord Jesus.

The Holy Spirit who takes what is ours and gives it to Jesus, the Holy Spirit who takes what is Jesus and applies it to us.

That's grace.

It's a great exchange.

One Bible commentator says, what is needed here is the receiving of a new spiritual life from God through personal faith in Jesus Himself as the one who had come from God.

Is it water or is it spirit?

I think John would want to say yes.

Why are these two things contradictory?

God works his grace by baptism and by his spirit and renews us and restores us.

So that Jesus can conclude his conversation with Nicodemus by saying, God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

It's the Spirit who works that faith that unites us to Jesus, who is our salvation.

So we enter the kingdom through water and through spirit.

And that is our spiritual rebirth.

The story of Christ's kingdom is the true story.

It's a kingdom in which Christ reigns, it's a kingdom in which we are loved and freed and consecrated, and he will return for us.

And we enter that kingdom through faith, by water, and spirit.

So maybe you're here today, and you love Brad, generally speaking, and you're glad to support him and you know his baptism today, but maybe you remain unconvinced.

You know, this Bible thing, that's nice, but I think it's a nice story, is what it is.

Well, then the only question I would ask you to consider is this: if not Christ, then who or what is your king?

What takes priority over everything else?

What is the highest principle or person or whatever that orders the rest of your life after that?

I mean, this isn't a trick question.

You only risk some self-knowledge if you ask it of yourself.

What is it that you trust this thing to rescue you from?

And what do you trust it to rescue you to?

If you're here today and considering Christ and his kingdom, then I would exhort you, encourage you, call you to enter the kingdom for yourself.

Today can be the day that you enter Christ's kingdom by faith, trusting in the one who has done for you what you cannot do for yourself, who has freed you, who loves you, who has consecrated you, who will come back for you and will restore all things.

You can place your trust today in what Jesus has done for you through his cross and resurrection and ascension, and know that you are made a citizen of the kingdom.

And you, like Brad, can make the decision to come to this very font and be sealed as Christ's own forever.

Or maybe you're a third type of person.

Maybe you're a believer today, but you've come with a heavy heart.

And maybe you hear this wonderful story of Christ's kingdom and you think that is brilliant, and I am not worthy of it, because I know myself, and I'm no kingdom candidate.

Here's what I would want you to know.

You are a member of Christ's kingdom, not because of what you have done for the kingdom, but what Christ your king has done for you.

That is your citizenship.

That is your worthiness, not your worth, his worth.

You are a member of the kingdom because of the king.

You are loved, you are freed, you are consecrated.

That is Christ's work in you.

And baptism is the sign and seal that we always need to come back to.

In those moments of doubt, in those moments of despair, in those moments of unworthiness, we need to remember that this is the gift that God Himself gave me.

Here's what one church reformer named John Calvin says about baptism.

He says that baptism is the sign of initiation by which we are received into the society of the church in order that, engrafted in Christ, we may be reckoned amongst God's children.

Baptism, he says, is like a sealed document to confirm us that all our sins are so abolished, remitted, and effaced that they can never come into his sight, be recalled, or charged against us.

Therefore, he goes on to say, as often as we fall away, because you better believe we fall away, we ought to recall the memory of our baptism and fortify our mind with it, that we may be always sure and confident of the forgiveness of sins.

That is God's gift to us.

Even if we don't remember our baptism, even if we remember the fact that we are baptized, these promises that will be spoken over Brad today are your promises and my promises.

We are citizens of his kingdom.

Baptism is the proof.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

We hope that you've been blessed by God's Word today.

If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.

Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.

Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.

If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.