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Overview
The Christian life was so much more than just a one-time decision to secure a place in heaven. What if you could experience heaven on earth today? Not flying angels singing on clouds, but the fulfilled, abundant life Jesus promised in the Bible—a life that, regardless of your circumstances or your present context, experiences joy, happiness, and peace that is difficult to encapsulate in human terms. What if heaven was available to us today? Pastor and author Robby Gallaty thinks it is. We have been taught that salvation is getting man out of earth to live in heaven when the Bible teaches that God desires to bring heaven to earth through man. In Here and Now, readers will journey together to uncover the nucleus of Jesus’ messages, which says the opposite. Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God (both are synonymous as we will see) more than any other topic. No other concept is even close.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781462757862 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | B&H Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 02/15/2019 |
| Pages: | 256 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.56(d) |
| Age Range: | 3 Months to 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Good News for Today
Time Together
Driving up the mountain in Montreat, North Carolina, to spend the day with Billy Graham was an experience I will never forget. During my seminary studies, I had the privilege of listening to and examining many of his messages in the writing of my dissertation. To say I was excited was an understatement. Dr. Don Wilton, Graham's pastor, led his son Rob and I into his old log cabin home. After some introductions, we read Scripture out loud as Dr. Graham sat and listened. Reading Acts 2 on the revival of the early church to the man who gave his life to witnessing the world revived for Christ is humbling.
I was asked to share my testimony of God's grace in saving me from a life of alcohol abuse and addiction. Dr. Graham's response was "Praise the Lord!" Before departing, each of us took turns praying for him. As we drove down the mountain, I cherished the time we spent hanging out with a living hero of the faith. Since then, I've thought about that day often, but as impactful as it was, it fades in comparison to a single day in the presence of the Lord. The psalmist declared, "Better a day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere" (Ps. 84:10 niv). Imagine the eternal bliss of being enveloped in the presence of God. The good news, according to Scripture, is that believers don't have to wait to dwell with God.
In fact, the Bible is bookended with images of God dwelling among His people. Genesis begins with it, and Revelation ends with it. The Torah — the first five books of the Bible — devotes two chapters to the account of God's creation of the world, but it allocates thirty describing the construction of the tabernacle, the duties of the priesthood, the rituals, and their meanings (thirteen in Exodus, thirteen in Leviticus, two in Numbers, and two in Deuteronomy). Years after entering the promised land, God gives Solomon specific instructions to construct a permanent structure, the Temple on Mount Moriah, so that He could dwell in the midst of His people permanently. In essence, God's creation of the universe was miraculous, but His desire to live among us is paramount.
God's design for heaven and Earth in Genesis points to the concept of a temple, a dwelling place for God. God then populated His Temple with people, fashioning mankind as an image of His glory. But sin marred that image; therefore, God took matters in His own hands by sending His Son to dwell as a man in order to accomplish the task Adam was incapable of doing — that is, living in perfect harmony with God. "What God does in sending the Son," says one theologian, "is to establish Jesus as the Messiah, which means King, and God established in Jesus Christ the kingdom of God, which means the King is ruling in His kingdom." God "with us" is spoken of throughout the Bible (see Gen. 5:22; 21:14&&–22; 28:11–21; 39:3, 21–23; Exod. 4:1–15; 1 Sam. 18:12–16; 2 Chron. 15:2, 15; Ezra 8:22, 31; Pss. 37 and 121; Matt. 28:20; John 14:16–17; and Heb. 13:5–6).
The tabernacle in the Old Testament, and later the Temple, was a visible reminder of the transcendent, eternal God who had come to live with His people, and it was a sight to behold. The Sages of Israel used to say of the Second Temple (the Temple during the time of Jesus), "One who did not see the Temple in its constructed state, never saw a magnificent structure" (B. Sukkah 51b). But even a finite structure was not the final resting place of God among His people.
When He created the Universe, the King of kings did so with a Word. John tells us that this Word created all things, came into the world, wrapped himself in flesh, and took up residence (tabernacled) among us (John 1:3, 14). God's kingdom came to Earth in the form of His Son, Jesus. While God brought His kingdom in the form of a temple in the Old Testament, the New Testament shows us that His kingdom came to Earth in the form of a living Temple, His Son, Jesus Christ. And what was the most talked about concept of Jesus' ministry? The kingdom of heaven.
What Is the Kingdom of Heaven?
The first time I heard the statement I'm about to share with you, it caught me completely off guard. As a result, it changed the way I viewed Jesus' ministry. Here's the statement: Jesus borrowed concepts and terms from the Jewish Sages, later called Rabbis, of His day.
The kingdom of heaven was a well-known concept spoken of by the Sages and the later Rabbis of Israel. When Jewish people recite the Shema (Deut. 6:4 — 9) twice daily, they are committing to take on the yoke of the kingdom by following God. By repeating these words — "Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one' Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.' Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates" (Deut. 6:4–9). Jews were taking on the yoke of the kingdom. Not in some distant future, but right then, in that moment, and every moment thereafter.
In the New Testament, Jesus personalizes the concept by attaching it to God's authority over a person's responsibility to accept or commit to aligning his life with God's will after salvation, as seen in John 14:23: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." For Jesus, it becomes a moral obligation to obey the Lord. It's not a political overhaul, as some thought in His day, namely John the Baptist, where God destroys Israel's enemies and restores justice. The kingdom of heaven is the work of God in the world today through kingdom citizens. It's not just a realm to enter but also a ruling of God over our present life.
A Hebraic Perspective
The first-century Hebrew understood the kingdom to be the era of universal peace for God's chosen people. It's the messianic reign promised specifically in Isaiah 11, Jeremiah 31, and Ezekiel 36. At this time, the throne will be restored to Israel through the Messiah, God's anointed son of David, and the people will enjoy prosperity, peace, and protection forever and ever as God removes their sins as far as the East is from the West. A new covenant will be formed with the people as God places His spirit within them by writing His law upon each of their hearts. Christ will reign over the Earth and every one of His followers will seek His kingdom first.
When Jesus came to Earth, He extended this offer to us today. We can find the peace of our Messiah and enjoy aspects of His kingdom today. Think about it: It would not be good news if we had to wait for the kingdom to be set up, for we are still waiting after two thousand years for Jesus' second coming. Jesus consistently emphasized the present immediacy of God's power to heal, save, and redeem mankind. The kingdom has arrived in the person of Jesus and the power of Holy Spirit and is available to all who walk by the Spirit. We could say that Jesus is breaking into the present world today. If that's the case, we should quit asking to get out of it.
CHAPTER 2A Wedding in the Wilderness
Have you ever walked in on someone midway through telling a story? Certain details that are pertinent to understanding the point of the story are missed. Paul Harvey made a career telling "the rest of the story" to his radio listeners. In 1976, Harvey provided hearers with forgotten insights or little known facts on a variety of topics with one key element, usually the name of an individual, kept to the end of the broadcast. He always concluded with the words, "And now you know the rest of the story."
Most Christians read the Bible in a similar way, spending time in the New Testament at the expense of the Old Testament. By only reading a quarter of the book, we miss the "rest of the story." We can't truly appreciate the New Testament without an understanding of the Old Testament.
Our preoccupation with part of the Bible — and our neglect of the other part — is brought to light in our gospel presentations. The history of the nation of Israel is all but removed from our evangelistic conversations. By doing this, we eliminate three-fourths of our modern Bibles. I have been guilty in years past of this oversight as well.
At one time, my gospel presentations started with creation in Genesis 1, moved to the fall in Genesis 3, and made a beeline to the New Testament with the birth of Christ. But what about the punishment for sins running rampant among mankind in Noah's day in Genesis 7, the expulsion of the nations for building a tower in Babylon to be like God, the call of and covenant with Abraham to make him the father of the nation of Israel (this is God's response to Adam's sin), the messiah-like figure Moses whom God used to liberate the people from the bondage of Egypt, the giving of the law and festivals as a foreshadowing of the Messiah (what Moses was incapable of doing by bringing the people into the promised land, the Messiah will do), Joshua's campaign to claim the promised land, the building of the Temple as a reminder of God's promise to dwell among His people, the Babylonian captivity as judgment for the rebellion of the nations, the prophets who warned and encouraged the people to turn back to God, and the silence after Malachi for four hundred years setting the stage for John the Baptist crying in the wilderness as the Elijah-like figure promised from the days of old? If none of this is pertinent for salvation, why devote three-fourths of the Bible to recording its history?
I'm not suggesting that every gospel presentation must walk the hearer through the entire meta-narrative of Scripture, for many times we only have a short time to explain the gospel. However, we should understand how God brought His people out of captivity so He could be with them. Biblical scholars B. T. Arnold and B. E. Beyer wrote, "The purpose for the exodus from Egypt was so God could dwell in the midst of His people. The coming of God's glorious presence into the newly constructed tabernacle forms the climax of the book of Exodus (40:34)." By glossing over the Old Testament, we miss the picture of how God redeems in order to rule and reign over His people.
A King Is Reigning
When you explore a biblical concept, it is standard practice to examine the first instance of the concept you are studying. Where are biblical readers first introduced to God reigning as a king? You may think of the dynasty of King David or his son Solomon. Others may call to mind the rebuilding of the Temple in Nehemiah's day. Neither of these answers are correct. As noted already, the kingdom of God is not a locale we enter into, but rather God working among His people. In reality, the first mention of God's kingdom in the Bible is in the context of the exodus from Egypt. The people have just been set free from captivity through God's miraculous works.
God directed Moses to approach Pharaoh with a request to let His people go. Over the course of ten plagues, God displays His power over the gods and goddesses of Egypt:
The plague of blood defeated Khnum, the River god of the Nile.
The plague of frogs defeated Heket, the frog goddess of Egypt.
The plague of lice defeated Aker, the earth god of Egypt.
The plague of flies defeated Khepri, the fly god of Egypt.
The plague on the cattle defeated Hathor/Ptah, the Egyptian goddesses associated with bulls and cows.
The plague of boils defeated Imhotep, the healing god of Egypt.
The plague of hail defeated Nut, the Egyptian sky god.
The plague of locusts defeated Renenutet, the field god of the harvest.
The plague of darkness defeated Ra, the Egyptian sun god.
The tenth plague was the most devastating attack of all, for it went after Pharaoh himself by killing his firstborn son. It was also a foreshadowing of the death of God's firstborn son centuries later.
God, Himself, was showing He reigns supreme over any false god who would try to usurp Him.
Appearance of the Kingdom
While Genesis alludes to the kingdom concept, Exodus explicitly screams, "The God of Israel is superior to the gods of Egypt." When God liberated the people from the bondage of Egypt and delivered them through the waters of the Red Sea, Moses sang a praise song to God in Exodus 15 for obliterating "Pharaoh's chariots and his army into the sea; the elite of his officers were drowned in the Red Sea. ... The floods covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. ... Lord, your right hand shattered the enemy. ... You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed them" (Exod. 15:4 — 6, 12). This song of victory concludes with the establishment of God's Temple in connection to His kingdom reigning forever. Moses pens the first words about the "kingdom of God" in the Bible.
"You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your possession; Lord, you have prepared the place for your dwelling; Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary. The Lord will reign forever and ever!" (Exod. 15:17 — 18). Reigning forever pronounces God's kingship over His people. No longer will the people serve the pharaoh of Egypt. God's chosen people are free now to worship and serve Him.
"Will reign" is an imperfect verb in Hebrew, signifying that the future is up in the air; it's dependent upon some present action. An example of this in English would be, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." The future isn't actual yet; it is dependent on a present action. The doctor being kept away is dependent on whether you eat an apple a day. Moses is saying that they have observed God's miraculous act of salvation. They have observed first-hand God's glory as King, and His worth is not found in palaces, chariots, gold, or silver. His inheritance is the nation He saved. Because of what they observed, they can say with certainty, "God is reigning today and will reign forever."
Their response for God's gracious act of salvation would be obedience to His Word, which is why the next stop before the Promised Land was a mountain. Was their freedom from the bondage of Egypt the result of their own good works? Did God rescue the nation because they earned it? Did their redemption come about because they would pay God back one day? No. God set them free as a demonstration of His unearned and unmerited favor.
The law was not the prerequisite for redemption; it was given as a gift after they were emancipated from Pharaoh's rule. God established His kingdom by proving His majesty and by delivering His people from slavery. And His subjects demonstrate their loyalty by obeying His decrees. It is a joyful adherence to the commands of God in response to what He has already done for them.
Scripture records the whole history of God's people from their beginning in Exodus 15 to their future renewal in Revelation 15. In between is language of the kingdom, a kingdom not coming, but one that is already, to some extent, here.
Notice how believers in Revelation sing the same song of Moses: "They sang the song of God's servant Moses and the song of the Lamb: Great and awe-inspiring are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you because your righteous acts have been revealed" (Rev. 15:3–4). In one sense, the culmination mirrors the commencement. The good news for all followers of Jesus is that there is no need to wait to enter the kingdom. Jesus instructed His followers two thousand years ago, "Seek first [today] the kingdom" (Matt. 6:33). The end times consummation has broken into the present time. The entire Old Testament message can be summed up in the phrase: "Our God reigns forever and ever."
A Wedding Ceremony
Though the people were overjoyed at God's miraculous display in Egypt, they would soon learn that redemption was not the only goal of their freedom; responsibility was. Passover, the night of their freedom from bondage, was incomplete without Pentecost, the next event in their redemption story. What came after was a covenant they could understand, for it resembled a traditional Israelite marriage ceremony.
Look at the following unfolding of events: three days of sanctification, approaching the mountain, Moses as the mediator, a wedding agreement (the Ten Commandments), and the response of the people (ketubah, a marriage agreement, in Hebrew) in Exodus 24:3, "We will do," recreates an image of a wedding ceremony. God redeemed His people in order to reveal His law on Mount Sinai, demanding responsibility on their part to obey it. Their salvation was unconditional, but the intimacy of their relationship was contingent on their obedience to the agreement. Both grace and obedience are necessary for a healthy relationship.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Here and Now"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Robby Gallaty.
Excerpted by permission of B&H Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Preface xiii
Introduction: Thoughts of Heaven 1
Section 1 The King Among His People
Chapter 1 Good News for Today 15
Chapter 2 A Wedding in the Wilderness 20
Chapter 3 The Epicenter of Judaism: The Temple 35
Chapter 4 Hellenism, Israel, and the Priesthood 45
Section 2 The Kingdom Among Us
Chapter 5 The Kingdom Come 57
Chapter 6 The Kingdom Has Come 74
Chapter 7 In the World, but Not of the World 93
Chapter 8 God in Us: The Indwelling Presence of God 106
Section 3 Kingdom Conduct
Chapter 9 Kingdom-Minded Ministry 123
Chapter 10 How Then Shall We Live? 147
Chapter 11 Our Role in the Kingdom 158
Chapter 12 Kingdom Living for Today 181
Chapter 13 Kingdom Living for Today: Part Two 201
Appendix 1 The Commands of Christ 221
Appendix 2 Priests of the Old Testament 229
Notes 231
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