The Beauty of God’s Kingdom – Part 4

I had started a 4 part series on The Beauty of God’s Kingdom about two-weeks ago, before I was interrupted by a series (Don’t Bash the Man Called Cash) which took over most of last week on Johnny Cash and Gospel-Centered Living. Before this post, there were three others in dealing with the topic. 

Part 1 The Beauty of God’s Kingdom in Hebrews 12

Part 2 An Unshakable Kingdom

Part 3 was An Acceptable Kingdom

And for Part 4, The Beauty of God’s Kingdom is that you serve A Consuming God. The beauty of God’s Kingdom is that His fire, judgment, and wrath will consume all those that are not a part of the gospel.

The reason we serve the kingdom of God in awe is because of the fear of what we know lies in the very character and hand of almighty God. To think that we could be in the place of never knowing Christ, or never being part of this unshakable kingdom, should bring us to our knees in adoration of whom we serve on a daily basis. This is not a game or some joke, or even just a mere story written by some random writer; we are talking about the creator of the universe. This is why the writer of Hebrews ends this chapter by showing the importance of recognizing who our God is, bringing forth the most severe warning in the whole book of Hebrews. Those who do not know the gospel, do not know God, and do not live in the unshakable kingdom have only the force of God awaiting them. The God of Sinai – whom none could approach – is the same God of Zion. The judgments and wrath that poured out among the people of the golden calf awaits those that make idols in the same way today.

In other words, if you are not under the grace of God, you are damned because nothing but the wrath of God waits for you. Wrath abides on your head, and unless you see Christ, see your mediator, and repent and come to the fountain of blood which is offered to all, there will be no mercy for you. God does not tolerate other gods. And other gods aren’t just physical statues – gods are anything you serve besides the one true God. So, whether you serve yourself, your sin, your wants, your money, your greed, your lusts, your pride, your self-pity, or any god of doing whatever it may be that your flesh wants, the almighty God will not allow any before Him. They are completely shakable and have no part in the gospel kingdom.

There is another angle to this, which is vital to speak of, because some of you may be sitting here today and you know the gospel and are part of the unshakable kingdom, but you still struggle in areas which don’t allow you to live in reverence or awe as you ought to. You may struggle with debt that seems too large, bills too high, unruly children, unsaved family, difficult work, never-ending housekeeping, taxing studies, great worries, deep agony, depression, hurt… and you wish that Christ would come and shake what needs be, and take home what is His as soon as possible.

For those who feel this way, I want to say this:

I am going to end this message where I started – and that is exactly what you have do also. You have to end where you started – that is, Jesus Christ. He who gave you everything you have, will finish everything for you. God shows Himself as a consuming fire so that you can enjoy His good news and enjoy His work in awe. God, this consuming fire, did not spare His Son, but sent Him to the cross. He poured out His wrath – this consuming fire – upon His Son so that you can benefit now and for eternity. But even more than benefiting for ourselves, we benefit for the glory of God. We remember that the God of the law is the God of the gospel; the God of Mount Sinai is the God of Mount Zion; and because of His mercy His people enjoy new mercies every morning, so that we live daily in reverence and awe for Him. Someday, the person who mocked the gospel, who did not come to Christ, who refused the cross, will receive the consuming fire of God. But the one for whom Christ laid down His life in the front lines of the fire of God, that person lives for Him. He didn’t give us the gospel benefits in this kingdom for us to walk around and boast in ourselves, and he didn’t give them for our own self-gratitude. He gave them to make His own name known… to make known His fame and His glory, so that the world may see His holiness among all the nations, so that more will come from the farthest ends of the earth and proclaim, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”