[Read Luke 1:26-38]
We like to make fun of teenagers for thinking they will live forever. Right, they live like they’ll never die or never get injured or never get sick. And, as a result, they do stupid things. Well, guess what? The same thing is true about earthly kingdoms. Every earthly kingdom thinks it will last forever—that it will never die—especially the really powerful kingdoms. So, they end up doing stupid things, getting sick, and eventually dying. So, even though every earthly kingdom thinks it will never die, the reality is that every earthly kingdom will die.
We’ve watched it happen throughout history. My favorite portion of scripture that makes this point comes in Daniel chapter two. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about this massive statue. The head is gold, the chest and arms are silver, its stomach and thighs are bronze, its legs iron, and its feet clay. Then, a stone comes along, hitting the statue and it all comes crumbling down. When Daniel interprets this dream he tells us that each portion of the statue represents a different kingdom. The Babylonians, then the Persians, then the Greeks, then the Romans. Each of these kingdoms were world powers—the epitome of strength and worldly greatness. Yet, every single one of these world powers was crushed. Their kingdom came tumbling down. One important point from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is not that simply these four kingdoms would fall, but that EVERY earthly kingdom—every kingdom made by men—will eventually fall.
This is an important reminder for us as we live in the United States—the current world power. If someone had a dream like Nebuchadnezzar today, we’d be one of the metals in the statue…which also means we’d be part of the statue that eventually crumbles. This kingdom will not endure forever. One day it will crumble and fall just like every other powerful kingdom throughout history.
This reality creates a longing in the hearts of people for a kingdom that will last. Sadly, we see many people trying to come up with their own version of an everlasting kingdom. Leaders throughout history come up with some new philosophy for a country and tell everyone THIS TIME it will last forever. It won’t because it’s an earthly kingdom that will collapse and fade. And people will still be left longing for something more. Something firm. Something that lasts. Something eternal.
That’s where the main point of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream comes in. The main point of the dream is NOT that all earthly kingdoms will come crashing down. The main point is about a lasting kingdom. Listen to what Daniel says about the rock that brings the earthly kingdoms crashing down: “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” (Daniel 2:44–45, ESV). The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed—a kingdom that will break all other kingdoms into pieces, a kingdom that will grow until it fills the earth, a kingdom that will last forever. As people see earthly kingdom after earthly kingdom fall, as people live in earthly kingdoms that seem frail and uncertain, we’re left longing for something better. That’s exactly what God is giving us in his kingdom. This kingdom is firm and certain and will never fade away. This is where we need to place our hope.
And this hope is part of the Christmas story. Many people celebrate the birth of Christ as our Savior—the one born to deliver us from our sins—which is good and true. Yet, I don’t think many people often acknowledge that Christmas is also about a King and an eternal kingdom. Yet, that is also core to Jesus’ birth.
Look at the announcement given to Mary by Gabriel. He tells her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30–33, ESV). The child that is in Mary’s womb will be a King. He came from the line of David, will be given the throne of David, will rule over the house of Jacob (God’s people), and his kingdom will never end. Jesus is the King we’ve been longing for and has brought in the kingdom we’ve been longing for—the firm kingdom that will never crumble or fade.
And notice a few aspects about this kingdom. At its core, this kingdom is humble. Notice how this kingdom was announced: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.” (Luke 1:26–27, ESV). One commentator I read this week pointed out how obscure this is. The birth of John the Baptist was prophesied in the religious center of the Jewish people. Not only was it announced in Jerusalem, it was announced in the temple in Jerusalem. And not only was it announced in the temple, but it was announced in the center of the temple—in the holy of holies. And many people knew something had happened and talked about it.
Yet, when Jesus’ birth was announced—the king of the everlasting kingdom—it was announced in an obscure town to the girlfriend of Joe Schmo. Think about this announcement being made to a young virgin girl from Alto. Only a few people knew about it and nobody really talked about it. Even when Jesus was born, it wasn’t announced in Jerusalem or in the temple. It was announced to a bunch of farmers in the middle of the night.
The kingdom of God has never been flashy or glamorous and it won’t be flashy or glamorous until Jesus comes again. Rather, in this world, it will continue to look small and weak and pathetic from the world’s point of view. It’s been that way since our king’s birth was announced, it’s been that way since his birth, and it will continue to be that way until he comes again.
And we need to let that truth seek deep down in our souls. We often try to make the kingdom of God flashy and glamorous. We try to decorate it with bells and whistles and gimmicks. We do all of these things because we have forgotten an important truth. Just because something is obscure and humble, doesn’t mean it isn’t powerful. Remember, this kingdom—the kingdom that is obscure and humble—is the kingdom that will bring every other kingdom down and will last forever. We don’t need to decorate it. We simply need to live in it and proclaim it.
We also see that Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom of salvation. When his birth was announced the angel said, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31, ESV). Matthew gives us more details on Jesus’ name adding, “…you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, ESV). So, this kingdom is different from the other kingdoms. At its core, this kingdom is about salvation from our sins. It’s not about salvation from all of our economic problems. It’s not about salvation from all of our societal problems. It’s not about salvation from the other world powers. It’s about salvation from our sins at the core. So, as we celebrate Christmas, we must remember that we are celebrating a Savior and King—and these two things are not disconnected. He is our Savior King.
We also see that his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. We read, “And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:34–35, ESV). So, our king is born of the Holy Spirit and will be called holy. That means his kingdom will also be born of the spirit and called holy. This is why we hear Jesus say things like, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
Yet, at this point I need to make some REALLY important clarifications because many have taken these two concepts and misunderstood and misused them over the years. Many have said/believed something like this, “Since Jesus’ kingdom is about salvation from our sins and since Jesus’ kingdom is a spiritual kingdom—not of this world—then the things in this world don’t matter. So, let it all go to Hell in a hand-basket.” Yet, this is a complete misunderstanding of Jesus’ kingdom. Remember what Jesus told us to pray for regularly. We are to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV). We’re supposed to pray that this kingdom would come on earth—here—as it is in heaven. So, although the kingdom is about salvation from sins and is a spiritual kingdom, it still is coming on earth.
So, how does that work? Here’s my quick explanation. Remember WAY back at the beginning of our Biblical Sexuality series, when I talked about us being created Body & Soul? When I gave that message I mentioned that we must not disconnect these realities. They are different but inseparably connected. That’s an important truth that applies to many different things—especially the kingdom of God. Anything that affects our soul will also affect our body. And anything that affects our body will then affect the world around us. So, when we say that the kingdom of God is about the salvation from sin, we’re talking about a spiritual reality. However, when we’ve been saved from our sins, it affects the way we live our lives, right? We begin to talk differently and work differently. We begin to run our families differently and our businesses differently. We begin to handle our money differently. And as we do these things, the kingdom of God is coming on earth as it is in heaven. As we do these things, the kingdom of God is moving from our soul, to our body, to our families, to our communities, to the world.
And here’s why this is extremely important for us to understand. On the one hand, this teaches us that we need to be active in this world—faithfully living our Christian lives, faithfully living kingdom lives in this world. It is not okay for us to “let the world go to hell in a hand-basket” because our kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. No way! We’re supposed to pray that Jesus’ kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. We’re supposed to pray that Jesus’ kingdom would destroy every other kingdom—just like Daniel told us three thousand years ago. And that means Jesus’ kingdom will affect our societal problems and economic problems.
Yet, on the other hand, we need to recognize what’s at the core of this kingdom. You see, many people make the mistake of skipping an important step. They understand that Jesus’ kingdom affects societal problems and economic problems, so they go out there trying to fix those problems. But they’ve forgotten that this is a spiritual kingdom of salvation. You cannot skip this part of the kingdom. You cannot simply try to “bring the kingdom to earth” apart from salvation from sin and the filling of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t work. The only way we will truly see changed societal problems and economic problems is by seeing hearts changed by the gospel—by seeing people saved from their sins and filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, things begin to change. So, the kingdom of God comes through the gospel and overthrows kingdoms through the gospel and changes problems through the gospel.
So, as we celebrate the birth of King Jesus, we can have hope and confidence and meaning and purpose in this world—and as we live in this frail kingdom. I think many people are feeling the frailty of earthly kingdoms right now. We’ve watched how COVID has shaken kingdom after kingdom after kingdom across the globe. We’ve become aware that these kingdoms are not as firm as we once believed. Thankfully, we have a King and a kingdom that are firm and will never fade away. Thankfully, we have hope and confidence in a different kingdom, one that cannot be overcome by a pandemic and one that will never fail nor fade.
And, as we celebrate the birth of King Jesus—and have hope and confidence in his kingdom—we must not forget that it is a humble kingdom. It’s not flashy or glorious by worldly standards. It looks more like the turtle than like the hare. It’s slow and steady. When Isaiah prophesied the birth of the Messiah he said, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end…” (Isaiah 9:7, ESV). Christ’s kingdom will continue to increase, slowly and steadily and humbly, forever. Eventually, it will overthrow every other kingdom.
What does that mean for us? That means we don’t need to try to make the kingdom look flashy and glorious to the world. We need to faithfully plod along like the turtle—slow and steady. We have confidence that we’re part of the kingdom that will never fade and will continue to increase. So, we get up each day, pray that God’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven, then faithfully raise our families, go to our jobs, and live in our communities. And, as we faithfully live our lives in the world, the kingdom slowly and steadily comes. Then, one day we’ll hear the glorious proclamation from Revelation, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15, ESV).