Today's Problems Come From Yesterday's Solutions: It's the Problem with Rebellion

“As it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses? With whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

(Hebrews 3:15–19, CSB)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

(Matthew 6:33, CSB)

The second essential element of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the understanding and acceptance that our problem is the choice we have made to rebel against God. The problems we have today were created by us or by some other person(s) choices in the past. It’s like what Peter M. Senge wrote, “Today’s problems come from yesterday's solutions.”

We do what we do because we want to be happy. I want to be happy. In general I believe that most of the human race would like to be happy. The problem we find in our search for happiness is what we believe will make us happy. Motivation is a powerful thing. Motivation that is directed by a true and good belief is one of the most positive ways to live and to have a happy and successful life. Motivation that is directed by a false and wicked belief can be the most destructive and lead to a miserable life. The motivation to want to be happy is natural. How we go about seeking this happiness is governed by our beliefs. 

Our problem is that we believe the wrong things. We believe the wrong things because we trust the wrong source. 

The first two human parents did this. The Lord God had created them, made the perfect environment for them to thrive, and loved them. He spent time with them. The Lord God laid down the rules for a healthy and happy life. They should have trusted Him. There was no reason to not trust Him. 

Then along came the crafty serpent. He questioned God’s motivation and outcome for the rules He had given Adam and Eve. Our ancestors then listened to the serpent and believed him. He appealed to their desire to be happy. Actually they should have been happy until the serpent’s lie convinced them that they would be happy-er if they were like God. They believed that God was holding back something that was good for them. 

Adam and Eve broke the moral law that all of creation was founded upon. They rebelled against God. The whole cosmos has suffered ever since. 

In short, the problems we have in our world today are the result of the rebellion of yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that and so on. We are all rebels against God and we suffer for it. 

That was the problem of Israel as they were delivered by God through Moses out of Egyptian slavery. You would think they would be eternally grateful. They lived under the foot of a people who used and abused them. They and their ancestors before them cried out to God in misery, asking God to remember the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

God answered. He delivered them by His mighty hand through ten plagues and a trip through the Red Sea on dry ground. In the wilderness God gave them victory over enemies, guidance and protection with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and fed them. Yet when it came time to enter into the Promised Land, they rebelled. Ten times God said they had disobeyed and for that, none of that generation would enter into God’s rest, save Joshua and Caleb. 

Rebelling against God is not good for us. Why can’t we learn that? I think it is because I believe I know what will make me happier than God does. I also think that perhaps God is holding back on me. I need to figure it out on my own. As Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that workin’ for ya?” 

There is also another problem with rebellion. It makes us stupid. Now, it's not wise to rebel against God in the first place, but after that, rebellion increases our stupor when it comes to God, His will and His ways. The more we rebel, the more we want to rebel. The more we sin, the more we sin. Our judgment gets cloudy and our understanding of the moral and even physical order of things becomes confused. 

Rebellion or sin in general is like quicksand. The more we wallow in it, the deeper we go. This is why we think we can change the reality of things by using different words. We call sin a “mistake.” A man who thinks he can be a woman, or a cat just because that is what he wants to be called, is not just mistaken, he is delusional. Things that are clearly spelled out as sins in the Scriptures are touted in our day as freedoms or rights. 

“And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.” (Romans 1:28–32, CSB)

If we keep going this direction, our problems will only increase, both for individuals and for society at large. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.  

It’s hard to admit that we have rebelled against God. But God often has mercy on people and allows them to see the true source of their pain. Like the prodigal son so far away from home and away from his father, we can “come to our senses” (Luke 15:17), repent and start the journey back home to our waiting father. 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, CSB)

God has provided a solution for us. Why He’s done this is the greatest mystery of all time! I think after the Adam and Eve debacle, I’d just have scrapped the whole thing and started over with another creation. But that is not God’s way of doing things. He is certainly powerful enough to do it, but he is also holy, righteous and loving. We are made in His image. He chose another way. That will be further explained in other essential elements of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

We are All Accountable To God

The first essential element of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the understanding and acceptance that we are all accountable to God. 

Many today would balk at the idea of accountability to God. Most today would say that we are accountable to God for just the “big” things, like the Ten Commandments. But just to be absolutely clear, I am not merely stating that we are accountable to God for just the “big” things. Neither am I implying that it is only one day in the future where we will give account of our lives before God. I believe one day we will. It says so in the Scriptures. “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12, CSB) But that is not my main point here. My main point is that we are accountable to God in all things and we are accountable to Him now. 

Certainly there will be a day of accounting. The apostle Paul communicated this when he wrote in the Scriptures, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10, CSB)

It is hard for us, in our day, to understand that when we say the kingdom of God or the Gospel of the kingdom of God, we are talking about the good news of the sovereign king. Our problem is that we don’t have the experience of a benevolent king’s reign and rule. We live in a democratic republic here in the United States. Our country has never had a king who reigns and rules. 

Even in Great Britain, they do not experience a true kingdom. Their government is a constitutional monarchy. The powers of the ruler are limited by the constitution. It was not always this way in Britain, but it is today. King Charles reigns but he does not rule. Parliament rules. 

When I write about the kingdom of God, I’m writing about a king who is an absolute monarch, he rules without outside restriction. The only boundaries that God has as king are those within his own nature or He has declared by his own self-imposition. Everyone in His kingdom is governed by his benevolent and righteous, but absolute rule. 

No one in the UK today asks what King Charles thinks about their choice for dinner. They do not ask when in an argument with someone, WWCD? (What Would Charles Do?) They do not think for a moment that King Charles would even want to know what they ate for dinner or what they said in that argument. Their everyday lives do not revolve around what King Charles thinks or does. He may reign, but he does not rule. He doesn’t pass laws and he doesn’t enforce them. Parliament does that. 

As best as I can tell, I believe that there is only one country in the world today that still has an absolute monarchy. That country would be Saudi Arabia. There, the king reigns and rules. There they ask, “What would the king want?” If they do not do the will of the king, the king can do with them as he pleases. 

Like it or not. We are all accountable to God. Even the King of England and the King of Saudi Arabia will stand before Him and give an account. We are all subject to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Writing of Jesus to Timothy, Paul states, “...He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15–16, CSB)

Every king who has ever reigned and ruled has died. Only one was raised and lives forever and His kingdom has no end. 

A. W. Tozer expressed this same sentiment when he wrote this in his book “He Dwelt Among Us.”

It is He who is the judge, and when the judge of humanity shall appear, He will have the shoulders of a man and the face of a man, the man Christ Jesus. God has given Him authority to judge mankind so that He is both the judge and the Savior of man. That makes me both love Him and fear Him; love Him because He is my Savior, and fear Him because He is my judge.

We may not want to be accountable to God, but we need to be accountable to God. Without this knowledge we as a society and as individuals will become lawless and end up destroying ourselves. 

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:25, CSB)

The old Greek philosophers believed that those whom the gods would destroy, they first made mad.  When we think we can make our own rules, then change them when we like, regardless of reality, we lose touch with reality. 

When we cease to believe in the accountability and judgment of God, we go mad.  

Unlocking the Power of the Gospel: Nine Essential Elements of the Kingdom Message

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16, CSB)

The power of the Gospel is that it is the power of God for salvation. It is salvation here and now from our own self-direction and self-destruction. It is salvation today from the power of sin which dominates our lives. It is salvation from guilt and shame. It is salvation today in knowing that because of the Gospel, we have been born again into new creations; the old has gone and the new has come. It is salvation for the future, knowing that we are citizens of God's kingdom and our home is with Christ. It is power for living in the way God made us to live. It is the presence of God in every believer, with power made available through surrender to him.

“After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”” (Mark 1:14–15, CSB)

The Kingdom of God has come near. It is within our reach. This was the good news proclaimed by Jesus. But what does that good news mean? The word we use for “good news” is the word “gospel”. Therefore, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news about Jesus Christ. The Gospel of the kingdom of God is the good news about the kingdom of God. But what does that mean? What is the content of this good news? 

I believe that the content of the good news of the kingdom of God can be put into nine essential elements. I’m not writing that this is all there is of the kingdom of God, far from it. I do believe that if we reduce it down more than these nine, we will be in danger of changing this Gospel of the Kingdom into something other than what Jesus proclaimed. 

So in this blog, I’m going to just briefly outline each element of what I believe are the essential elements of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. In future blogs I will fill out each of the elements in its own blog. 

With this said, here are the nine essential elements of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. 

First: All are accountable to God. 

Every human being who has ever been born or will ever be born is ultimately accountable to God. We acknowledge there are other lesser authorities to which we are accountable. We are accountable to our own conscience, to family, to our place of work, and to government. But our ultimate accountability is to God. He is our creator and our judge. It is Jesus the Messiah who will sit on the throne of judgment and all humans will stand before him one day and give account for what they have done with what God gave them. The apostle Paul wrote, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom:” (2 Timothy 4:1, CSB) See also Revelation 20:11. 

Second: Our problem is that we have rebelled against God. 

The first humans were created to have intimate fellowship with God and with one another. When Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God (see Genesis 3), they broke His one command. Ever since, we have been at odds with each other because we are at odds with God. There can be no peace while living in rebellion. Every one of us is or has been in rebellion against God. The Scriptures put it this way, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, CSB) Every sin and every problem we have in this world, if it could be traced, would lead back to the desire to be our own god. We are not designed for such. The problems we have today are a result of generations of rebellion against God. “Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7, CSB)

Third: The Kingdom of God is now available.

Jesus said as much when he came preaching. This was the good news. God’s Kingdom, that was out of reach, is now in our midst. It was within reach because Jesus was there. Jesus is the king and wherever the king is, so is his kingdom. When reading the Gospels, you can see the kingdom of God being unleashed through Jesus and defeating all other kingdoms. “Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.” (Matthew 9:35, CSB)

Fourth: Jesus is the Messiah.

The Messiah, which means “anointed” is in Jewish expectation the one who would usher in the kingdom of God. The word “Christ” is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” This Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. The great question to ask someone who would deny that Jesus was the Messiah is this: “If Jesus of Nazareth is not the Messiah, then according to the prophecies of the Bible about the Messiah, who would the Messiah be?" The answer is that he would be like Jesus. John, the last living apostle wrote at the end of his Gospel, “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31, CSB)

Fifth: Jesus suffered and rose from the dead. 

A section of the Apostle Creed reads: “Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.” Jesus was arrested, beaten and endured three religious trials and three civil trials. Sentenced to die by Potius Pilate, he was flogged then crucified. 

From noon until 3:00 pm, darkness fell over all the land. About 3:00 pm, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus' words were a direct quotation from another ancient prophecy that described the kind of death the Messiah would experience and the results that would come from it (Psalm 22). 

After receiving a drink, Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Then He bowed His head and drew His last breath. At that moment, the ground shook, rocks split apart, tombs opened up, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51).

On that third day, Sunday, Jesus rose from the grave. It was not a resuscitation but something new. Something that had never happened before. Something that has never existed before. Resurrection is the remaking, the transforming of matter in this created order. It becomes something new.

By his resurrection, Jesus overcame sin, death, and the devil. “Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”” (Revelation 21:5, CSB)

As the apostle Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3, CSB)

Sixth: Jesus will return, reign, and rule.

Jesus told his disciples that he was going away. He would return and take them to the place he prepared for them. “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1–4, CSB)

From the announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary we find the promise of Jesus’ universal reign and rule. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” (Luke 1:32–33, CSB)

Seventh: Therefore, repent. 

“Repent” is a word that comes from the Greek word “metanoia.” The prefix, “meta” has one of its meanings as “change.” “Noia” is the verb form of the noun “nous”, which is the Greek word for “mind.” Put them together and it means “change of mind.” This is not just an intellectual exercise. “Repent” means a change of mind that goes on to be reflected so deeply that it changes us at the core of our identity and behavior. 

So repent is to change your mind about who God is, what he has done, who we are, and what we are to do. We can have a change of mind because God’s Kingdom is here in Jesus the Messiah. Jesus said, “...I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.” (Luke 13:3, CSB). The apostle Peter in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost said, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38, CSB)

Eighth: Believe the Gospel. 

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, CSB)

For many, to believe is to trust. I think this definition is about as good as any. Trust the Gospel! Put your confidence in not only the person of Jesus Christ, but what he has done for us as well. It all goes together. Make no mistake. Everyone who will change their mind in this way and then put their confidence in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord will be saved. “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame.’” (Romans 10:9–11, CSB)

Ninth: Follow Jesus.

Following Jesus means to become an apprentice of Jesus. We know what it is like to apprentice to someone. Plumbers have them. Electricians have them. Rabbi’s in Jesus’ day had them. They are individuals who live in the community of the Rabbi. In that community they learn by watching and by doing. Mistakes are made, but that is expected. It is why you “apprentice.” You can learn from your mistakes and grow and then change. Our following Jesus is not a quest for perfection, but an admiration. It is similar to a son wanting to be like his father. Love and admiration are the great motivators. A person who is a follower of Jesus will not stay the same. You cannot follow Jesus and stay the same. If you are not changing you are not following the Master. Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19, CSB)

As you read through these nine essential elements of the Kingdom of God, you may have noticed that the first three describe how we got into trouble, but God has not abandoned us. The second three focus on the solution: Jesus the Messiah. The last three are things we do in order to receive the benefits of the available Kingdom. You see, while the Kingdom of God is open to all, it is not something automatically applied to your life. You must repent and believe. The evidence for you that you have properly repented and believed is that your life has changed. That change is that you now follow Jesus. How that change works out is different for each person, but the one constant is that you will represent Jesus and his kingdom on this earth somehow and in some way. Following Jesus isn’t easy, but it is the most rewarding, both in this life and the next. 

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and eternal life in the age to come. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:29–31, CSB)