Today we begin a new message series entitled “Kingdom Principles.” We’re going to be talking about the Kingdom of God, also called the Kingdom of Heaven.
Luke 4:43 (ESV) but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”’
Most of Jesus’ teaching focused on the kingdom of God. So we mustn’t neglect it. The kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom. In this age, the kingdom of God will not be a government that rules over a nation. The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. Yet, human beings can become part of the kingdom of God.
John 3:3 (ESV) Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
A human being must be born again in order to see and enter the kingdom of God. When a person believes in Jesus, they are born again into the spiritual family of God and become citizens of the spiritual kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is an eternal kingdom, it will last forever. Those who are disciples of the kingdom of any age are kingdom citizens.
Today’s message is called “Should You Fear God?” We’ll be looking at some profound teaching of Jesus about how His followers or disciples are to live. If you’re a believer in Jesus today, you’ve been born again, this message is for you. If you’re not yet a believer, you will learn more today about how to become a believer.
Proverbs 1:7 (ESV) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Many people believe that all fear is bad, but that’s not true. The only good fear is the fear of the Lord which leads to knowledge of God. Oftentimes the fear of the Lord is explained away by timid teachers, saying it’s just a reverent feeling. Yes, we should have a reverence of God, but the fear of the Lord means exactly what it says, we must fear God, as we’ll see today.
There are two basic types of fear of the Lord. The first is the fear of the Lord regarding this life that keeps us from sinning. God’s Word teaches that if we sow sin in our lives, we will reap judgement from God. The second type of fear of the Lord has to do with the next life, eternity.
Eternity has two and only two destinations. The first is heaven, a place of eternal and unimaginable joy with God. The second is hell, a place of eternal and unimaginable torment without God. Any rational person should fear being sent to hell by God and run to Jesus. Today, we’re going to learn more from Jesus about why we should fear God. The fear of God leads to blessing in this life and for eternity.