"-- Jesus speaks about the kingdom of God ''or sometimes the kingdom of heaven; he calls it either one'' more than anything else; more than he talks about repentance, sex, money, religion, anything. In fact, Jesus uses the word `kingdom of God` 80 times, but only uses the word `church` twice. Of the 52 words in the Lord`s Prayer, 25% of them are dedicated to teaching us to pray that God`s kingdom would come. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says to seek first the kingdom of God, and then everything else will follow from that. If you were reading the New Testament for the first time it would be obvious to you that the number one priority of Jesus, his mission in the world, the thing he was most adamant about, was ushering in the kingdom of God.

-- Jesus` message was about so much more than just how to get into heaven or manage our sin. Jesus went throughout Galilee preaching the good news of what? Of how to get into heaven? Of sin management? No. Preaching the good news of the kingdom. Now certainly the kingdom includes his death on the cross to forgive our sins so we could be with God forever, and it certainly includes giving us the power to live new lives, but the kingdom of God is also about a whole lot more. In the weeks to come I`m going to be fleshing that out, but for today, I want to give an overview of what that phrase means. What does the "kingdom of God" mean? I think it means just what it says. The kingdom of God is whenever and wherever God is King. Whenever and wherever God`s will is being done, whenever and wherever his priorities, his agendas, his desires are what`s happening, that place, that space of time, is the kingdom of God. It`s not a geographical country, it`s whenever and wherever God is in charge and things are done his way.

-- Now we know the full kingdom of God will not come until Jesus returns to make everything new. But nonetheless there are bits and pieces of God`s kingdom right here and right now, which is why Jesus says the kingdom is among you, it`s not just out there, it`s here and now. What God wants is to see that kingdom grow, and to see that kingdom grow in three places, in me, my church, and my world. That`s where God wants to see the kingdom come. As John Ortberg puts it, the kingdom of God is whenever and wherever "up there comes down here", in me, my church, and my world. That looks like a whole lot of different things. It looks like people becoming less arrogant and prideful and greedy. It looks like people loving and helping other people, telling other people about Jesus. It looks like a lot of things, but to make it simple, let me boil it down to three things; all of them begin with the letter `R`. The three `R`s` of the kingdom are: Reconciliation, Restoration, Rejoicing. Whenever and wherever God is reigning those three `R`s` are happening.

-- Let`s start with the first one: Reconciliation. What Jesus is all about is reconciliation , between us and God, and us and each other. Jesus is a reconciler. He bridges the gap between us and God, first by coming - God in the flesh - to show us what God is really like, then by dying on the cross to reconcile us to God. It`s out of being reconciled to God that we can then reconcile with each other. I can forgive you; you can forgive me, because all of our sins have been paid for. Now I`m going to talk more about that in a couple of weeks, but for now, when God is in charge, people are reconciled to him, and then, instead of gossiping and holding grudges with that person that we just can`t stand, we end up being reconciled to that person as well. That can happen at church, at home, in your office, in your neighborhood, in a bar, anywhere. Wherever that happens, that`s the kingdom of God.

-- The second `R` of the kingdom is: Restoration . In the kingdom of God as opposed to the kingdom of this world, things are restored to what they were intended to be. Last spring I wrecked my car. It was a very irritating wreck. I was in the University district at Montlake getting onto the 520 bridge, when the SUV in front of me slammed on his brakes, and I hit him. So, obviously I was following a little too closely. I admit that, but here`s what was frustrating: I was only going about five miles an hour. ''Honest, officer, honest!'' Here`s how I know -- when I hit him, the seat belt didn`t even tighten up. That thing tightens up when I sneeze, but it didn`t budge. I had papers on the passenger seat, and they didn`t even so much as flutter. But I hit this guy`s trailer hitch in the back. Didn`t do a thing to his car, but it went straight through the grille of mine, wiped out the hood, the radiator, all kinds of stuff. I got out of the car, and there`s this stream of green radiator fluid flowing from my car. And here`s how weird I am: I had a meeting to get to at the church, and my first thought was, "If I go now, I`ve got just enough radiator fluid to make it across the bridge." So I handed the guy my phone number and I headed out. He said, "Don`t you want a ride?" I said, "No, I`ve got a meeting, I`m late." I got in and started across the bridge. Near Clyde Hill I noticed this weird smell coming from my engine, but I made the meeting. And I was just sure the car would have to be totaled, which really depressed me, because I`m really attached to that car, not for materialistic reasons but for sentimental reasons. We got that car when our first child was born. That was part of losing control -- baby needed a new car, right? I have my morning devotions in that car ''while it`s parked''. It has four-wheel drive, which means if it snows I can keep driving. That makes me look cool, and I need all the cool I can get. I was sure this thing was done for, but the insurance guy said, "No, we can fix it." It took them two months, but they fixed it, and it looked brand new, like the day I bought it. It was restored. That`s what God wants to do with us. He wants to restore everything. That`s why we see Jesus in the story we read healing people and casting out demons to restore them. Because you see all of us have been wrecked by sin. We are not the people God intended us to be. We are prideful, we don`t love each other, we`re filled with fears, greed, and addictions. God wants to restore us to be the people he created us to be, to free us from all of that.

-- How are things going in the Kingdom of Earth right now? Who does it look like is running this show down here?

-- I saw a movie a couple of weeks ago that I would recommend. It`s called Hotel Rwanda, a story of genocide to the tune of about a million corpses left in one country. The whole world pretty much knew and pretty much did nothing. Suicide bombers, drive by shootings, 50 percent divorce rate, ghettos, barrios, greed and corruption in real high places, lives messed up by addictions. Jim Wallace told me that a while ago that in our world 30, 000 children die everyday of preventable diseases, malnutrition, lack of good drinking water - stuff that we could fix if our world had a will to. You think about this, these are kids that a mom and dad love, like you and I do, 30, 000 kids will die today.

-- Think things are going pretty good down here? Jesus had this plan. Jesus said, I`m going to make "up there" come down here. I`m going to bring tihs life down into this sphere. He taught about this a lot. He said when people get this and they understand what I`m up to, they will give up anything to be a part of this because it is so good. One of the places where He expressed this is His most famous prayer. It is a prayer that all of us have heard. Jesus taught us to pray,

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name. ''Matthew 6:9''

In other words, many people come to understand what a wonderful being You are. What a fabulous community would be gathered around some one like You. Your kingdom come, and He`s going to say what that means.

Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. ''Matthew 6:10''

Do you think He was really serious about that? Do you think that could really happen? Or, was he just kind of blowing smoke? Are those just pretty words? See, it`s interesting to me. Jesus never taught His followers to pray, "God, get me out of here so I can go up there." He never taught us to pray the Star Trek prayer. Remember any time somebody got in trouble in Star Trek, what was their prayer? "Beam me up, Scotty." Jesus didn`t say, "pray this prayer: Father who art in Heaven, beam me up."

-- A lot of people, many Christians unfortunately, believe that my job is to get the after life destination taken care of and then kind of tread water until we all get ejected and God comes and torches this whole place.? That is not what Jesus taught. He never said, "pray like this: Get me out of here so I can go up there." He said, "pray, `oh God, oh God, make up there come down here into my life and into my home group, into my church, my office, my school, my family, my neighborhood, my city, my country, this whole, sorry, dark world!? God, make up there come down here."

"-- How would you respond if some one were to ask you: What is the gospel that Jesus, Himself, came to preach? If some one were to ask you - like when Jesus said, "Now I`m going to proclaim the good news. Now I`m going to proclaim the gospel." What would you say? What did Jesus, Himself, in His life on earth, what did He say next? What`s His gospel? It sounds real simple; but I can tell you from experience that many people, maybe the majority of people in churches in our country today, can`t give you the same answer that the Bible does.

-- I want to look through a number of passages from Scripture, and then we will come back to this question. This is from Mark, the first chapter. Mark, Matthew and Luke all summarize Jesus` gospel, His good news, in very similar language.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went int Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ''Mark 1:14''

And that phrase can also be translated gospel - same thing - enagglion [in Greek].

...the good news of God. "The time has come, " he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" ''Mark 1:15''

Then He chose His disciples and he adopted a strategy to communicate one message to everybody He could.

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. ''Luke 8:1''

After his He chose His disciples. Jesus traveled about from one town to another proclaiming the good news, the gospel of the Kingdom of God. He then sent His disciples to proclaim His essential message.

When Jesus had called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons, to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God. ''Mark 9:1-2a''

His whole life, that was His primary teaching topic; and then He was crucified; He was raised again. When He came to the disciples after the resurrection, He spoke to them about one topic.

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God. ''Acts 1:3''

The last glimpse we have of the early church, the last verse, in the last chapter of the book of Acts it says about the Apostle Paul,

Boldly and without hindrance he preached the Kingdom of God... ''Acts 28:31''

-- Now, if you were going to say what Jesus` gospel is all about in one phrase, what would that one phrase be? His good news is just this: the Kingdom of God...life in God`s presence and God`s power...has now become available to ordinary people like you and me. It`s right here, right now. Especially the good news was good news because it was true for people who thought they were a million miles away - tax collectors, prostitutes, Gentiles, anybody who wants to know - Jesus says, in His person the Kingdom of God has now come to Earth. It`s available for anybody who wants to come in. This is Jesus` good news.

-- Now, here is something I believe to be desperately tragic. Thousands of churches and millions of Christians in our day have substituted another gospel for Jesus` gospel. The gospel that gets substituted often might be put like this: Here are the minimal entrance requirements for getting into Heaven when you die. Okay, we don`t use those words for it, but in many people`s minds, what they thik of when they think of the gospel is, here are the minimal entrance requirements so that you can get into Heaven after you die. Where does Jesus ever say that? He never says that. What does he say? He says, "here`s the good news."

-- Dallas Willard, who I think is the best writer on this in our day, puts it like this, "All the preliminaries have been taken care of, and the Kingdom of God is now accessible to everyone. Review your plans for living and base your life on this remarkable opportunity." That`s His good news. That`s Jesus` gospel.

-- Now, of course, Jesus` gospel includes the forgiveness of our sins as a free gift of grace based on His death in our place on the cross. Of course, Jesus` gospel includes the promise that death will not have the last word, that our eternal kind of life with God will never, ever, ever, ever cease. Of course, Jesus` gospel means those things, but it includes more than that. Jesus came as the Kingdom Bringer to this earth. Jesus came with good news: the Kingdom of God is now present. He said, "in My body, in My life. You can see it. You can touch it. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life."

-- A lot of people think the only real reason Jesus came to earth was to die on the cross. But, that is is not true. His death on the cross was just the one part of His overall mission. His overall mission was to be the Kingdom Bringer. That is why He says things like,

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ''Matthew 6:25''

-- He`s talking to people who pretty much believe in God, but He says, "therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." Or, what kind of job shall I get o rwhat kind of a house am I goind to be able to live in, or how much money am I going to get. Jesus said,

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them...But seek first the Kingdom of God. ''Matthew 6:32-33''

...and His righteousness and His way of life and all this other stuff will fall into place.

"-- Everybody has a kingdom, in a biblical sense. Your kingdom is that little sphere in which what you say, goes. Your kingdom is the range of your effective will. This is why it is so important that you have a body because in the beginning, your kingdom is your body. You choose what your body is going to do and it does it. That is why having a body is so important. God is giving you a little taste of kingdom.

-- People learn early on they were made to have a kingdom. And that is why we don`t like to be told what to do by somebody else. We don`t want their kingdom violating our kingdom. This is why a two-year old`s favorite word is "no." They are learning that they have a kingdom. Little kids in the back seat of a car draw a line. Better not cross over to this side of the line because when you do, you`re coming into my kingdom. That`s your kingdom over there. My kingdom starts here. They start defending their kingdom. They have a little war about where your kingdom stops and where my kingdom starts. Then dad turns around, because whose kingdom does dad think the car is? He thinks it is his kingdom. He will ask them, "kids, do you want me to come back there?" And they`re thinking, "sure dad, you`re going to come back here while the car`s doing 80 miles an hour going down the expressway." So dad sends Mr. Hand back to the backseat like a snake. The kids retreat to the corner. Ken Davis gives advice on how to get them out of the unreachable safety zone. A tap on the brakes brings them right into play. Thy kingdom come.

-- My kingdom is the range of my effective will; that is where things go the way that I want them to go. Having a kingdom is a real good thing. It is part of why you were created. It goes all the way back to the beginning. God says about human beings,

Let us make human beings in our own image according to our likeness and let them have dominion. ''Genesis 1:26''

That is kingdom language right there in the creation of human beings, what it means to be made in the image of God, to have dominion. Just by the way, that`s one of the reasons why when you read Jesus` teaching about leadership or authority or power, almost always He speaks about those things in terms of warnings because it is so hard to lead people without violating their dominion status. It is so easy when you lead to use pressure or coercion or fear or manipulate people or appeal to stuff that is going to be the wrong kind of fuel inside them. It`s so hard to lead in a way that doesn`t violate dominion status and that is part of the beauty and wonder of God and of the kind of person Jesus was. His picture of community is like where dominion is never violated for anybody - where the strong don`t violate folks that seem to be weak because everybody was made to be powerful in the pursuit of the good. There is nothing like the way that Jesus taught and understands life and makes sense of the world - there is nothing like it.

-- Okay, everybody is made to have a kingdom. Our kingdoms are all junked up by sin. Now on earth, take all our little kingdoms - yours and mine - they intersect and merge and they form bigger kingdoms, they form families, and schools, and companies, and corporations, and nations. Economic, political, cultural systems - kingdoms are just systems of personal power and control. We could call this whole conglomeration where we live, the Kingdom of Earth.

-- In yours and mine, the way that they merge and intersect and then we can do a study in contrast. Jesus says that there is is this sphere, this society, this community that He calls the Kingdom of God; or sometimes, especially in the Gospel of Matthew it will be called the Kingdom of Heaven, but I"m not going to get into that right now, but it is basically the same thing, I believe. It is the range of God`s effective will. It is wherever God`s will is done, the sphere in which everything that happens meets with God`s approval and delight. Everything is precisely the way God wants it to be. What does that look like? Well most of what Jesus did when He taught - this is His number one topic - He tried to clarify for people what is this really? So that they would understand, because when people come to understand it, they want this more than anything else - when they understand it right. So Jesus would say things like,

Whoever humbles himself like a little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. ''Matthew 18:4''

Is it like that on Earth? Is humility a ticket to greatness down here? In God`s kingdom it is. He says the Kingdom of God

...is like a banquet to which the poor, the blind, the lame, the crippled all get invited. ''Luke 14:13''

Paul says,

...the Kingdom of God is not a matter of legalistic rules about what you eat or drink. It`s not about legalism, but a matter of righteousness, peace, and joy. ''Romans 14:17''

-- So just imagine for a moment. Just imagine a society where there is no pride, no arrogance, no big shots. A society where people are constantly on the lookout for anybody who might feel lonely or rejected so they could be celebrated and loved. A society where no one does anything petty or small minded, no gossip, no cruelty, no fear, and where watching over all of this creativity and goodness as its greatest servant and most joyful inhabitant is this magnificent God and Father of Jesus, who is endlessly celebrated for His infinite love. This, Jesus says, is the Kingdom of God and it exists. It`s going on right now.