Transcription downloaded from https://sermonarchive.gfcbremen.com/sermons/98251/the-promised-kingdom/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] What is the storyline of the Bible? We're looking at the kingdom of God as being one way to trace out the unity of the scriptures.

[0:13] God's kingdom being established on earth. Vaughn Roberts in his book The Big Picture helps us remember each phase in the development of God's kingdom on earth by using the alliteration of the letter P. Each phase starts with the letter P.

[0:30] So tell me the name given to the kingdom of God as it was described in Genesis 1 and 2. All right? Perfect pattern. I'll go with either one.

[0:45] Because as the pattern, it was the kingdom of God in perfection, wasn't it? So we have the pattern of the kingdom. And then last week, and the pattern we noted in the way of definition of the kingdom of God is what?

[1:02] God's people in God's place under God's rule and blessing. All right? So that's the pattern. And we see Adam and Eve, the people of God, in the Garden of Eden where God's presence was made known on earth, in God's place, and living under the rule, the command, the authority of him as the king, and therefore enjoying the blessings of the kingdom.

[1:29] Then in Genesis chapter 3 and on into chapter 11, last week we looked at what kingdom? The perished kingdom.

[1:42] So that perfect pattern of the kingdom was lost. It perished. It was because man rebelled against his maker, the king, and therefore lost the blessings of his kingdom.

[1:58] So they're no longer God's people. They forfeited their relationship with God. There's now sin that separates them and God. That relationship that God established with his people and that he establishes with his people right down through history is established and governed by a covenant.

[2:22] And so the covenant not only establishes the relationship, but it also sets forth the stipulations. Okay? If you're going to be my people, then this is what I'll do and this is what you must do.

[2:35] And God sets forth that relationship, the basis on which he will have a people and a relationship with them. Now that relationship with Adam and Eve in the garden, that has been called a covenant of works because God was saying that obey me and live, disobey me and die.

[2:59] And Adam disobeyed. And so the covenant was broken. The relationship between God and man was broken.

[3:11] And no longer is man in the kingdom of God, no longer God's people. And no longer are they in God's place.

[3:22] They were banished, weren't they? They were chased out of the place of God's presence, the garden. And they no longer were submissive to God's rule, and therefore they were no longer under God's blessing.

[3:35] And remember, they forfeited the blessing of God, and that was seen in their relationship to God. They lost that. Their relationship to each other. There's now all sorts of competition and evil involved in Adam and Eve's view of each other and their life together and their relationship with the environment.

[3:55] It now is not a friendly place to live, but they will experience the creation as an enemy that makes life hard for them.

[4:08] And why? What's the reason for the parish kingdom? No trick? Sin. Sin. And so sin against the king is rebellion, and they sought to throw off their creator king.

[4:25] Now, I've got a question for you. Can human beings really cast off the rule of God, the authority of God? You're saying no.

[4:38] Well, in one sense they did, but there's another sense in which they didn't. And that's an important distinction for us to realize. They wanted out from God's rule.

[4:51] They didn't want this God to be their king. And so they rejected him as king. Can they truly reject him and therefore no longer have him reigning over them?

[5:04] Yes and no. There are two ways that we look at this. And ultimately we say, no, God is still on the throne. He is still their king, and they have to deal with him as king.

[5:15] And his law, even though they reject it and say, I don't live under that law, I don't regard it as my law, that law will judge them. So in that sense, they can never get out from under the king's authority.

[5:31] And a helpful way to distinguish this whole area is to make the distinction between the sovereignty of God and the kingdom of God. Man's rejection of God, and that's just one name.

[5:44] You could also refer to it as the universal reign of God and the gracious reign of God. But it's important to distinguish these two things because man's rejection of God's kingship does not make him any less king.

[6:02] He can't dethrone the king. That's God's sovereignty. And that's what we meet up with in the Psalms, rejoicing that God is king.

[6:13] He is sovereign over all, with authority over all he's made. And that is universal. And it's absolute. Man can kick and fight against it all he wants, but he can't get out from under God's sovereign rule.

[6:29] It'd be like kicking the rock of Gibraltar. It doesn't move, and you break your foot. That's all man can do. And trying to rebel against the sovereignty of God.

[6:42] And that's really what you see in Psalm 2, isn't it? This universal conspiracy to throw off the rule of God and it regards it as shackles, as chains, and the whole world is trying to throw off the chains of God and his king, his anointed king.

[7:01] And what's God's response in heaven? He laughs. To think that kicking Gibraltar would actually move it. To think that man can somehow topple God from his throne.

[7:16] No, he has established his kingdom in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Man can't move him. He's enthroned his king in Zion's hill, he says. And so nothing can take him off his kingdom.

[7:29] The only response for man is to kiss the son, to repent and to worship the son, lest his anger is stirred up and there destroyed under his wrath.

[7:40] So that's the sense of God's universal sovereign kingship. It's absolute. Nobody can get out from under it. And one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that indeed Jesus is king.

[7:56] He is God. He is Lord. And that's the universal kingship, the sovereignty of God. But then there's also this kingdom of grace, we might call it, or God's kingdom as we meet it in the scriptures, the sphere where God's rule is gladly accepted and submitted to, where the response is not, I will not have this one to be king over me, but I gladly submit to him as my king.

[8:28] I'm thankful that he's given me his law. I may not always understand it, but I bow my heart and my knee to him and obey him. Those are two ways to live.

[8:40] One is in rebellion against the king. The other is in submission to the king. We own him. We receive him as our Lord and Savior. The word Lord means king. He's our master, our sovereign.

[8:51] And so all Christians are part of the kingdom of grace, where God reigns in the hearts of those who gladly bow to his reign.

[9:04] So in that kingdom, it's not universal in the sense of everyone is in the kingdom. No, it's only those who by grace have come to bow to King Jesus and his laws.

[9:17] So that's just a way of aside that when we talk about the parish kingdom, because man rebelled and threw off God's authority, just so we understand, yes, they were excluded from God's kingdom of grace, but they still live under his sovereign universal sway.

[9:38] Now, was the parish kingdom a surprise to God? Was God all excited about this kingdom in Genesis 1 and 2, and then suddenly he's surprised at Genesis 3?

[9:49] No, it's ludicrous. God knows the end from the beginning. God plans the end from the beginning. This was part of his plan that a rebellion should take place, not only in heaven with the angels, but that here in his perfect pattern kingdom, that there would be rebellion and a casting off of his kingdom.

[10:13] Ephesians 1 and verse 11 reminds us that God works out everything according to his plan. Everything.

[10:24] And so even the fall of Adam and Eve is part of this plan of God. So the fall, the destroyed kingdom, does not make God scrap his plan A and send him running to come up with a plan B.

[10:40] No, it was part of the plan even before the earth was formed. He was not defeated by man's rebellion. His eternal plan included man's fall and the perishing of his kingdom on earth, and he had already devised from eternity a rescue operation planned from before the world being formed.

[11:02] He'd already selected a savior, a rescuer by whom he would undo the curse and restore all things and reestablish God's perfect kingdom on earth.

[11:16] And that is the gospel, and that's the rest of the story, you see. But the question comes, why didn't God do it the short way? Why did God take the long way around in his kingdom?

[11:28] If God planned all things and has that authority and sovereignty and power as God, the king of the universe, why didn't he plan to have the kingdom never perish?

[11:43] So the perfect pattern kingdom, Genesis 1 and 2, never does man rebel. Why didn't he do that? And just have the short version to get to the kingdom of God on earth.

[11:55] Why does he go the long way around of having that kingdom destroyed and perish, and then the long history of 2,000 years before his king comes and establishes his kingdom, and then another couple thousand years we've been waiting, and we're still waiting for that new heavens and new earth, that perfect kingdom.

[12:15] Why the long way around? Roger? In the end, it will give him one glory. Okay. So that same chapter, Ephesians 1, 11, that tells us that God works all things according to the counsel of his will, doesn't spell out to us all the reasons why God took the long way around, but it does repeat this phrase three times in chapter 1, that he did it for the praise of his glorious grace.

[12:45] He did it for the praise of his glory. So God in perfect wisdom says, it will bring more glory to me than if I created a kingdom on earth and it never fell, than to have that kingdom fall by way of rebellion in sin, and for me to restore it.

[13:05] In the end, that restored kingdom will shine forth my attributes, my glory, my grace in ways that never would have been brought into light otherwise.

[13:21] So the plan of redemption, graciously restoring the kingdom on earth, is seen just as soon as man rebelled. Man rebels, and not only is there immediate judgment, but there's also the theme of grace that meets us, that in wrath he remembers mercy.

[13:41] Can you think of the first evidence of grace for fallen sinners in this parish kingdom? What's the first evidence, Jim? Him slain the animals and covered them, the enemy, with his skin.

[13:54] Okay? That's definitely, that's chapter 3, but it's later in chapter 3, and that's absolutely right. I want you to remember that. God didn't need to create coverings for them by way of slaying an animal and thereby covering man and his sin.

[14:15] A picture, obviously, of Christ and his cross and the blood covering our sins. But even before that, what was an earlier evidence? He didn't want them out. He didn't want them out. All right?

[14:26] The fact that God came to the garden and talked to them. God seeks sinners. God didn't just walk away from his parish kingdom and said, okay, let's just stand by and watch it all now disintegrate.

[14:39] But he comes to them in the garden. What is that? That is God seeking sinners. That is what Jesus says. That's why I've come, to seek and to save what was lost. You see that in the garden.

[14:51] He comes after them. They're running. They're hiding. And he's coming and exposing in grace. What else do you see? That's probably the first thing we see is the fact that he doesn't destroy them, but he rather comes and seeks them and engages them in conversation.

[15:08] What's he say to them in that initial conversation that holds out grace for the fallen race? Come on.

[15:18] It's the first gospel text. 3.15. Let's read it together, shall we? So even while he's dishing out the curses, in the very first curse, the curse upon the devil, the serpent, we find these words of grace for man where he says to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers.

[15:48] He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. So in spite of their rebellion, God seeks them and provides this wonderful promise of a serpent crusher that the male seed of the woman, a male descendant of Eve, would be the one who would crush Satan's head and in so defeating and destroying him would bring back the seed of Eve back to his side.

[16:25] You see, when Adam and Eve were created, they were with God in the garden. So here's God and Adam and Eve together in the garden. Satan comes along and by his temptation gets Adam and Eve to rebel against God and to come on to his side.

[16:43] So now we've got God, no more people of God, they've joined Satan and they're over here. And what's the promise? I'm going to raise up a seed of the woman that's going to put enmity between her seed and the devil.

[17:01] That means if they're not going to be on friendly terms anymore, they're going to be enemies. That means they're coming back here. Now if I was good at this kind of thing, I would show that to you, but you see the point.

[17:13] It was the devil that pulled them away from God and now the promise is that God's going to put enmity between you. You guys were so friendly in your discussion about throwing off and rebelling against God.

[17:26] I'm going to put enmity between you, i.e. I'm going to win them back to me. What a promise for sinners. You know, if God has anything good to say to sinners, it's grace.

[17:38] And so right from the get-go, we see this message of grace. How about chapter 4? And then, yeah, the other thing, the coverings, a picture that God is going to do something through this male seed to cover our sins with his blood and his sacrifice.

[17:56] Chapter 4, there you see the first fratricide, Cain murdering his brother. How did God treat Cain? Right. Before the sin, I'm saying after he fell and after he was fallen when he was born, but after he murdered his brother, what kind of treatment did Cain receive from God?

[18:23] Judgment. You're going to be a vagabond wanderer on the earth, but was there any grace? He put a mark on him to protect him. Amazing.

[18:33] Why protect a murderer? Grace. Grace. In wrath, he remembers mercy. Then we come to chapter 5, and there's the record of death.

[18:50] And he died, and he died, and he died. And then we come to Enoch, and we don't have, and he died. Why is there all this, and he died? Because that's the judgment of God for rebelling. But we come to Enoch, and instead of saying, and then he died, it says, Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more because God took him away.

[19:12] No death for a sinner? That's grace. That even in a fallen world under the curse of death, it's possible to know God, to walk with God, and to escape the penalty of death.

[19:28] That's promising, isn't it? Chapter 6 through 9, you have the flood. God's going to wipe out the whole population of earth.

[19:43] But somebody found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It was Noah. It doesn't say he earned favor. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[19:54] There's grace, even in the midst of judgment. And God spares Noah and enters into a covenant with him and his family with him. They were sinners, and yet God chose him and chose his family to receive grace.

[20:11] And he says, I'll make a covenant with you. And it was a covenant to never again destroy the earth by a global flood. And so there would always be day following night and springtime and harvest and summer and winter.

[20:29] The cycle of the earth would go on. We see kindness. Now, because of sin, the environment was spoiled. The environment was put under a curse.

[20:40] And yet we're seeing that even under the curse, God is still committed to his creation. He's not finished with the world. He's determined to restore it.

[20:50] And we even see this by this promising to maintain a stable environment for history to continue so that the seed of the woman might come and crush the serpent's head and restore God's kingdom on earth.

[21:07] So though this creation is under a curse, we need to realize this does not mean that there is no grace of God on the earth. No grace of God at all operative in the world.

[21:21] That's hell. Isn't it? No grace, no mercy. That will be the reality at the end. But that's not the present situation.

[21:35] This week, God made his sun shine on the evil and the good. And he sent rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. That's grace.

[21:46] He didn't send fire and brimstone down upon every unrighteous man, but rain to refresh the earth, to feed him. And that kindness and mercy and common grace is meant to lead us to repentance before this God.

[22:05] So we have chapter 3 through 11. The patterned kingdom has perished, and it demonstrates the woeful effects of man's rebellion against God's kingdom.

[22:18] And it ends then with the flood and then the confounding of the language. So now what will God do? Will he just let his world self-destruct under the weight of sin and the curse? Chapter 12, God shouts no.

[22:31] Now, he's already been leaving his hints along the way that he's got gracious plans for man and the creation. But it's really chapter 12 that he lays out his plan to recover his kingdom on earth.

[22:46] And he's going to do it through a man named Abram. And to this man, he makes promises. So turn to Genesis 12. Promises of this restored kingdom. And so this chapter in the development of God's big story is called the promised kingdom.

[23:03] We had the patterned kingdom, the parished kingdom, and now the promised kingdom. He's making promises of a coming kingdom of God.

[23:16] And it's through this covenant that he makes with Abraham. You got the whole history of Abraham from Genesis, the end of 11, really then beginning in 12, running through verse 24.

[23:29] And let's just notice the first three verses of chapter 12, what God says in this covenant that will establish a relationship between God and Abraham.

[23:42] The Lord said to Abram, Leave your country, your people, and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you.

[23:54] I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

[24:07] I want you to notice the I wills. I counted five of them piled on top of one another. What does that teach us about the kingdom of God? It's God's work.

[24:20] If there's going to be a kingdom of God on earth, it's going to be due to God's determination to do it, and His work. And so we see again the divine initiative. God is the one who wants to establish His kingdom on earth, and He says, I will do it.

[24:36] I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. So bringing the kingdom to earth is something that God will do. And we notice the same order of God's blessing, don't we, that we found back in chapter 1 and verse 28.

[24:50] Remember, the Lord God blessed them and then said, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. The blessing enabled them to carry out the mandate. What do we find here?

[25:01] God's saying, I will bless you, Abraham, and you will be a blessing to the whole ends of the earth. How is Abraham to bring blessing to the ends of the earth?

[25:14] How is he to bring salvation blessings to not just his own physical descendants, but to all the ends of the earth? It will be because I bless you. I mean, that's seen just in the fact that how is he going to bring salvation to the ends of the earth?

[25:30] It will be through a child born, a seed of Abraham. But there's a problem. He's old and Sarah is too and she's barren.

[25:41] So how can he be a blessing unless God blesses him? And that's what God promised. I will bless you. And therefore, you can be this blessing to the earth.

[25:54] And so it's a supernatural birth that comes as God blesses Abraham and Sarah. And through Abraham's seed then brings salvation to the ends of the earth.

[26:06] Now, this covenant with Abraham is characterized by three big promises. And these promises are repeated over and over from chapter 12 to chapter 24. And then right on through the Old Testament and even into the New.

[26:19] First of all, it's the promise of a people. You see that in verse 2? I will make you, Abram, into a great nation and I will bless you. Abraham's descendants will become a great nation and will become God's own people.

[26:39] They will enjoy a special relationship with God like no other people, no other nation. They will be blessed. Look over in chapter 17 and verse 7 where the Lord comes and refreshes these promises.

[26:54] He's constantly wanting to assure Abram, his servant, of what he will do. And here in chapter 7, he comes and says, chapter 17 and verse 7, I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

[27:20] Now, that's the classic language of the covenant. I will be your God and you will be my people. That's establishing by way of covenant that there is a special relationship between God and these people, the descendants of Abraham.

[27:32] Abraham. And so we learn that God is promising to Abraham a people who will be his people, God's people.

[27:43] And then there's the promise of the land. We read it in chapter 12 that you're to leave your country and go to the land I will show you. Now, look here at verse 8 of 17.

[27:54] The whole land of Canaan where you are now an alien, I will give, this is after he gets there, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you and I will be their God.

[28:09] So, God promises Abraham a people who would be the people of God and he promises them a land, the promised land we call it, Canaan.

[28:19] And then thirdly, he is promised blessing. Abraham's descendants will be blessed and through them all peoples on earth would be blessed.

[28:31] Not just his physical descendants, but all peoples blessed. Now, that's a reversal then of the curse. The curse of sin brought curse upon all mankind, but that is to be replaced with blessing.

[28:47] And so we notice right from the very start, God's plan for salvation, his plan for his kingdom included the nations. The Gentiles are not an afterthought.

[28:59] They're not a parenthesis in God's plan. From the get-go, God planned to bless the Gentile nations through Abraham and his descendants.

[29:10] So there's blessing. Chapter 17, verses 4 to 6, As for me, this is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. So, a name change is to be given.

[29:23] No longer will you be called Abram, which means exalted father. No, your name will be Abraham, father of many. Why? For I have made you a father of many nations.

[29:34] And I will make you very fruitful. I will make nations of you and kings will come from you. People, land, blessing.

[29:47] What does that sound like? That sounds like the kingdom of God, doesn't it? God's people in God's place under God's rule and blessing.

[29:58] And so the covenant with Abraham is a covenant. It's a commitment of God to restore his kingdom on earth. To call out a people once more.

[30:10] After it's perished. To have a people who dwell with him in the place of his presence, in the promised land. And live under his rule and blessing.

[30:22] So the promised kingdom is what we're looking at when we come to Genesis 12 and following. In this covenant with Abraham, God is promising to restore his kingdom.

[30:36] And so we're right to find in these dealings of God and Abraham lessons or laws of the kingdom of God.

[30:46] And the first is that we can learn from the promised kingdom. The way of salvation. How do fallen sinners enter into this blessedness of relationship with God?

[31:01] In which they are his people. Salvation is the ultimate blessing of the kingdom of God. And that salvation is nothing less than entering the kingdom of God.

[31:12] We see this in Jesus' dealings with the rich young ruler. Or as that rich young ruler walks away from Christ sad because he had much riches. And he treasured them more than Christ. Jesus says to his disciples, I tell you the truth.

[31:26] It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. To enter the kingdom of heaven. What do the disciples say? Who then can be?

[31:38] Not who then can enter the kingdom of heaven. Who then can be saved? Salvation is entering the kingdom of heaven. That's the highest blessing that the descendant of Abraham would bring.

[31:51] Would be salvation. To belong to God's people. As his people in his place under God's rule and blessing. We see the same thing.

[32:04] And Jesus' response to that is that with man it is impossible to enter the kingdom to be saved. But with God all things are possible. And then when Jesus is dealing with the chief priests and Pharisees.

[32:16] He says to them, I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John the Baptist came to you to show you the way of righteousness.

[32:27] And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. What do you repent and believe unto?

[32:39] Unto salvation. By repenting and believing you are saved. By repenting and believing you enter the kingdom. But you religious elite people, you didn't enter the kingdom. You wouldn't repent and believe and be saved.

[32:51] But the tax collectors and prostitutes did. So the promise of God's kingdom is the promise of salvation. Living under the blessing of our king forever.

[33:04] So as we're looking at the history of God's kingdom. As it begins to be unfolded in Abraham and his seed. We are learning lessons of salvation.

[33:16] And one of the first things we learn is that God is the one who chooses the citizens of his kingdom. God chooses who the people of God are.

[33:28] And his choice is 100% grace. Since nobody deserves to be in God's kingdom. He chooses unworthy sinners to belong to his kingdom.

[33:39] They are all reclaimed rebels. Every last one. So we're barking up the wrong tree if we try to figure out something. And find something in Abraham that caused God to choose him.

[33:55] To choose him to restore the kingdom through him. To bring him into his kingdom. No, there's nothing special about the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were chosen not because of their goodness.

[34:08] But because of God's grace alone. So what was Abraham before God called him? Well, he was an idolater. He was an idolater before God called him. And he was a flawed man after God called him, wasn't he?

[34:20] And the Bible doesn't hide that from us. Why not? It's highlighting something. God's kingdom is made up of sinners. That God chooses by grace alone.

[34:35] Isaac is no better. He too is a flawed man. He and Rebekah were not worthy of the kingdom. We find them finagling with their favorites. They had the twin sons, Jacob and Esau.

[34:49] Whom did God choose to pass on the blessing of Abraham and Isaac to? Which son? Jacob or Esau? Jacob. He revealed that to Rebekah, Isaac's wife.

[35:01] Even while she had the twins still in their stomach, before they had done any good or evil, God chose that the elder would serve the younger. That's an opposite, unnatural, countercultural choice.

[35:13] Because the younger will be served by the elder. God chose. It was a sovereign choice, Romans 9, 10 to 13. And as we're looking at Isaac and Rebekah, here they are, the patriarch of the kingdom of God.

[35:31] We come to that critical chapter in chapter 27. And we look in vain for a human hero in the story. Isaac wants to give the blessing to who? To Esau.

[35:43] Even though he knows by revelation, even before the birth of the child, that the blessing is to go to who? To Jacob. Jacob. So Isaac is not the hero of the story.

[35:54] He's trying to bless the wrong son because he likes Esau more than Jacob. This favoritism. That's your father, Isaac. What about his wife, Rebekah?

[36:05] She wants the blessing to go to Jacob, even as God said. But what? What is she willing to do to have it go to Jacob? Lie to her husband? Deceive?

[36:17] Remember, she's a sister of Laban. She's not the hero of the story. Well, what about Esau? Is he the innocent victim hero of the story? He sells his birthright for what?

[36:30] A bowl of soup. This is what I think of the blessing of God. This soup is more valuable to me than that. He's not the hero. Was it Jacob then? Willing to lie to his father and cheat his brother?

[36:44] We look in vain for a hero. Somebody good to say, look. And again, we're being taught something about the kingdom of God.

[36:55] God chooses rebels. God chooses sinners to belong to his kingdom. Even the very patriarchs, the first three generations through whom the promise is handed down are seen to be sinful.

[37:11] And there's Jacob then with his two wives, Leah and Rachel and their maidservants. What kind of man was Jacob? Well, he's a deceiver. He's not a good man. How many sons does Jacob have?

[37:24] Twelve. Twelve. And they grow into the what? Twelve tribes of Israel. To that nation that God chose to be his people.

[37:37] Where did those twelve sons come from? Where did those twelve tribes, the chosen tribes out of all the nations of the world God chose those twelve tribes? The one nation.

[37:50] You know where they came from. A jealousy war for Jacob's love between his two sister brides, Leah and Rachel. And they're battling it out to win his affection by seeing who could have the most children for him.

[38:04] And they're making deals with each other as to who will get to sleep with him tonight. They're selling things and privileges. And they're even giving him their maidservants to sire more children by them.

[38:17] And they're treating him more like a sire than a husband. And the twelve names of these boys tells the sordid story as each one of them is born and given a name.

[38:29] Yes, now my husband will love me. And on and on goes this sordid tale. And then the escapades of sin that we see these twelve sons fall into underscores that God's choice is all of grace.

[38:43] Just what they did to their brother Joseph alone is, you say, why did God ever choose these twelve boys? God's teaching us.

[38:55] What one author put in these ways, that God's all stars are all sinners. They are chosen for his kingdom by grace alone.

[39:09] And the role that salvation is by grace is clearly taught in this phase of the kingdom announced, the kingdom promised, but also the role of faith.

[39:23] What role does faith have in God's kingdom? Well, how does Abraham receive the kingdom? How does Abraham enter the kingdom and enter into this relationship with God? God calls him, but he enters into this relationship by faith.

[39:37] God takes him outside and says, look up at the stars, Abraham, and count them if you can, because that's how many children you are going to have. And there was only one thing for Abraham to do, that is either to believe or to disbelieve.

[39:52] And the scripture says that Abraham believed God and he credited it to him as righteousness. Abraham became justified, right with God, entered the kingdom, entered the salvation blessings.

[40:05] How? By faith. So that when the Galatians are saying, no, it's not just faith, you also need some works too. Paul quotes, you know, even our father Abraham was justified by faith alone.

[40:22] When God pointed to the stars and said, that's how many descendants you'll have. And though he had none, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

[40:34] That's how you and I became Christians. That's how you and I became part of the kingdom of God. We were born again and believed and received the kingdom freely as a gift, received by faith.

[40:48] And that faith of Abraham was severely tested, wasn't it? He had the promise, but he didn't see the fulfillment. And so he's promised a son and he's promised many descendants, but he's old and barren.

[41:03] His wife is barren. He's promised a land, but when he gets there, there's Canaanites in the land and there's famine in the land. They don't want to give it up. So he's got to hang on to God's bare promise.

[41:19] That's what we call faith. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Don't see the land. Don't see the sun, but I have promise from God and that's enough.

[41:33] So he hangs on by faith. And that's one of the most basic laws of the kingdom of God, that the righteous will live by his faith. Life in the kingdom begins with faith. Life in the kingdom is carried on each step by faith until he finally dies in faith, still not having received the things promised.

[41:51] The importance of faith in the kingdom of God. Well, our time is way past, so we're going to just break off there.

[42:02]  This is the kingdom promised. Perish, but it's coming. We're dismissed. We're dismissed.