He was born in Bethlehem. He grew up in Nazareth. He taught, preached, and healed throughout Galilee, Samaria, Judea, and Perea. But one city held His constant focus: Jerusalem. Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to the city (Luke 9:51, NKJV). His entry into the city marked the most dramatic and crucial week in … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 19:28-40, Zech. 9:9, Luke 19:45-48, Matt. 21:12-17,Luke 20:9-26. Memory Text: Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it (Luke 19:41, NKJV). The last week of Jesus’ earthly life unfolded in Jerusalem. What tumultuous events marked that week too: the triumphal entry; Jesus weeping over … Continue reading –>
Mongolia Abba: Abba, a young man living in a village in northern Mongolia, felt powerless to change the downward spiral of his life. Then his friend introduced him to God. Here he shares his personal testimony. Before I became a Christian I lived a really worldly life. I drank; I smoked; and I stole things … Continue reading –>
Of the poor in spirit Jesus says, Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom is not, as Christ’s hearers had hoped, a temporal and earthly dominion. Christ was opening to men the spiritual kingdom of His love, His grace, His righteousness. The ensign of the Messiah’s reign is distinguished by the likeness of the … Continue reading –>
Read Acts 1:1-8. What important truths about the kingdom of God are being expressed here? The kingdom of God was foremost in the mind of Luke as he wrote a sequel to his Gospel, in the form of a brief history of the early church. In the opening lines of that historical account, the book … Continue reading –>
When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, He spoke of two certainties: (1) God’s activity through Christ in history to save humanity from sin and (2) God’s closure of history by restoring the saved to His original plan-to live with Him forever in the earth made new (Rev. 21:1-3). The first, as already noted, … Continue reading –>
Jesus came proclaiming the kingdom of God. In His first public proclamation at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21) Jesus affirmed that through Him that day Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy of the kingdom and its redeeming ministry had been inaugurated. Luke records another saying that attests the kingdom’s present reality. Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom would come, … Continue reading –>
What do the following texts teach us about what citizenship in the kingdom of God is about? Luke 18:16-30; Luke 12:31-33; Luke 9:59-62 Entry into the kingdom of God is not dependent on one’s status or position, or one’s riches or the lack thereof. Luke, along with other Gospel writers, points out that one must come to … Continue reading –>
The Gospels are replete with references to the kingdom of God, all cumulatively testifying that a new order has been inaugurated in and through Jesus. What does Luke 11:2 say about the kingdom of God? Whose kingdom is it, and why is that so important? To say that this kingdom is God’s is not just … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 11:2; Luke 1:32-33; Luke 18:16-30; Luke 17:23-24; Rev. 21:1-3; Luke 21:34-36. Memory Text: They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:29, NKJV). The kingdom of God is a major theme and a … Continue reading –>
