There's a man who helped free India from British rule in the 1940's named Gandhi. Now Gandhi was refused membership in a Christian church because of the color of his skin, but he believed in the scriptures and the Sermon on the Mount went straight to his heart.11 Matthew, Chapters 5-7 One day a woman came to Gandhi to get her little boy to stop eating sugar. The woman said to Gandhi, "My son eats sugar. Will you please tell him to quit eating sugar? It is doing him harm. I know he'll obey you." Gandhi thinks it over for a few moments and says, "Please come back next week."
The woman is puzzled, but she knows Gandhi is a wise man so she says, "Okay, we'll come back." Besides, Gandhi is a very busy man. He has salt marches and many things to do. In a week the lady and child return. Gandhi sees them and says, "Child, come over here. Climb up on my knee." The child does so, because the child respects Gandhi. Gandhi jokes with the boy, hugs him and says, "Please don't eat sugar, it is not good for you." The lad says, "Yes, I will do that." Gandhi is quite pleased, the lad jumps down, and the mother comes over shaking her head in unbelief: "I don't understand, Gandhi. It took a whole week just to tell him that. Why didn't you tell my son this a week ago?" Gandhi smiles showing the few teeth in his mouth and replies, "Last week I, too, was eating sugar."
What's the point? Gandhi would not advise anybody to do anything that he himself was not already doing.12 Romans 2:21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? How can you give advice to anybody unless you yourself are of that situation? In other words, I wouldn't invite anybody to do anything that I wasn't doing. And I would give them a few tips so they can avoid some of the pitfalls.
Let's come back to Jesus Christ. Jesus was born under the law. Why? Because we were born under the law. And for Jesus to lead us out of bondage and slavery, we need someone who was in bondage and slavery with us.13 Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Here is Jesus, born under the law, born of the elements, born of a woman, just as we are.14 Galatians 4:3-5 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And when He comes of age at the time appointed by the Father, He announces, "Come! Follow me!"15 Matthew 4:19 And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." What for? Because He's going to take us out!16 Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To preach deliverance to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed, To preach the acceptable year of the LORD." Just like Moses took His people out.17 Exodus 3:9-10 "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
This is a New Covenant! Moses was the First Covenant and Moses took the people out through the First Covenant. But Jesus is the Second Adam18 1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. and Jesus is going to take us out through the Second Covenant, because the First Covenant fell short.19 Hebrews 8:7-8 For if that first Covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." It fell short of what it was intended to do. The people were not released from their bondage. They were not released from men. They were still caught in sin and they were still dying. So God sent the Second Adam, the Christ, and showed us a new way, "Come. Follow me. For the Kingdom is at hand." The Kingdom. What in the world is this Kingdom?
There are many diversions that take us away from seeking Christ's Kingdom. Just what is the Kingdom of Heaven? There are many people around the world claiming to be Christians. Yet, very rarely have I sat in a pew in church and listened to a minister talk about the Kingdom of Heaven. But, if I open up my New Testament, I will find reference after reference to the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. John the Baptist20 Matthew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" and Jesus Christ21 Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." announced, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Repent!" What is this Kingdom of Heaven? What are we going after? "Sell everything you have, and come follow Me."22 Luke 18:22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." What is it?
If He's going to take us out of bondage and out of slavery, the Kingdom must be Liberty!23 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Freedom! But then the people became suspicious, "Hummm! What do you mean I'm not going to be under law? There's no way! You mean I can do anything I want?" No. He recognizes the challenge. He says, "What kind of perverts are you?24 Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Do you think you have the liberty to go and do away with the law? I haven't come to destroy it! I've come to fulfill it!"25 Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." And yet they couldn't understand. How could somebody not be under the law and yet fulfill it?26 Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
To give you a short example, we have a couple go-carts on the Church premises. I've trained children as young as 6 or 7 years old to use them. We step down the power so they can't go very fast. And they're under the law - deeply under the law. I tell them, "See this pedal, it is your brake. This one is your gas. Push this one to stop, push that one to go. This is the steering wheel, if you turn this way it goes left, if you turn that way it goes right. Do you understand?" You must work with them and work with them. They start learning, but they're under the law. I say, "Come. Follow me. I'm your teacher. I'm going to show you how you can fulfill the law of driving this go-cart, without colliding into things." We're not talking about a perverted, demented mind that says, "I have the freedom to do anything I want once we get the go-cart going." No, it's the freedom to exercise the power of the go-cart, to harness the power that's inside that engine and make that machine go where you want to go.
You can take those same children a year later, put them behind that same go-cart, without any instruction and without putting them under the law. They'll slam on that gas, their rear wheels will spin like crazy, gravel will be flying and they'll head down the road. Then they'll do a full spin in the middle and charge back up the road. And they'll perform miracles! Literal miracles on that go-cart. Things that you've never seen before. And the child never broke a single law. He was not under the law, yet he fulfilled it. That's what life is all about.27 Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The Kingdom of Heaven. What is it? It's the place we're going. But some of you will see it before you die.28 Luke 9:27 "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God." Some of you won't. Some of you will backslide, some of you will give up.29 Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Only those who stand until the very end and completely fulfill the law, will see the Kingdom.30 Matthew 24:13 "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." And how glorious that day will be. You have to be changed.31 Philippians 3:8 But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. You can't stay who you are. There's no way. If you want to remain as you are, you've already lost, because your self has to die. Because what you are is wrong. Everything you've strived for, everything you've worked for is wrong. You're going to have to put it away. You're going to have to die whether you like it or not. And, of course, the old always wants to remain alive. But, in order for you to see the Kingdom; there is one requirement - YOU HAVE TO LET ALL THE OLD DIE. LET IT GO. LET IT PASS AWAY.32 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. The Kingdom's only for those who will be reborn.33 John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Those who will return as little children.34 Matthew 18:3-4 and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Those who humble themselves before the Lord and admit that they've fallen short, that they don't know everything there is to know.35 2 Chronicles 7:14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Have you ever witnessed high school students. They finally come to graduation and they think they know everything. "Ah, Mom and Dad, you're a bunch of dumb-dumbs. I've been through school, I have a high school diploma." Yet, they've only begun. And until they change their attitude, or have it changed by a few hard knocks, they have a long, hard road to travel.36 Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. When they finally humble themselves, they'll realize that they have to start all over again, even though they have a diploma that says they have graduated.