Part 2: Gospel, The Kingdom of God breaking through
Gospel,
The Kingdom of God breaking through
Questions:
In Deuteronomy 15:11, God states that the poor will never cease from
the land, what did this indicate about the “Promised Land”?
Reading:
In Isaiah, we read
this passage -
“The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,”
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,”
--Isaiah 61:1,2a
There is something significant to all the passages in
Deuteronomy 15:11 and the rest of the Old Testament that reveals a gut
wrenching, heartfelt concern for the poor and a concern on how God’s people
respond and love those who are in poverty. God in these passages is not only
concerned with the poor, but His heart and love for the poor reveal something
much deeper and much more pervasive. And
even though Israel was coming into the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 15:11, this
was not God’s ultimate plan. The fact that the needy and the poor would not
cease in the land was an indication of that this was not the fulfillment, but
pointed to the fact that God had something more ultimate in mind. . . . Israel
was a shadow of a Kingdom that would break in to our world through the
preaching of the Gospel Jesus Christ.
It’s no coincidence that this passage in Isaiah 61 was
read by Jesus as He was beginning His ministry. Another passage in Isaiah 55, cries out,
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.”
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.”
--Isaiah 55:1
In the real world, it is not just a few who are poor;
we all are poor, and not only poor but utterly destitute and wretched, ugly and
depraved, enslaved and rebellious, blind, broken, and needy. Romans 3 shows us
that none of us escape this poverty -
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
God has ordained
that there be poor, destitute, and orphans in the land, because all of us are
poor and destitute in our sin. The poor are a picture of who we are, in a small
sense, for our poverty and destitution is far greater than any physical need
and even goes into the depths of hell, for in our sin, we are separated from
communion with God. In Christ’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich
man cries out from Hades, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for
I am in anguish in this flame.” This rich man in this parable experienced
poverty, unheard of in this life. And this is our poverty without Christ. A spiritual
poverty that is very real.
All the scriptures in the Old Testament about reaching
out to the poor and needy in the land and the passion we see in the heart of
God towards the poor, demonstrated a need for something more than the nation of
Israel, something greater than the “Promised Land”. And these commands of God
to love the poor, demonstrated that one day God, himself, would with open hands
give himself to poor sinners. God’s passion for the poor comes from His deep
seated passion for the Gospel. God was pointing Israel to the future when a
greater Kingdom would come through the preaching of the Gospel and the true
needs of the poor (us) would be met.
And the Kingdom has come. In ministering to poor, we
get a glimpse of the greater story of Christ’s work to redeem us. Christ
radically saved the spiritually poor through the power of the Gospel. He being
rich lowered himself, and came into our world, becoming poor. He engaged us and
gave himself, even to death on the cross, that we might be rich in Christ. Christ came for the lost, the poor, the
broken, and for sinners. And not only were we poor, but we were also enemies
and rebels, fools and mad, loving the ways of this world more than God. And yet
He loved us first, and He came for us. When we love the poor, we are
demonstrating the Gospel in a very tangible way.
Scripture reading:
Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to
ministering to the poor.
Colossians 1:21-22
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present
you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
Romans 5:6-11
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a
good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now
been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath
of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have now received reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was
rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become
rich.
Questions:
How do the poor and downtrodden relate to the Kingdom of God
breaking through? What picture do we get of the Gospel?
How does the gospel play a part in the poverty?
How does ministry to the poor display the Gospel?
How does this apply to the undeserving poor, who are there on their own
fault?
Resources:
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