Matthew 19:13-15

The Creation Mandate and God’s Plan for the World

If you want to, you can go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter 19. It'll take us a while to get there, but we will eventually get there. Matthew chapter 19. I made some extra notes in my notes with my pen that are about that small, so I'm gonna wear my glasses this morning so I can see them and hopefully remember to say them.

So I want to take a quick survey this morning before we get started. In my experience, there are two kinds of travelers. The first kind is the person, if you're leaving your home and you're going on vacation, the first kind of traveler is the one who likes to put the pedal to the metal and get to their destination as quickly as possible.

So if you're that kind of traveler, raise your hand. You don't want to wait. You want to get there. The second kind of traveler is the one that likes to take their time and enjoy the journey and see what all's out there to see on the way to the destination.

If you're that kind of traveler, raise your hand. I want to see who it is. All right. I would be the second type of traveler, the one who likes to take their time and to to see all there is to see on the way to the destination.

I try to convey this last time, but in a different way. It's my joy and hopefully yours that I take you along the journey to see how we we get to where we're going. What I hope we experience is a glorious view of God's splendor, his radiant glory, his majesty, and his beauty.

This first section will be about the balanced believer. The second section will be our passage, Kingdom Kiddos, and the last section will be going global. We've all heard from nutritionists for many years that if we have the appropriate proportions of the right kinds of food on our plate, then we'll be healthy.

And I believe the same thing is true for us in our spiritual diet and our Bible intake. As pastors of SBC, I believe that we would all agree that our main diet coming from the pulpit would be expository preaching.

In other words, verse by verse explaining the text and then making an appropriate application. While verse by verse preaching should be the main diet coming from the pulpit should hold the the largest portion on our plate, there's at least two traps that we can fall into with expository preaching.

I know the past times that I've preached, I've reminded us that Matthew is the gospel of the kingdom and that Matthew is trying to show us that Jesus is King. We've taken the context, we've taken the theme, and we've looked at our passages, yet there's a temptation when we go verse by verse to be so narrow and nearsighted that we only reflect on the immediate application.

Then, number two, we miss the greater application or the bigger purpose concerning what God has done, what he's doing, and what he is going to do in this world. So we need to be a balanced believer. And that is what our passage this morning has done for me.

I want us to look at the greater biblical context. I want to look at his plan and what he has done to accomplish that plan. Then I want to appropriate this as an additional part of our diet so that when we look at our passage, we not only take the interpretation and application of the immediate context, but also keep in mind the greater context of the Bible and what God's doing in the world, what he's been doing, what he's going to do in the world.

First, I want to start out with, and remember I'm taking us on this journey of how we got to where we're going. I want to start out with the New Testament in John. We know in chapter 1, all things, and this is how John states it, all things that were made that were made were made by Jesus.

And we also read that all things were made by him, for him, and through him. So knowing that, we know that in Genesis, Jesus was there. He was there when man was introduced into the world. That was Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve were given what we call the creation mandate. Go, fill the earth, and subdue it. They weren't to stay in the garden perpetually, but to leave it and fill the earth. And I think that we should understand, without it being written down, that when they were to leave and fill the earth, that they were to take God with them when they did.

They were to fill the earth for God's glory and to subdue the earth for God's glory. But because of man's, Adam and Eve's, disobedience, sin entered the world. However, God's command and plan had not changed.

Man was forced out of the garden and was not welcomed back in. They did go out. They began to fill the earth, but because of their sin, it was now very difficult and not very good. Because of sin, man was tempted not to take God with them, and many did not.

The hearts of men were evil and they sinned continuously. However, God always had a remnant. God destroyed the earth with a flood due to man's sin and saved Noah and his family. Again, God told Noah to go fill the earth.

And of course, they should have taken God with them. Population grew, but again, they failed to obey God to fill the earth. They decided to stay in one place and build a tower to heaven. Keeping with his plan, God dispersed them and confused the languages.

God's plan and concern for his created world never changes, though man again and again goes far from him. What we're learning is that man is unable. Therefore, God intervenes. He narrows his focus, chooses a remnant, so that through them, the world might be saved.

God promises Abraham a land, that he will be the father of many nations. Then we have Jacob, who becomes Israel, and from him we have the twelve tribes of Israel. We have Moses, whom God uses to take his people out of slavery to the promised land.

God gives them his law through Moses and then promises to Moses that one day, one will come that is greater than him. Generally, the rest of the story is God keeping his remnant together despite their best efforts to mess it up, so that through them, he might save his created world.

Then you have Mary. Excuse me. From Genesis to Malachi, God continuously reveals a promise that through them, one would come to save the world, so that he could fill his created world for his own glory.

Then you have Mary, whose lineage could be traced back all the way to the beginning, and she was literally given that promise. You will bear a son. His name will be called Emmanuel, which is God with us.

He shall save his people from their sins, and the increase of his kingdom, there will be no end. John 3 .17 says that he did not come to judge the world, but that through him the world might be saved.

And of course, we know John 3 .16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that everyone believing in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus accomplished this by his life, his death, and resurrection.

Victoriously, he ascends to heaven where he is seated at the right hand of God. Jesus' work and ascension provided the ability for his people to now be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to obey what they could not do before.

Now he sends his people, us, to go out and fulfill this creation mandate, to fill the earth by God's means and by God's power, to go fill the earth for God's glory and to subdue the earth for God's glory.

Matthew 28 .19 -20 says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded, and I will be with you even to the end of the age.

Jesus, remember how we talked about that they were to go and fill the earth, that they should be taking God with them. Here in this case, now, not only are we empowered by the Holy Spirit to go and do what we couldn't do before, Jesus says, I'm with you even to the end of the age.

Jesus promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us, and he gives us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we can take God with us as we go and fill the earth. This is part of the greater context of the whole Bible.

This agenda and work is God's plan and will. If we want to be in God's will and be doing his plan, when we look at our verses and we interpret them and try to look at the application, we will keep this in mind, this greater biblical context, what God is doing in the world as we look at our verses and make an interpretation and an application.

The Gospel of John and the Book of 1 John as Interpretive Guides

The next context here that I want to look at is the book context, and these examples should just take a moment. And I know we're in Matthew, but I can't help but look at the book of John as an example, because he is so clear about his intentions of why he's writing his book.

So if you look at John chapter 20 verse 31, he says, but these things have been written, what things? Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4. These things I have written to you so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

So when I read John chapter 1, John chapter 2, John chapter 3, and so on, I'm keeping this in mind, why he wrote the book. And he does the same thing in 1 John 5 13. These things I read to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.

Of course, knowing all this helps me to interpret the book of John, the book of 1 John, make appropriate application, and keep in mind the greater biblical context and putting it all together so that we know that we are we are going in God's will, going in God's plan.

Matthew as the Gospel of the Kingdom

Now let's take a look at Matthew. And I'll state it again. We know that Matthew is gospel of kingdom. He's showing us that Jesus is the long-awaited, anointed, appointed King. And Matthew is not structured chronologically as other other Gospels are.

But it seems that Matthew's goal is to put events together to where their theology, their teaching, is similar. So there's that connection there between events with the teaching that Jesus is giving. When I when I preached last time, my text was Matthew 17 1 through 13.

Yet I wanted to bring in the end of chapter 16, not just because, as Matthew does, he he's teaching us from the Old Testament and showing us how it relates, but also I believe that the end of Matthew 16 was the foundation leading us into Matthew 17.

And then we can go on to Matthew 18. Even though it's covering the same event, the different sections are related theologically or in their teaching. If you look at Matthew 18 6, we are told it will be better for a millstone to be hung around a person and thrown into the sea rather than causing a little one to stumble.

Verses 8 through 11, we are dealing with sin and not stumbling. Verses 12 through 14, we are dealing with one among the many who's gone astray. They've sinned. Then the man finds him and rejoices. And that leads us to the section that Pastor Rob took us last week on church discipline.

We find practical application from those parables in the passage that Rob took us to and led us through last week. Rob calls us to look at, from that passage, sin, confronting sin, the one who has gone astray, going after that sinner and winning him back, continuing with the flow.

We get to our chapter, chapter 19. And then the question, a question about sin is addressed, specifically divorce. Pastor Chris is going to walk us through that section next time we're together. However, we learn in that passage, eventually, Jesus' ideal for marriage, a godly marriage will lead to godly parents who lead or take their children to Jesus.

Kingdom Kiddos and the Meaning of Childlikeness

Now we're at the kingdom kiddos section. I want to look at our passage, and I will look at three, and in my estimation, legitimate interpretations for this passage. And my hopes is that we can take this passage again, understand it in accordance with its context, and also bring in the greater context of what God is doing in the world.

So let's look at our passage. Matthew chapter 19, 13 through 15. Then some children were brought to him so that he might lay his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to me.

For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. After laying his hands on them, he departed from there. Now the first interpretation that we sometimes see here is of someone who is doing a topical study, and they're specifically asking the question, are children going to be in heaven?

So they do their word search. They'll look up the word children. They'll look up the word heaven, and what happens? This passage, this verse, will show up as a result in their searching. And there it is.

The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Now in my estimation, I think this is the least accurate interpretation for this passage, but would I argue with them? No, because there's plenty of other passages in Scripture that are leading us to believe and know that when a child dies, he is in the presence of the Lord.

So I'm not going to argue with that interpretation. These next two, I think, are going to be the more accurate interpretations of this passage. The first one is going to be a more spiritual translation or interpretation.

Jesus has taught us that we should see reality, and I think this is important. Jesus has taught us that we should see reality and interpret Scripture through the truth and leading of the Holy Spirit. And you probably heard this interpretation before, and just like we've been reminded about how Matthew organizes his book, we don't have to look any further for an interpretation here other than going a few verses back to the beginning of Matthew chapter 18.

So if you'll flip over to Matthew chapter 18 verses 1 through 4, and then again, this is going to be our spiritual interpretation of the passage. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and said, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And he called a child to himself and set him before them and said, truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom.

Jesus called a little child to come to him as an illustration. Just as in the feeding of the four and five thousands where children are mentioned, I believe that men were bringing their whole families to follow Jesus, to hear his teaching, and to see his miracles.

In response to the disciples' question about being the greatest, Jesus first tells them that they must be converted. This is not a conversion as in being born again for salvation. This is more like repenting.

They must change their heart and mindset about who they are and the realities of their kingdom. And they must change their mind about their motivation about the kingdom. And this morning I wanted to make a side note here about this word conversion or being converted.

Before I looked at this paper this morning, I was praying and I noticed that when I'm praying, before I preach, when I'm asked to preach and I'm praying before I preach, I've noticed that I pray with more desperation than I do other times.

Because I know that if anything positive is gonna come from me being up here, it's got to come from God and not me. But then I began to think, why do I not pray with that same desperation every day when I wake up?

Because it's more than just if anything positive is gonna happen that day, it's got to come from God. If I'm going to breathe, if I'm going to live, if I'm going to obey God, obey Christ, it's got to come from him and not me.

So I need to be converted. I need to have a changed mind about how I pray and not just pray in desperation when I'm asked to preach, but to pray in desperation every day because I need God every day. I can't rely on myself.

Jesus uses this child to show them in the illustration that their spiritual attitude must reflect that of the physical stature and the nature of the child. When we get to our passage in 19, the disciples, 13 through 15, the disciples should be remembering this lesson taught just a few moments ago, that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

If your interest is a being in the kingdom, you must humble, you must be humble, fully dependent, and must come to him with open arms, not having a grip of trust of anything in this world, only Christ.

Third and lastly, I think we can observe a physical, the physical reality of the kingdom in this passage. Let's first look at the nature of the kingdom of heaven. Do you remember Matthew chapter 3 verse 2?

This is John the Baptist, and he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Or in Mark 115, this is Jesus. He says, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.

And also Jesus' response to Pilate, what was it? In John 18, 36, he says, my kingdom is not of this world. When Jesus is speaking of his kingdom and of heaven, he is not referring to an ethereal place in an invisible spiritual realm where children live.

In comparison to the world, Jesus is speaking to the nature of his kingdom. In other words, its power, its authority is from heaven. Jesus' kingdom operates with the power and instruction from heaven, not how the worldly kingdoms operate.

There's a distinction, there's a difference. God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, works differently than the world's kingdom. And now, its reality and its presence is here. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The kingdom of Adam, the kingdom of Noah, the kingdom of Abraham, the kingdom of Israel could not accomplish God's plan for his created world. This work can only be accomplished by the kingdom of heaven, ruled by King Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit.

The nature of growth or means of accomplishing this feeling of the earth was to be reproduction, multiplying. Having more children is what it was referring to. And we say, huh? I thought we grew the kingdom with the gospel.

I say yes to both. Let me give you an example. Here's my illustration. And I got permission this morning to use Brother Rob, Pastor Rob, as an illustration. So let's say that Rob over here, he's a heathen, and I want to share the gospel with Rob over here.

But if Miss Barbara didn't have Rob, there wouldn't be a Rob to share the gospel with. To share the gospel with someone, there's got to be someone there to share the gospel with. So we're thankful for Barbara, who had Rob, so that someone shared the gospel with him, and now he is serving with us, and he's a pastor of First Baptist Newton.

So as I go to heathen Rob, and I share the gospel, and he becomes converted, he's born again by the power of God, I take him then to Matthew chapter 19, and I show Brother Rob now God's ideal for marriage, that Jesus desires godly husbands and godly wives, and godly husbands and godly wives produce godly fathers and godly mothers, and godly fathers and godly mothers lead or take their children to Jesus.

Thankfully, they're here with us, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these, and the hope is, the hope, we know it doesn't happen in every circumstance, but the hope is, by reproduction, physically and spiritually, that they will become godly husbands and godly wives, which will produce godly fathers and godly mothers, and now we have a third generation of children that are being led and taken to Jesus, in hopes that he too will be a godly husband and a godly father, and lead his children to Jesus.

Going Global Through Families, Light, and the Great Commission

Now we get to the going global section. Just as we have been doing in this last part, I think it's natural for us to combine the physical look at the kingdom and the spiritual look at the kingdom, as scripture does.

Genesis chapter 12, Abraham was promised that in him all of the families of the earth will be blessed. Can you see how God is using families to bless other families to accomplish his plans on this earth?

Isaiah 42 6, Israel was told that they were appointed as a covenant people as a light to the nations. Isaiah 49 6, I will also make you a light to the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

Isaiah 63, 60 verse 3, nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. You have physical families that make up a physical kingdom, and the purpose of this kingdom of Israel was to be a spiritual light to the nations, to the whole earth, that they would shine the light of God and this light would draw people in.

John 8 12, Jesus says, I am the light of the world and he who follows me will have the light of life. Acts 13 47 quotes Isaiah 49 6 that we just read, I will make you a light to the Gentiles so that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.

Acts 26 23, as to whether the Christ was to suffer and whether as first from the resurrection of the dead he would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. As individuals, as families, and as a church, let us not be disciples who hinder little ones from coming to Christ.

When we disobey Christ, when we rebel against his kingdom, when we're seeking our own agenda for our life or for this church, or when we do nothing and just coast, we are going against God's plan and we are being a hindrance to those little ones that would come to Christ.

We have the Word of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit. May we lose our grip on anything we trust in in this world other than Christ. God has given us to each other. I am here for you and you are here for me, to spur one another on toward love and good works.

Let's help each other be godly husbands, godly wives, godly fathers, and godly mothers. May we be champions at leading our children to Jesus. May we also be a church that shines the light of Christ, seeking spiritual children from the nations.

Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Therefore, if the kingdom of heaven is going to fill the earth, we can either be a hindrance or be a light. Let's be that light in all we do.

Jesus lived the life that we couldn't live to please God. He died the death that we deserve to receive the wrath of God for our sins in our place. Jesus died, was buried, but rose and was victorious over death, hell, and the grave.

He ascended to the glory of God where he sits at God's right hand and rules the nations. Now, to see the kingdom of God, we must repent of our sins and put our faith and trust in the life, work, and person of Jesus Christ.

Go now and disciple the nations. Love your wives as Christ loved the church. Respect your husbands. Train up your children in the way they should go. Spur one another on in these good works. Share the gospel.

Be the light to the nations and not a hindrance. Let's pray together. Father, this is your world. You created it, and it's your plan. May we flee from trying to seek our own agenda for our own lives, for our church, and for this world.

May we flee from trusting in anything other than Christ. May we flee from trying to find our salvation in money or the political realm in any certain political party, but salvation, victory is only found in Christ.

Father, help us as individuals, help us as families, help us as a church to cling to Christ, to keep our eyes on heaven, to be in your will and your plan of what you're doing here on this planet, to see your kingdom multiply, your kingdom fill the earth so that your glory will fill the earth.

We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.