By Not Known
The kingdom of God is a common phrase of Jesus and his teaching. What is this kingdom and what does it mean to pray for its coming?
The kingdom of God has been defined as God’s rule over God’s people in God’s place. This theme can be traced from one end of the Bible to the other and used to ‘unpack’ the key movements in the ‘creation, fall, redemption’ pattern of God and humanity.
God’s king is central to his kingdom. The Old Testament has big promises about a future king of David’s line who will have an endless kingdom (2 Sam 17:12-16). Zechariah is one of many prophets speaking of this king’s coming and describing his kingdom (Zech 9:9-10). Matthew introduces Jesus to us as God’s king (Mat 2:2-6). Jesus’ first sermon was to announce that the kingdom was at hand and to command that we enter it by repentance (Mat 4:17).
God’s promised king came in Jesus. He came to inaugurate the kingdom in his Cross and he will come again to consummate it at that time when every knee shall bow and acknowledge his Lordship (Phil 2:10-11).
The prayer your kingdom come has present and future aspects.
Its present aspect has inward and outward dimensions. The outer dimension is that more and more people enter the kingdom by obeying the command to repent and believe in Jesus. The inner dimension is that every part of our life is presented to God as a sacrifice under King Jesus’ rule (Rom 12:1-2). In short, we are to be loyal to our king in every part of our life and to seek to bring others under Jesus’ rule. Do we really mean that when we pray this part of the Lord’s Prayer?
The future aspect of your kingdom come is bound up with the end of things when God is all in all and all is subject to God (1 Cor 15:28). This is echoed in the final words of our Bible: Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20).
Your kingdom come: Let us give our prayer integrity by submitting to Christ as king in every part of our life; seeking to bring others into his kingdom, and by pinning our greatest hopes on his return and rule.