(This is the fourth in a series on The Lord’s Prayer.)
“Your Kingdom come. . .”
– Jesus, The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:10)
Jesus’ mountaintop listeners longed for the day when God would become King on earth. They’d had enough of pagan dictators, so they awaited a Messianic warrior who would come to rescue their nation. In contrast to the disciples’ emphasis on an earthly kingdom, Christians today go to the other extreme, believing it only heavenly.
God is King and He rules over a real Kingdom! God’s reign does not only take place in a distant, heavenly realm. Jesus tells us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come on earth – just as it is in heaven. Thus, we pray that God’s sovereign reign would break through space and time, to destroy the wall separating heaven and earth.
Of course, the kingdom was inaugurated through Jesus’ own ministry, although few recognized what was happening. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary, evil was conquered, and the kingdom of God arrived on earth! The empty tomb on Easter morning foreshadowed the promised new world.
So where are we now? If the kingdom already came through Jesus, why is there still pain, injustice, and the stench of death? We believe that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the entire cosmos turned the corner from darkness to light. The darkness still exists, but the light is ahead. The Kingdom arrived with Jesus, but it will fully come when He returns, when God steps in as Judge to banish evil forever and renew His precious creation. Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom – we await the final consummation of the Kingdom upon His return.
Therefore, Jesus calls us to pray for the world’s salvation, for God to renew His world. We pray that Jesus would quickly return to defeat evil once and for all, as He has promised. Today, when we look at the world and the church – the struggles, pain, suffering, persecution, and martyrdom, we pray with all our soul, “God, may Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven! Come, Lord Jesus!”
