In the Lord’s Prayer, the second request is to ask for God’s kingdom to come. We may think we know what it means, but on closer examination it requires more effort—what is a kingdom? Does God really have one? If so, where is it? And how can a kingdom move? If it can’t move, how can it “come”? Let’s explore some of these questions:
Doesn’t God rule everywhere?
Jesus commands us to ask God for God’s kingdom to come. Fundamentally, this is asking God to rule. But for those of you already familiar with the Bible, you probably know that it says that God already rules over all the earth—over the whole universe! This is true. (Psalm 97:9) But does God actually get to do all he wants to do with the earth? No. That’s because he handed the rule of the earth off to someone else—humanity.
Right from the beginning of creation God promised humanity the rule of the earth (Psalm 8). But humanity hasn’t done with the earth what God wanted—they made the rules themselves instead of listening to God. So we chose our own rulers—and we chose Death and Satan (Genesis 3; Hebrews 2:14). And so God’s rule was thwarted on earth, and the whole planet is ruled by rebels to God. Which would be okay, I guess, if they had humanity’s and the earth’s best interest at heart. But they don’t.
What is God’s kingdom?
So that’s our situation. We are on a planet stuck with bad rulers. And these bad rulers created the mess that we live in everyday (Romans 5:14). So what else is new, you might say. Well, the new thing is that God hasn’t given up on us. He is interested in changing this situation. God will get rid of the lousy rulers and put his perfect ruler in charge who is interested in helping everyone, not just himself—Jesus Christ (Daniel 2:44; Revelation 5:9-12). God will deal with all the bad people and the mess that we live in and just get rid of it (Psalm 37:11-12). God will give benefits to the humble who trust in Him in the midst of this perpetual crisis (Matthew 5:3-10). And He will make everything new—turn it all upside down and inside out (Isaiah 65:17-24). God is going to establish a new reality out of this chaotic, evil jungle. And that change, that utopia is called the Kingdom of God.
That’s right. So when we are praying for Kingdom Come, we are praying for this mess humanity has created to be re-made new—something good in God’s imagining. But we need to recognize that Jesus is telling us to pray for this. He isn’t telling us to create democracies to make this kingdom come. He isn’t telling us to enact tough love to make the kingdom come. He isn’t telling us to build a lot of churches to make the kingdom come. He is telling us to pray. Why? Because the kingdom won’t come by our effort, but only when God is ready for it to happen. God’s kingdom is God’s work, and our main participation in that work is through prayer. (Psalm 146:3-10)
God’s kingdom—Today
So if we were looking for God’s kingdom, how would we recognize it? Does God have an embassy that we can visit or a website? Well, yes and no. First of all, we recognize God’s kingdom because it looks like what Jesus talked about. Jesus said that God’s kingdom would be helping the poor (Luke 12:33). That it would be forgiving people who don’t deserve it simply because they repent (Luke 17:3-4). That it would be filled with people who live according to God’s righteous standard (Matthew 12:50). That it would be characterized by healings and words directly from God (Mark 16:16-17). That it would be loving and merciful (John 13:34-35). It is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
“Hey,” some people say, “that sounds like the church.” Well, I would offer a corrective to that. It sounds like how the church is supposed to be, but it is in only a few places. That is why we are asking for God’s kingdom to come. It isn’t here yet. It has started, and it’s growing but it is still pretty small compared to the amount of people who claim to be a part of God’s kingdom.
So how can we participate in God’s kingdom? Two ways—first of all, we willingly submit to Jesus, the leader of God’s kingdom. If we commit ourselves to Him, then he will help us to be a part of the solution, not the problem (Acts 2:35). Secondly, we need to receive the Spirit of God from Jesus (John 14:26). The Spirit is the only one who can help us live out the ideal. Thus, when we pray “Your kingdom come” we are really praying, “God put your Spirit in my life so I am a part of that kingdom now.”
God’s kingdom—Coming
As great as this community of God’s Spirit is, it is still not complete. God’s kingdom will not be completed until God is completely in charge of the whole earth. Sure, ruling over a bunch of outcasts is great, but it’s not what God really is looking for. He wants all that is owed to him—the whole thing.
And God has that in his plans. His plan is to have every single human being—both living and dead—recognize that Jesus’ is the only true ruler over the earth under the Father (Philippians 2:10-11). And this can only take place with a cataclysmic event—the destruction of the current world order. God will set aside all the rulers of the world and establish his own ruler (Revelation 19:1-16). Then the dead will have to be raised, and every human being will bow to Jesus as the Lord over the earth (Matthew 25:31-32). Then Jesus will choose those who were most merciful and humble and righteous before God and will establish them as rulers with him (I Peter 5:6).
This great event hasn’t happened yet, but every time we pray “Your kingdom come” we are asking for God to make it happen. So if you like the governments and system of the world the way they are, you need to stop praying the Lord’s prayer. Heck, you need to stop following Jesus, if that’s the case, because he’s looking to take over. But if you forsake Jesus, you won’t be ready when the change does come. So be ready by following Jesus. (Matthew 24:42-25:13)
What is God waiting for?
So why hasn’t this event happened yet? Well, God is waiting for a few thing to happen: First, he needs to allow the governments of the world to become corrupt enough that they are ready to be brushed aside. When they all oppress God’s people, then they will be ready (Revelation 6:10-11). Second, he needs to have his people purified from sin and dependant on Him for obedience so they will be ready to rule. And third, he is waiting on those whom he loves and has chosen to repent so his people will be complete with them (II Peter 3:3-9). Yes, God has waited two thousand years—but if he had come twenty years ago, would you have been ready for him?
The real question is: are you ready now? To pray “your kingdom come” is to claim readiness for God. For God to come into your life and change it to His liking. For God to come into the world and change it forever. Are you ready for that? If you are, then we can pray the Lord’s prayer together.
Kingdom Come is God’s Spirit ruling in our lives.
Kingdom Come is God’s Son ruling over the earth.
Are we ready?
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