“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9b-10
What wonderful words Jesus uses to teach his disciples to pray! He begins by teaching them to approach God as Father in heaven and to hallow his name. He proceeds to teach recognition of the Father as King over a kingdom. And we are taught to pray that his kingdom will come to where it isn’t.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the kingdom of God as “the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled.” In heaven God’s will is fulfilled in a positive sense. There is no rebellion or resistance to his will only joyful and glad obedience. In heaven his will is recognized as good, acceptable and perfect. On earth God’s will is generally fulfilled in a negative sense. When the human race fell through a single act of disobedience, God in anger and justice exercised his sovereign will on earth by turning people over to be ruled by their own desires apart from him. It will continue this way in a broad sense until the Lord Jesus comes again and establishes his positive rule on earth.
When we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we are praying that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are praying that He would reestablish his positive rule on earth. The broad global answer to this is future but within our individual realms we can see the positive rule of God on earth in the present. I pray that God’s rule would come today to me, to my family, to loved ones around me, to those I know who are ruled by their fallen nature. Father-King make our realms today the realms in which your good, acceptable and perfect will is fulfilled!
No comments:
Post a Comment