Posts Tagged ‘kingdom of God’
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10Matthew 6:10
English: World English Bible - WEB
10 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
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We all know these words so well. Many of us pray them every day – in some cases, several times a day – as part of what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. Yet I wonder whether we really think about what we are saying.
Jesus made it quite clear that He had come to establish a kingdom. His ministry was ushered in by John the Baptist, proclaiming “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Matt 3:2Matt 3:2
English: World English Bible - WEB
2 “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
WP-Bible plugin), and Jesus began His own ministry with those same words (Matt 4:17Matt 4:17
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17 From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
WP-Bible plugin). He was crucified, albeit mockingly, as “King of the Jews.” In between, He lived the lifestyle and taught the precepts of a Kingdom unlike any the world has ever seen.
What is a kingdom? Very simply, it is a group of people governed by a king. It is not subject to geographical boundaries, for wherever the people of the kingdom remain under the king’s government, there is the kingdom. It is only when the people of the kingdom submit themselves to a different government, that they cease to be part of the kingdom, and the kingdom ceases to be represented.
Jesus showed us clearly what the Kingdom of God is about in the second part of this verse: it is about God’s will. God’s Kingdom is a people who live according to God’s will. Every inhabitant of heaven lives perfectly according to God’s will in every area. That is the ideal, also, for this earth. The more closely God’s people here on earth live to that ideal, the more fully God’s Kingdom is established on earth.
So what is God’s will? It is not something arbitrary, outside of God Himself, but is tied to His character. God is holy, so His will is that His people should live in holiness. He is love, so His will is that His people should live in love. This much is obvious.
Perhaps it is not so obvious that Kingship is also part of God’s nature. Kingship is not something that was bestowed upon Him. He did not inherit it through a line of succession. Nor was He voted in to the position of King. To be King is part of His nature – if He were not King, He would not be God.
His Kingship was further enforced and established by Jesus victory at Calvary.
That means that He rules over everything. Every being, every power, every force in heaven, earth and hell must bow the knee before Him. What is the significance of that in the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, for which Jesus commanded us to pray? Simply this: satan and all his forces are subject to God as King. They have been once and all defeated at the Cross. Every time we allow the enemy to prevail in any area of our lives or the lives of those around us, we are failing to establish God’s Kingdom in that situation.
If we want to know what the Kingdom of God should look like on earth, then we need only look at heaven. Is there injustice in heaven? Is there oppression? Poverty? Sickness? If not, then it has no place in the Kingdom on earth. We need to take up our spiritual weapons, and the authority that has been given to us in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and enforce the victory of Jesus over the spirit of injustice, oppression, poverty, sickness, and whatever else defies the rule of the King of kings.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
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There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
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English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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