The meaning of the petition “Your kingdom come.”December 15, 2022
Prayer is a life-long conversation of seeking God’s holiness, of living like His kingdom is your only existence, and loving His will so as to always desire to obey it.
Psa 27:4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.
Mat 6:9-13 “Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
There is an order to these petitions. The first three glorify the Father. They follow one another by a kind of inevitable, divine necessity. We began by asking that the name of God may be hallowed amongst men. But the moment we pray that prayer we are reminded of the fact that His name is not hallowed in the world. We are confronted with the reason why. Mankind is fallen and born in sin, and continuing to sin by rejecting the gospel and even amongst Christians, selfishness continues in some.
There is another kingdom. The kingdom of darkness whose ruler is the devil and who controls much of what men do, or rather, are willing to do. The kingdom of darkness and the people of the world under its deception, oppose God and who work against God’s glory and honor. But God, from the beginning has promised that he is going to establish His kingdom on the world and in time and that it will be a real, tangible kingdom. But until that time, all who are not of the faithful (believers included) are under the influence of Satan’s kingdom.
The promises of the coming kingdom of God abound in OT prophecy. And since that kingdom is coming, and in our time it is still yet future, it is different than the universal kingdom of God, in which He reigns sovereign over all time. Make no mistake, just because Satan usurped the rule of Adam and that he has ever since been the prince and the power in the air, God has not given up any sovereignty. Satan is allowed to exert influence over the world until the time when God decides that he will not.
This universal kingdom is not exactly identical with that kingdom for which our Lord taught His disciples to pray.
Universal kingdom of God. Psa 103:19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all.
Eph 1:11 who works all things after the counsel of His will
The kingdom for which we are to pray is defined by the next petition, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” What is in heaven is the Father as well as the reality of these first three petitions. In heaven God’s name is glorified as holy. His kingdom is there and His will is perfectly done there. The petitions are for that which is done naturally in heaven would be done here on earth.
So, although the sovereign will of God is done all over the earth under His universal kingdom there is nevertheless a great difference between what is being done in heaven and what is being done on earth. The difference arises out of the fact that rebellion and sin exist upon the earth, sin which was to be dealt with in a way not known to the minds of men nor angels.
Hag 2:6-7 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7 'And I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations; and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord of hosts.
The clearest prophecy which uses the word “kingdom” is in Daniel.
Dan 7:14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”
Psa 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The idea of a kingdom restored to Israel was at the forefront of a lot of minds at the time of Christ. John the Baptist had been preaching that the kingdom of God was at hand and for the people to repent.
The fact is that Jesus is speaking of the kingdom to come upon the earth, which will not come until His second advent, but the prayer is equally poignant and effective for the church. The Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the apostles were all desiring for people to enter into the kingdom of God. For, although it is future, entrance by faith can only happen during a person’s lifetime, and to live in its way and laws is the only life for us. By the law of God, we are not allowed to live any way we want until we physically enter the kingdom. The way, truth, and life of the King is the way, truth, and life of the kingdom, and we know that way now. It will not change in the future.
The second petition, “Your kingdom come,” confronts us with this reality in ourselves and our desire for the kingdom in the hearts of others.
In a kingdom the King reigns. He must reign in our lives.
There is another important term that is associated with kingdom and that is reign. In the kingdom of God, God reigns, and He must reign in our lives and we should hope that He would reign in the life of others as well.
In one way, the kingdom of God has already come with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Mat 12:28-29 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
In another way, it is here now, but not visible. The King and His laws are to be in our hearts.
The King isn’t visible nor are His ways and laws, however the King indwells every believer and His ways and laws can be written on their hearts if they so choose. When His laws are written on our hearts, and in this context written means known and believed and honored, the indwelling Christ dwells at home in our hearts.
Eph 3:14-19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every [the whole] family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
This in no way makes the church a replacement of Israel nor that Israel’s covenant promises will not be given to them literally in the future. It does mean, simply but wonderfully, that the King and His laws are in the hearts of every faithful believer, and groups of believers who know this, serve one another in love, and together become a force multiplier in their communities.
“The kingdom of God is present in the Church, in the heart of all those who are truly Christian. Christ reigns in such people.” [Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 2, p.63]
The day is coming when the kingdom will be established on earth and we are to look for it and long for that day (purifies our thoughts).
But the day is yet to come when His kingdom shall have been established here upon the earth. That day is coming at the second advent of Christ. From the fall of man, the whole of the Bible has looked forward to this day.
And then, the Lord Himself will submit Himself to the Father and hand the kingdom back to the Father.
1Co 15:20-28 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 28 And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.
Peter states that since this is our certain future, what kind of people should we be now.
2Pe 3:8-15 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation;
Notice how Peter tells us to be looking for and hastening that day in vs. 12. Hastening means to earnestly desire it. In no way are we going to affect the timing of God coming kingdom, but we can desire it, and in this way we are constantly reminded that we live in it, in its laws and ways, though it is not yet here. We look for it, which Peter repeats in vs. 14. and further clarifies that looking for it means that we desire to be found by Him “in peace, spotless and blameless” and not disappointed or worrisome about our Lord’s patience, meaning, what seems to be taking Him a long time to do.
So our petition really amounts to this. We should have a great longing and desire that the kingdom of God and of Christ may come in the hearts of men, including our own. For unbelievers, we desire their entrance by faith in the gospel. Our prayer is not going to force someone into salvation, but our prayer confronts our desire. Do we really desire His kingdom to come into the lives of others? If that is true we will be effective witnesses, open, bold, and shining Christ’s light. The Lord wants us to be good ambassadors for Him, and here in His prayer, He is confronting us with this reality. At the same time we are confronted with the reality of the laws and ways of the kingdom of God in our own hearts. It is to this extent that we worship Him, and surrender our lives to Him, and are led by Him.
And, in reference to 2Pe 3:12, when we pray “Your kingdom come” we are indicating that we are looking for and greatly desiring that day, anticipating the day when all evil and sin and wrong and everything that is opposed to God will finally be removed. This shows us how important the content of our thoughts really is. If our hearts are filled with the thoughts of the enormous amount of sin and evil in this world, we will live under a shadow and gloom. If, however, our thoughts are filled with the reality of the kingdom of God, one that actually exists now in heaven and is coming to earth, our lives will be goodness and light and joy.
The meaning of this petition, then, is expressed perfectly at the end of the Book of Revelation.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come."
Rev 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The Spirit and the bride say this. We are the bride and we have the Spirit. We all should be daily longing for this day while we do toil upon the earth, never forgetting that as believers, this kingdom is our certain destiny.
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