Your Kingdom Come (Part 1)


I have this weird idea about life statistics. For example, I wonder how many miles I've run in my life. Or how many calories I've eaten. How many times have I sneezed? What are the total number of times my heart has beaten? I'd love to know all of my various life statistics.

I know I've prayed the Our Father or the Lord's Prayer many times. How many? I prayed it a lot in my childhood, and I love to use it these days. I wonder how many times I've actually prayed the Lord's Prayer. I also want to better understand what it means.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

 “Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:7-13 ESV)

 I want to focus on the phrase, "Your kingdom come" in particular and examine what Jesus is helping us understand. What are we asking God when we pray this?

The word for kingdom here in the gospel account of Matthew is the Greek word basileia. 
Basileia means: the realm in which a king sovereignly or supremely rules. 

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus isn't necessarily giving us the exact words we need to pray as much as he is outlining for us why we should pray, and what we should pray for. Jesus is telling us to pray for the coming advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven: God's sovereign rule.

What is God's Kingdom?

 In the Old Testament, the great king David is given a covenant promise from God.

"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” 
(2 Samuel 7:12-16 ESV)

God promises David that a king will come from his lineage. He tells David that this king will be established forever. This king who will rule in God's kingdom forever is the Messiah. Throughout the Old Testament we see signs pointing to the coming of the Messiah to establish God's kingdom forever. The prophet Isaiah beautifully tells us of the Messiah to come:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)

 The coming Messiah will be born a child, and his name shall be called Prince of Peace. He will establish and uphold his kingdom of peace with justice and righteousness. The gospels are the account of the arrival of the Messiah. Jesus is the King God is promising! Jesus is the Messiah!

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-17 ESV)

 Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God! He is the promised Messiah, the King who will establish and rule over God's Kingdom forever. The Kingdom of Heaven is the rule of Jesus Christ as King. This is why John the Baptist came before Jesus. He was announcing that God's King, the Messiah, was coming into the world in the person of Jesus Christ.

Why is Jesus made King of Kings?

The Apostle Paul writes inspired poetry to proclaim the beauty of the exaltation of Christ:

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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 2:6-11 ESV)

Jesus, the eternal Son of God and himself fully God emptied himself and became fully man. As a man he humbled himself perfectly to God's will in obedience. As a man he died on the cross, bearing the wrath of God for sin. Being raised from the dead, Jesus became the lone sacrifice for sins and the source of salvation for all. This is why Jesus says of himself,  "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Having humbled himself completely by becoming obedient to God in all things, Jesus proved himself worthy of being the Messiah. Every other king in Israel's history failed God in some way. Jesus Christ proved himself worthy. Therefore God bestowed on Jesus all rule and power and dominion. Jesus Christ is on the throne. He rules over all the universe.

Jesus prays over his completed work, "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do." (John 17:4 ESV)

 Paul tells us of Jesus' kingly dominion:

 And he [God] put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 
(Ephesians 1:22 ESV)

 God's Kingdom is the rule and reign of Jesus Christ the King. 

When we pray "your kingdom come" we are aligning our hearts with God's mission, which is to advance the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. 

In Part 2 of this blog post, we will examine what God's mission in Jesus Christ is, why we want to advance His mission, and what life in the Kingdom of Christ looks like.

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