Now
after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of
God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1.14-15
That’s how Jesus began His ministry
among us, by preaching about the kingdom of God. This is a bigger theme of His
ministry than what most have noticed. And its importance to Jesus is reflected
in this: Of all the items for prayer that He could have included in His model
for prayer, He included a petition about the Father’s kingdom.
Thy
kingdom come. Matthew 6.10
This morning we’re going to take a
look at this petition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Since the theme of the kingdom of God
isn’t well known we’re going to start by spending some time exploring it. And
to do that, as is so often the case, we need to go back to the Garden.
Listen to how God described what life
was to be about for Adam and Eve.
Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock
and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
Genesis 1.26
The word that I want to look at here
is ‘dominion’. Adam and Eve were granted dominion over creation. What does this
dominion mean? It’s about lordship. Adam and Eve were created as lords over
creation. They were to rule. And they were to do that in such a way that all
the possibilities that God had built into His creation would come to full
expression. God gave Adam and Eve a kingdom to rule - under His authority and
for His glory. This was a kingdom that was to start in the Garden and spread
from there until it filled all of creation. The kingdom of God.
But then, sadly, they sinned. And that
ruined everything. As a result, they were exiled from that kingdom, the Garden,
no longer to have dominion over creation as God had intended. You could say
that they were dethroned.
This doesn’t mean, however, that the
world was not ruled by anyone. Actually, there was a usurper who seized rule.
He set up his own kingdom. And humanity yielded to his rule and followed him as
their lord. And, of course, I’m referring here to Satan.
Listen to how Scripture labels him.
Jesus said,
I
will no longer talk much with you, for the
ruler of this world is coming. John
14.30
And note how Paul describes Satan and
his demons.
For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic
powers over this present darkness… Ephesians 6.12
There was still a kingdom after Adam
and Eve forfeited their roles as rulers. But it was no longer God’s kingdom. It
was Satan’s kingdom. Our first parents had lost the kingdom of God, and Satan
took over. He built quite a kingdom, enslaving to his rule almost all of
humanity.
But then, Jesus shows up. And what is
His message? Most assume that His message was about the cross, that He preached
the gospel of His death and resurrection. But was that what happened?
Listen to how Matthew describes what Jesus
did.
And
he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming
the gospel of the kingdom… Matthew
4.23
Jesus came to re-establish the kingdom
of God. The cross was not a goal but a means to a goal. It was the means to
restoring the kingdom. Consider what so many of His parables were about. They
were descriptions of different aspects of the kingdom of God. The parables of
the sower, of the weeds, of the mustard seed and many others - what are they
about? They are all about the kingdom. Jesus taught about the kingdom much,
much more than He taught about the cross.
This explains Satan’s temptations of
Jesus. Consider this one.
Again,
the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if
you will fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4.8-9
Satan offered Jesus the rule of all
the nations. He offered Him a kingdom. It would be just like Adam and Eve in
the Garden - except Jesus would rule to the glory of Satan.
Take all this and listen again to how
Matthew ends his Gospel.
And
Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28.18-19
Having defeated Satan at the cross and
the empty tomb, Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father. He has
regained the lordship over all of creation that Adam and Eve had lost. Jesus is
the new Adam, and He rules the kingdom of God.
So, as Matthew has written, Jesus
tells His apostles, and the Church they led, to spread the news to all the
nations about the new ruler. Jesus is Lord.
Jesus began to restore that kingdom
while He walked this earth. He will complete that restoration using us, His Church.
His return will occur when that restoration is complete. The ministry of Jesus,
from beginning to end, is about the kingdom of God.
All of that was background so that you
can understand what Jesus wants you to pray: Thy kingdom come. We are to pray that
the work that Jesus began in re-establishing the kingdom of God would be
completed, that the kingdom in its completed fulness would come.
This helps to explain the work of the
Church. It is about more than getting a bunch of people into heaven. It is
about retaking the world from Satan and those who are with him. It is about
conquering 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 2.10-11
And Paul describes what happens when
all the conquering is over.
Then
comes the end, when [Jesus] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after
destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he
has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is
death. 1 Corinthians 15.24-26
The kingdom of God is to be fully
restored under Jesus’ authority. Every opposing Satanic rule will be destroyed.
And then, even death is destroyed. And that’s when Jesus’ mission is complete.
That’s when the kingdom of God has come.
This explains what you are doing when
you pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’. You are praying that that final day of Jesus’
complete conquest and full kingdom restoration would arrive.
So, do I end here by simply telling
you to pray those words? Clearly not, because prayer is so much more than
saying the right words. Prayer is to be an expression of the heart. For a
Christian to properly pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’, those words need to come from a
heart that is yearning for this work of Jesus, this restoring of the kingdom,
to be completed. It is to come from a heart that longs to see the Father once
again enjoy His kingdom.
And this is where there is a problem.
When you look at the Church in America, there isn’t the longing for that day
that there should be. And why is that? It’s because far too many Christians are
far too rooted in this life instead of the life to come, in this world instead
of the world to come. And so, God’s kingdom can wait.
Listen to how John reacted to this
sort of living.
Do
not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of
the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the
Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its
desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2.15-17
I remember talking with a Christian
some time ago about Jesus’ return. In response to what I said, she told me that
it will be great when Jesus returns, but she would like it if He were to wait
until after her daughters were married. She didn’t want to miss out on that.
God’s kingdom can wait.
There are too many ways in which the
saints can be so very tied to this life. Few understand and imitate John’s
passion when he ended Revelation with these words.
Come,
Lord Jesus! Revelation 22.20
There are those who misunderstand this
desire for His coming. They see it simply as escape. Life is too hard, so pray
for Jesus to return so that the difficulties will end. But that’s not what’s
going on. That’s not what John’s passion was about. It’s about seeing Jesus’
mission completed so that the Father will be honored as He deserves. It’s about
seeing the kingdom come to the glory of God the Father.
So, what are we to do so that we can
pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’, and do that in the way that it needs to be prayed? We
need to pray for our praying. We need to pray for a passion for His coming so
that, like John, we can plead, with great feeling, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’.
A big part of that is to pray that we
would see the allurements of this world for what they are, things that are
passing away, things that will be replace by what is better, much better. Does
anyone really think that the joy and happiness of something like a wedding can
happen only here?
At the heart of this is praying for a
renewed mind to understand reality more accurately. That’s what John was
talking about when he wrote about the foolishness of loving the world. That
comes from a lack of understanding reality, a lack of understanding that such
things do not satisfy and are fading away.
It is as we understand reality, as we
understand this world and this life for what they really are, as we understand
the Gospel of the kingdom, that there will be a passion to see Jesus finish His
mission and return. It is when people see reality clearly that things change.
Paul understood that.
For
the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to
destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised
against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ… 2
Corinthians 10.4-5
Satan has been busy deceiving people
with his lies so that they cannot see reality. Their thinking has been twisted.
The gospel of the kingdom spreads as thoughts that were once foolishly
rebellious are taken captive, taken captive to obey Jesus as Lord of the
kingdom.
And this change starts with us, with
our thoughts. And that ‘us’ includes the kids here. They need to be trained so
that their every thought is captive to obey Jesus. They need to see the reality
of this world and the reality of the kingdom.
Now, how does this warfare that Paul
wrote about happen? What does it look like? John was given a magnificent image
of these battles.
Then
I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are
like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name
written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood,
and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of
heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white
horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the
nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he
has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19.11-16
Here is Jesus, and He is leading the
armies of heaven. He is making war on the nations, those who rebel and reject
God’s kingly authority. And what is His weapon? As Paul wrote, it is not of the
flesh. John describes a sharp sword. But notice where it comes from: His mouth.
Jesus’ weapon is His Word. Paul calls this ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is
the word of God’. Nations are conquered as thoughts are taken captive by the
Word. The gospel of the kingdom conquers as the Word of God is spread. And that
is what has been happening for the last two thousand years.
Jesus is spreading His Word by
preaching and other forms of proclamation. But also He has another way that His
Word is spread. He also uses changed lives, the changed lives of those whose
thoughts have been taken captive.
There is a passage in the Bible that
has fascinated me for the longest time. It’s from Peter’s second letter in a
section where he is teaching about the end of this world.
Since
all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be
in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the
day of God… 2 Peter 3.11-12
What has stood out to me is that how
we saints live can hasten the coming of the day of God. How we live can make it
happen sooner. I find that mind-boggling. But there it is.
And Peter picks a couple words to
describe the kind of living that he has in mind, holiness and godliness.
Remember that holiness is about being special, set aside, different. And
godliness is about being devout.
So, it is as we lead lives that are
different from those who live for the sake of this world, as we lead lives of
heartfelt devotion to Jesus that we hasten the day when Jesus’ mission to
restore the Father’s kingdom is completed. This is part of our role in the
coming of the kingdom.
So, let me pull this together. What
are you to do? Well, that’s obvious. You are to pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’. But
understand that there is a right way and a wrong way to pray that. So, as part
of your prayers you are to pray that you would believe the part of the Gospel
that is about the kingdom. You are to pray that you would see reality more and
more clearly, the reality of this world and the reality of the kingdom. You are
to pray that you would be changed, that you would lead a life of holiness and
godliness. And you are to pray these things so that when you pray the words, ‘Thy
kingdom come’ you’re praying them in the way Jesus means for you to pray them.
You are to pray these things so that you can say with the passion and
understanding that John had, ‘Come, Lord Jesus!’