Your Kingdom Come 

“Your kingdom come…”
Matthew 6:10 (NKJV) 

WOW! This is one of the most awesome phrases in the whole Bible! It is God’s number one priority to bring His kingdom to earth, and He wants us to be His partners in making it happen. We cannot, as mere humans, contemplate the full implications of this event. He doesn’t actually need our help, but He wants fellowship with many human beings, members of His church, known as the saints, who are presently becoming more like Him. He tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” We need God’s righteousness, not our own, then we shall become more like Him. Matthew 5:48 tells us to “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Over 3,000 years ago to His people, Israel at Sinai, God said “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). The theme of the kingdom is all the way through the Old Testament, in most of the books. God’s promises to Abraham and David are about the kingdom. For example, Jeremiah 23:8 says “‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land” (referring to the kingdom).

This phrase “Your kingdom come” is an important part of the Lord’s prayer, given to the disciples on the mountain, as part of the Beatitudes. There are more than 100 references to God’s kingdom in the New Testament. Many glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven are included in the many parables of Jesus. According to Robert Farrar Capon, the parables fall into three categories: Kingdom, grace, and judgment. The parables of the kingdom begin in the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes, the “one-liners” of Matthew 5 and Luke 7. Some parables are also about grace, which is God’s mechanism for giving us free entry to the kingdom. The first story parable of the kingdom is about the Sower, representing Christ. Revelation chapters 21-22 are about the future Kingdom of Heaven, without Satan to deceive the world, when we shall live at peace.

Matthew 1:23 refers to “Emmanuel, which is translated, ‘God with us’” showing that God wants to be with us, as He has always wanted to be with His people (Isaiah 7:14). Let’s pray ‘Your Kingdom come’ as we look forward to God’s Kingdom in all its fullness in the future.

Prayer
Father, help me to become more like you, and to enter into your Kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen

Study by Phil Stilliard

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About the Author:
Phil Stilliard attends the London congregation of the Worldwide Church of God. UK.

Local Congregation:
Worldwide Church of God London
Indian YMCA Student Hostel
Mahatma Gandhi Hall
41 Fitzroy Square
LONDON W1T 6AQ

Meeting Time:
Saturday 2:30pm

Local Congregational Contact:
Martin Ryan
Phone: 07958 386944
Email: martin_ryan@wcg.org.uk