Thy Kingdom Come

Perspectives Week 3- “Thy Kingdom come…”

One of Jesus’ main themes in His teaching was the Kingdom of God. He taught in order show people how to enter the Kingdom of God. His miracles were proof that the Kingdom of God had come. His parables illustrated the truth about God’s Kingdom. He even taught His disciples that in prayer the heart should be, “Thy Kingdom come.”

“The Kingdom of God is His Kingship, His rule, His authority. When we realize this, we can see this meaning in passage after passage in the New Testament. We can see that the Kingdom of God is not a realm or a people, BUT IT IS GOD’S REIGN. Jesus said that we must “receive the Kingdom of God” as little children (Mark 10:15). What is received? The church? Heaven? What is received is God’s rule. In order to enter the future realm of the Kingdom (heaven), people must submit themselves to God’s rule here and now” (George Eldon Ladd). Therefore in the prayer “Thy Kingdom come,” we are pleading for God to reign on earth.

Do we really desire God’s Kingdom to be on earth?

I can only answer this from an American point of view. Because the current generations of Americans have never experienced a tyrannical ruler ship over our country or much suffering, I don’t believe that we necessarily desire God’s Kingdom to be set up. This is a very different mindset than what a New Testament Jew would want. Israel had been under Roman rule, Babylonian rule, plus many others. They very much wanted God’s Kingdom to conquer all who had tried to rule over them. We in America still have our freedoms and our “good life.” Why would we want that disrupted by God’s Kingdom? I don’t think until we really see and experience the godlessness and suffering of this world , do we crave to see God’s Kingdom rule.