When Jesus came preaching “the kingdom of God has drawn near” and teaching his disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” the language of the kingdom was not a foreign concept to the people listening. The story of the kingdom begins in the first days of our history.
In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. They were, in some way, united with one another. The process of creation in those first six days of history involved God dividing parts of his creation and then putting them back together in new relationships with one another. On the second day of creation, God divided the waters above from the waters below and put a firmament in between them. Above the firmament was God’s heaven. Below the firmament was the earth. Heaven and earth, once united, were now separated.
God’s heaven above the firmament, his throne room, is created complete, mature. The earth is not. While heaven has a fixed number of hosts, the earth’s population increases through man being fruitful and multiplying (Gen 1.28). The earth is created to grow from one stage of glory to another. As man is the image of God and is to mature to be more and more like him, so the earth and all of life lived on it has heaven as the image into which it is to grow. The relationship between heaven and earth is one of image and imitator.
The space between immaturity and full maturity is the history in which man fulfills the mission of dominion given to him by God. Man, Adam, is to establish a kingdom, ruling over the world as God’s son (cf. Lk 3.38), arranging the world in accordance with the pattern of heaven’s culture. This kingdom project includes everything from gardens to governments; from the thoughts that go on in our heads to international economics. The kingdom is culture. It has common language, rites, rituals, laws, mores, and, above all, loyalty to a king.
While the sin and death introduced into the world by Adam created great difficulties for this kingdom mission, the mission has always remained the same. God’s people have looked and longed for this kingdom since the beginning. The inauguration of the kingdom would set things back on track in the world.
Jesus established this kingdom when he came, died, rose again, and ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father. He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 28.18). He must reign until he has put all of his enemies under his feet, the last of which is death, which he will conquer on the last day in our resurrection from the dead. Between his ascension and the last day, through his church he is subduing his enemies, completing the kingdom project through the discipling of the nations. When this kingdom project is complete, he will hand over the kingdom to the Father so that God the Father may be all in all (1Cor 15.20-28).
When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” he is teaching us to pray that God will complete his work, that the culture of heaven will be fully and finally established on the earth. We are praying for all things to be set right, for life to be lived under the willing, conscious submission to the lordship of God’s son.
This kingdom is the kingdom of our Father. Because he is our Father, his kingdom is our kingdom. In Christ Jesus, we are sons of God, joint-heirs with Christ Jesus to whom he grants the kingdom. This means that the deliverance that we seek when the kingdom comes in its fullness is our deliverance. This means that the enemies that are defeated to bring about our deliverance are our enemies. This also means that as sons of God, this kingdom mission is our mission. So, when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we are not praying as uninvolved bystanders. We are praying that our Father will make the mission he has given us successful. We are confessing that we have signed on to this kingdom mission.
This petition is a call for us as much as it is a calling upon God. It is a call for us to actively participated in this kingdom mission.
But subduing the earth is a huge task, one that is almost impossible to get our minds wrapped around. Where do we begin? Right where we are with whatever stewardship God has given us. The kingdom comes and God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven when you begin taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2Cor 10.5). When you yield the members of your body as instruments of righteousness to God (Rom 6.11ff.). When you mow your lawn, take care of your family, work diligently for your employer, pray, submit to the hearing of God’s Word, and live faithful, quiet lives, minding your own business (1Thess 4.11). Pray and work to subdue and arrange under the lordship of Jesus whatever bits of creation God has put into your care. In doing this, God is working in you to answer the prayer all of the disciples of Jesus are praying.
May the Lord hear and answer our prayers.
