THY KINGDOM COME!

Let’s open our Bible to Matthew 6:10a: “Thy kingdom come…”KJV.

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray and today we are studying one of the lines in that prayer:”Thy kingdom come”.

“Thy” is an anachrostic word.The contemporary word is “Your”.

” Kingdom” in Biblical term is the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled,a realm in which God rules.

I have some questions bothering my mind…

What is the Kingdom of God? Where is the Kingdom of God located? Who are those in the Kingdom of God?

Jesus taught about the kingdom of God,John the Baptist warned that it was at hand,Paul described it, but none of these people defined it! Why?

They never bothered to define it because Israelites knew about it and they were already expecting the Kingdom of God.

If you have ordered for a consignment and it is being shipped down to you,I think that is not the right time to be searching for the definition of the ‘good’ you ordered.

The pertinent questions to be asking are: ‘Where is this ‘good’ now?’, ‘When will it arrive?’.

Do you know these were the questions the Pharisees asked Jesus about Kingdom of God?

“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come…”-Luke 17:20a

If you think the Pharisees were carnal to ask that question,read the question the disciple asked Jesus just before he ascended to Heaven:

“Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”-Act 1:6.

Let’s see what the Israelites knew about the Kingdom of God that made Christ and John not to define it.

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever …”-Dan 2:44

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”-Dan 7:13-14

When Daniel saw these visions,Israelites were in captivity at Babylon.Also when Jesus was born they were under the Roman empire,hence they were expecting the Messiah that would come and liberate them and establish the promised kingdom.Do you understand? There was already an expectation,so there was no need for definition of Kingdom of God.Ok?

But will the kingdom of God be packaged based on their expectation ? No! That was where the Pharisees and the disciples got it wrong.

For now,the kingdom is figurative ,later when Christ comes,it shall be literal !

Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs.You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”-Luke 17:20b-21.

Whaoooo!I love that!!The kingdom of God is here!!! I am excited about that…Only that the kingdom(‘consignment’) is packaged differently from there expectation.How?

a)It is purely spiritual now not physical:”For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”-Romans 14:17

b)It is internal and personal-“For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Which spiritual kingdom did Jesus Christ,the Messiah,institute?

It is called the REDEMPTIVE KINGDOM/KINGDOM OF LIGHT:

“…and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the KINGDOM OF LIGHT .  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have REDEMPTION, the forgiveness of sins.”-Col 1:12-14

This kingdom of God is instituted in our hearts at the point of salvation: Eternity is set in the heart of man.

When you are in this Kingdom, Christ rules in your heart through the Holy Spirit!

When this Kingdom comes submission replaces selfishness.” It is no longer I but Christ that lives in me and the life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and die for me. Halleluyah somebody!”

When this Kingdom of God comes His agenda replaces your agenda. His purpose replaces your purpose.His plan replaces your plan. His will replaces your will because His kingdom has come and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven!

Though the kingdom is still figurative in structure now,soon it shall be literal:
When the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule as king forever and ever.”-Rev 11:15

Till this is fulfilled,let it be our prayer that: ” THY KINGDOM COME OH LORD.

Stay blessed and rapturable.