Title: Thy kingdom come / Matthew 6:9-10
Content Have you ever heard of dual citizenship?
A person is said to have dual citizenship when he or she holds the citizenship of two countries at the same time. With special exceptions, no country permits dual citizenship.
However, not a single person who believes in Jesus is a dual citizen. We have a nationality in Korea, and we also have a nationality in the kingdom of God.
Paul said in Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven.” Only our nationality is in the kingdom of God. Although we are citizens of the Republic of Korea, we are the ones who value the nationality of God's kingdom much more than the nationality of this world.
In this sense, the prayer "Thy kingdom come" in the Lord's Prayer has great meaning for us. Because our nationality is in the kingdom of God, "God, may the kingdom of God come"
That is, we must pray without ceasing.
1. The most central prayer
It is often said that “Thy kingdom come” is the heart of the Lord's Prayer. That prayer becomes the central theme of the Lord's Prayer. The reason is that the purpose of the Lord's coming into this world was to establish the kingdom of God.
So, the first word that the Lord preached at the beginning of his ministry was, “The kingdom of God is at hand.”
Also, Acts chapter 1 says that the topic of the word that the Lord shared while He was with His disciples for 40 days just before He ascended to heaven after completing His work in this world is also the kingdom of God.
Therefore, it can be said that Jesus came for the kingdom of God, did work for the kingdom of God, and left after entrusting his work to his disciples for the kingdom of God.
In this sense, it is not wrong to say that the kingdom of God is the most important core of the Lord's Prayer.
The kingdom of God is an important theme not only in the Lord's Prayer, but in the entire New Testament, including the 4 Gospels.
The word heaven appears 49 times in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew preferred to use the word heaven rather than the name of the kingdom of God. This is because the Gospel of Matthew was the Bible for the Jews. The Jews do not take God's name in vain. So, instead of the word God, the word heaven was added, and it was called the kingdom of heaven, heaven.
However, since the Gospels of Mark and Luke were Bibles for Greeks, they were translated as the kingdom of God and used 16 times in Mark and 38 times in Luke.
Why does the word “Kingdom of God” keep appearing nearly a hundred times in the Gospels?
This is because the kingdom of God is the subject of the entire Bible, the center of Jesus' work, and the core of the Lord's Prayer.
2. Meaning of the Kingdom of God
Then let's see what the kingdom of God means.
(1) The kingdom of God means the reign of Jesus Christ, not the territory.
The Kingdom of God in English refers to the territory. Without territories, you would not be able to form a country.
However, the kingdom of God does not mean territory or land. There was a time when the medieval church interpreted the kingdom of God as the meaning of territory. So, under the pretext of expanding the kingdom of God, they often waged wars to occupy a lot of land. However, the kingdom of God does not refer to the worldly kingdom that possesses the realm of the world.
The kingdom of God means the reign of Jesus Christ. The reign of Jesus is called the kingdom of God. So, all the worlds that come into the realm of Jesus' rule are defined as the kingdom of God. All areas under the control of Jesus are the kingdom of God.
In John 18:36, when Jesus was tried in Pilate's court, he said, "My kingdom is not of this world."
In Luke 17:20, when the Pharisees asked, "When will the kingdom of God come?" Jesus said, "Is not the kingdom of God come with sight?"
In other words, the kingdom of God that the Lord spoke of cannot be understood simply as a concept of a place, a political concept, or a concept of a territory, and he says that the kingdom of heaven is a state rather than a place. In other words, it refers to the state in which the Lord reigns.
(2) The kingdom of God belongs to God.
In the Korean Bible, it is translated “Thy kingdom come”, but the original meaning is “Thy kingdom come”.
3. The kingdom of God will be established on this earth.
Then, the question of how the kingdom of God will be completed appears as an important task for us.
(1) The kingdom of God begins with the heart of the poor in spirit.
In other words, the kingdom of God begins with the individual who receives Jesus Christ as Savior.
Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit.
Who is poor in spirit?
A person who knows that he is a sinner. A person who admits that he is of no value before God. And the person who holds the cross of Jesus Christ and longs for salvation is the poor in spirit. The kingdom of God begins with the heart of a regenerated person who has received the Lord and has faith.
Romans 14:17 says, "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." It means that the mind is full of anxiety and fear.
When God completely rules over us, the joy that God gives us will be full, and no matter what worldly suffering comes, the suffering does not take away the joy of the person's heart.
(2) The kingdom of God is expanded through the church.
The kingdom of God, which started in the heart of the poor, extends throughout the world through the church. The ultimate purpose of God's establishment of the earthly church is to expand the kingdom of God throughout the world. It says, “Go ye and make disciples of all nations.”
Today, the gospel is spreading all over the world to the extent that there are almost no places where the name of Jesus has not been witnessed.
Why?
Because the kingdom of God is expanding. We must go out into this world and testify of Jesus Christ diligently as we are. We must let God reign in each person's heart and let the kingdom of God reigned by Jesus come into their hearts. When ten people are governed by Jesus, the kingdom of God will expand that much. If ten million people believe in Jesus and are governed by him, the kingdom of God will expand that much.
Even at this moment, the kingdom of God is constantly expanding its realm.
Matthew 13:31 says, "This is the youngest of all seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, and the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." Just as a small mustard seed sprouts a stalk and eventually becomes a huge tree and grows into a large tree where birds can come and rest, so we pray that the kingdom of God will come in one person, two or three people will gather to form a church, and the kingdom of God will expand all over the world. I am speaking.
However, there is something we need to deeply reflect on.
We must not only communicate with our mouths, but through our lives so that others can see and feel that the kingdom of God is actually coming. The Apostle Paul said that our citizenship is in heaven, and that we are citizens of the kingdom of God.
The actions of the American ambassador to Korea are acting on behalf of the United States. Likewise, the kingdom of God is being revealed through me, who represents the kingdom.
You and I are ambassadors for the kingdom of God sent to this earth. They are the ambassadors of the kingdom of God sent to homes, workplaces, and workplaces.
Are we well representing this kingdom of God?
Or do you not dishonor the kingdom of God because of me?
If the husband says that his wife goes to church but does not feel that the kingdom of God is coming into the family, the husband will see the gospel preached by his wife and everything she says as false. If a wife cannot fulfill her role as a housewife or a mother, can the kingdom of God come to her family by going to church with the Bible on Sunday?
The same goes for social life. “Believe in the Lord Jesus” would be just a slogan unless those who believe in Jesus can feel that the kingdom of God is actually coming in their lives.
Seeing me as God's people, do I want the people at my workplace, the people around me, my brothers and relatives to become God's people? Do not forget that we, who first became the people of God in order for the Kingdom of God to come and expand, have a responsibility to represent this Kingdom well.
If we preach the gospel through our mouths and show the reality of the Lord's kingdom through our lives, that is the person who prays with the Lord's Prayer and lives by the Lord's Prayer. Otherwise, the prayer of the Lord's Prayer will be in vain.
(3) The fact that the kingdom of God will be completed with the second coming of Jesus.
Our Lord is coming now. When the Lord comes, the kingdom of God will be complete. That kingdom of God will last forever. There is no difference between the rich and the poor in that country. No one is oppressed.
The kingdom will become a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy where all the people will rejoice and praise.
Do you wish for this country?
Then, we must not stop praying this prayer, “Thy kingdom come” that the Lord taught us.
Dear saints!
Do you wish to live in this kingdom of God?
Then, become a person who thoroughly obeys the kingdom of God that has already begun in your heart.
And in order to continue expanding this country, spread the gospel diligently.
Let others feel that the kingdom of God is coming through your life.
When we do, we are entitled to the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come."
You will have to humbly get down on your knees and reflect on whether or not the prayer, “Your kingdom come,” is not a slang word.