If you wanted to explain to your Sunday school class this particular phrase in the Lord's Prayer, what would you say? Would you say that we are telling God that we are longing for the time when Christ shall rule over all the world? Could you make it any more personal than that? What would you say? The word "Kingdom" comes from Old English, meaning literally "the King's Domain". Where the king is king, which is his kingdom. Where does Christ reign as king today? In your heart? Then you are part of His kingdom. That is the personal aspect of this phrase. In praying this prayer we recognize that Christ is not yet king over all the earth. There is also another kingdom - the kingdom of Satan and darkness - in the world today. That king, Satan, will often fight fiercely to prevent anyone moving from its kingdom into the kingdom of Christ. When a soul accepts Christ as Saviour, he or she enters the kingdom of God. Being a member of the kingdom means my individual acceptance of the will of God. He is my king! What is the next part of the prayer? "Thy will be done" - those are the words of a member of God's kingdom. Our Saviour said these very searching words, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." This prayer "Thy kingdom come" can mean so much: 1. That God might have full possession of my life as my King. 2. That He might gain entrance into the lives of others. 3. That the day might soon dawn when Christ the King returns. This is the prophetic aspect which we will look at tomorrow. How does a person enter the kingdom? 1. You enter it one at a time, not as a nation, but as an individual. 2. You enter it in childlike faith. 3. You enter it by acknowledging Jesus Christ as your Saviour and King. Can you truly pray today, "Thy kingdom come"? |
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