Who’s Is

Thy Kingdom come  Matthew 6:10

Come – We’re not quite finished with this part of Yeshua’s example prayer.  We discovered that this is not clock time.  It’s God time.  It’s kairos – the time when He fulfills His purposes . . the absolutely right time.  Our awareness of His breaking into the world is essential to this part of the model prayer.  We must see God at work, and it takes God opening our eyes to do this.  We need to be interrupted.

But that isn’t all.  The kingdom is not ours to bring!  The Kingdom is the rule of God’s holiness and righteousness.  It is the consummation of His glorification in creation.  It is the declaration of all that is to His service and worship.  And only He can bring that about.  We do not pray that we might usher in the Kingdom.  We pray that He will make it manifest and that we might be invited as His guests to participate in what He is doing.  The Kingdom exists only because God brings it into being.  It does not depend on any worldly operation.  It does not lie within any spiritual organization.  It is His alone.

Now you see why Jesus’ word is translated in the aorist tense.  God brings the Kingdom.  He guarantees it.  It is a done deal.  This phrase denies that men could ever build the Kingdom.  No one comes into the Kingdom unless God calls him.  No one participates in the Kingdom unless he is chosen.  No man, no organization, no church and no culture brings about the Kingdom.  Insofar as we participate in the Kingdom, we act only as humble servants of the Master who causes it to be.  This phrase is not about a promise that the Kingdom will come someday as we penetrate the culture with the gospel.  There is no promise here.  This is a statement of accomplished fact!  It is a call for us to surrender ourselves to what God has done.  From the divine perspective; there is nothing left but the unveiling of His accomplishment.

We need to hear this – loud and clear.  On the one hand, we need to know that there is absolutely no room for pride in “bringing” the gospel to the world.  We are merely stepping into the river of God.  He is the flow.  We are merely floating.  We don’t make this happen.  Only spiritual egos claim to have a vital hand in saving souls or bringing about His plans.  God didn’t consult any of us about creation and He doesn’t require any of us to complete the job.

But!  God desires our service and obedience.  At the end of the day (remember what that word is about?), we must say, “I have done only what you asked.”  Yet, God rewards such service and is glorified in it.  At the end of the day, we can rest in the assurance that He is manifesting Himself and no power in the universe can thwart Him.  At the end of the day, He has invited us to share in His victory.

“Thy Kingdom come,” is a cry of jubilation, not a feeble request.  Let God be manifest even as He is hallowed and glorified.  Jesus focuses our attention on the magnificence of God and on the sovereign exercise of His will.  He is God and there is no other.  Rejoice!  Rejoice!  His Kingdom comes!

Topical Index:  Kingdom, participate, kairos, eletheo, basileia, Matthew 6:10