What would it look like if the Kingdom of God were to come upon us?  Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  If we are going to pray the prayer, we should at least know what it will look like when it happens.

Refreshing Our Memory

In a previous post I briefly described what the Kingdom of God was all about. I thought it would be helpful to refresh our memories a bit.

A look at the biblical languages will help us out.  The Hebrew word for kingdom is malkuth.  This word is translated royal power, dominion, reign, sovereign power.  The Greek word for Kingdom is baseleia, and is translated royal power, kingship, dominion, reign.  Putting it all together, the Kingdom of God refers to the sovereign authority and rule of God over all things in Heaven and on earth.  It is God reigning and demonstrating that He is in charge.

Fortunately for us,  numerous authors have written about the Kingdom of God to help us understand it.  Dr. Howard Snyder, in his book The Community of the King, writes:

The Kingdom of God is the dominion or reign of God and not primarily a place or realm.  Biblically, the Kingdom of God “refers first to a reign, dominion, or rule and only secondarily to the realm over which the reign is exercised.”  Therefore, to speak of the Kingdom of God is to remind ourselves that God is sovereign. [1]

Dr. Snyder’s definition reflects the interpretation of the Kingdom from the biblical languages.

In His book Rediscovering the Kingdom, Dr. Myles Munroe tells us:

The Kingdom of Heaven refers to the sovereign presence and authority of God ‘invading’ and impacting the earthly environment. [2]

This definition helps us to see that the Kingdom of God refers to God’s active reign.  In other words, something happens when God exercises His reign.

What We Are Praying For

When we pray Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, we are crying out for the Lord to actively exercise His authority in the present moment.  We are calling on Him to reign in such a manner that His will is carried out right here, right now.  But again, what does it look like when that happens?  That will be the topic of our discussion over the next several weeks.  I hope you will join us for the ride.  You will enjoy seeing what it looks like when we are living in the Reign.

M

[1] Howard A. Snyder, The Community of the King, (Downers Grove, Inter-Varsity Press, 1977), 14.

[2] Myles Munroe, Rediscovering the Kingdom, (Shippensburg, Destiny Image Publishers, 2004), 120.