In this manner, therefore, pray: …Thy Kingdom Come…(Matthew 6:9-10)
Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we will only be spiritually translated into His kingdom (Colossians 1:13) while we continue to live on this earth with satan being the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). To suggest this is all there is to the kingdom of God, which was promised to come, is to only tell a part of the truth, which in turn leads to error. Rather, Jesus after His death and resurrection revealed that there is soon coming a time when He will physically return to this very earth as a King to literally establish His Kingdom on this very earth for a thousand years (read Revelation 20). At that time, satan would be bound for a thousand years so that he can no longer deceive the nations (Revelation 20:1-3). And Jesus and His faithful saints, resurrected and those who will experience no death, will rule this very earth with a rod of iron for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6; Revelation 2:26-27).
After the thousand years is over, the Scriptures teach that God will literally fulfill His promise recorded in 2 Corinthians 6:16 to dwell and walk among His people in His coming kingdom. Not just God dwelling among Christians through His Spirit indwelling us, but He literally walking among His people face to face in His coming kingdom which He will establish on a new earth. This what the Scriptures say, “When the thousand years are completed… Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death… I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple… and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life… There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads (Revelation 20:7; Revelation 21:1-4, 22,27; Rev 22:3-4).
At present, the resurrection of the dead hasn’t happened yet. Consequently, Jesus hasn’t returned to the earth to literally establish His kingdom on the earth, and satan still remains the god of this world. In addition, the earth since creation has not passed away, the seas still exist, sinners and the unrighteous do abound, and death hasn’t ceased on the earth. Therefore, to suggest that there is no kingdom of God to come with the death and resurrection of Jesus is to err. On the contrary, we find the apostles in their epistles teaching us to look for and hasten the coming of God’s kingdom and also teaching us to declare for God’s kingdom to come. In 2 Peter 3, while Peter taught on the coming of the coming of the Lord, He warned thus, “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:12-13). The Scriptures teach that the coming of the Lord is associated with the coming of His Kingdom (see Revelation 20-22, 2 Peter 3). Even so, to look for and hasten the coming of the Lord thorough righteous and holy living (2 Peter 3:11) is to look for and hasten the coming of the kingdom of God. In Revelation 22, we are told that the Holy Spirit Himself calls forth for the Lord and thereby His kingdom to come, and the bride of Christ does likewise. Those who hear the revelation/testimony of Jesus are also commanded to do same: “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come” (Revelation 22:17). We find John the Apostle declaring the same thing, “Even so Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). And Paul did same when He said “Maranatha – Our Lord, come! (1 Corinthians 16:22).
To call forth for the Lord and thus His kingdom to come is to talk to God, not man. To talk to God is to pray. In this way, we see the apostles simply obeying Jesus, and praying for His kingdom to come, the Holy Spirit also calling on the bride of Christ to do likewise, just as Jesus taught in the Lord’s prayer. We have every obligation to do same in obedience to Jesus and the Spirit of God.
To be continued…
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
January 28, 2019.