"YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN…"
How often have we as Christians uttered this sentence? Although I've repeated this line again and again in the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, it's only been within the past year that I feel like I've begun to understand what this might mean, especially in view of the World Race ahead.
What does it really mean for God's Kingdom to come on earth? What does it mean for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven? What is the will of God? I believe it's that none would perish, but that all people would come to repentance and believe that He is God. But what would it look like for God's kingdom to be on earth? What would it sound like? And how would our lives look differently if we really embraced life in His kingdom in our here and now?
I've definitely been thinking about that a lot in preparation for the World Race. I've heard stories from the field of people being healed in Jesus' name… of restoration… of miracles happening… and of God's faithfulness shining through in ways that I feel like I can only imagine right now. I want to be a witness to the power of God. Even more so, I want to be a vessel that God can use to scoop up His glory and pour over the nations. But I believe this takes a faith that I'm not sure I possess yet…although I pray that He'll deepen that in me. How well do I know the kingdom of God?
In Luke 10, Jesus tells his disciples, "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, to into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: 'The kingdom of God is near.'"
Whether a town welcomed His disciples or not, Jesus commanded them to say "The kingdom of God is near."
Many people believed that the Messiah would establish His kingdom on earth… that He would be a political ruler who would restore the Jewish people… but Jesus Himself corrected them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, "Here it is," or "There it is," because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21).
It's within ME? What?
After Jesus told his disciples to say that the Kingdom was near, he also told them that they had been given authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing would harm them. How could that be possible? How could they be assured of this? Because the Kingdom of God was IN them. And, if I'm to understand this correctly, it's in each of us, too…those who have said Yes to Jesus.
When I think of the Kingdom of God – I think of the absence of sickness… I think of perpetual, unending joy… I think of harmony and peace… I think of righteousness and justice and the end of suffering… but if the kingdom of God is within me, then why doesn't my life reflect that yet? I can think of many times, even today, when I wasn't acting as someone who embodied the Kingdom of God.
Romans 14:17-18 says, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of rightousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men."
Wow. Righteousness. Peace. Joy. Holy Spirit. YES!
I believe the World Race is going to stretch my understanding of Kingdom culture… of learning what it means to release the Kingdom of God on earth, not because of the power He has given us to serve Him with, but because of the very heart of the message of the Kingdom of God… that none would perish, but that all would come to know and possess the everlasting, eternal, pain-free, guilt-free, debt-free, abundant LIFE in, through, and with Jesus Christ. Amen.
