The Kingdom of God-Master Teacher-Matthew 6:10

For the Kingdom of GOD is not a matter of talk, but of power.” 1 Cor. 4:20

Have you had a hard day? Have you been pushed, bullied, lost your way, felt like you blended into the walls and no one cared that you were there? Hold your head up. You are a child of the King! He loves you so much He went the distance for you and paid the ultimate cost for you. He defeated your worst enemy. Someday He will take you away to His home where He sits on the throne and judges the world. If the world is taking you captive, remember you are His beloved.

All that sounds good, but how does it apply practically? Exactly what does it mean to live a victorious life just because we are Christians, and as such have an inheritance in Christ when we can’t even manage to keep our relationships here on earth peaceable, much less handle the daily stresses of life? Why aren’t we conquerors, when the word promises that we’re more than that? Sometimes we’re victims, not victors. At least that’s what it feels like when the world is laughing at us, right?

Take heart. As it says in Hebrews 4:14-16, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 

Practically speaking it really takes adjusting our entire outlook on life. I’m talking about a major paradigm shift from how we think we exist in the context of our life, our history, and our society. It’s taking our Christianity from a moral code of ethics, and putting our citizenship, our social position, and our very identity completely into submission to the sovereignty of God most High, and understanding how completely dependent on Him that makes us. It is to surrender all, without so much as a whimper of protest, as we see all that we’ve invested in being stripped away from us. All because we stand to gain what He has for us, even though we haven’t seen what’s behind door number three, but we know it’s got to be better than what was behind doors one and two. It’s trusting in the LORD, and not ourselves.

As the Master Teacher continued to expound on the approach we ought to take in prayer at the sermon on the mount, He offered three lines that speak to our relationship with the Father while acknowledging His position as King.  

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10

Overall, these three lines of the Lord’s prayer often are over looked and rushed right through without given much thought. Most people would see them as a desire to have Jesus return and establish His kingdom, but why would Jesus be telling the people there on the mount to pray for what was already happening right before their eyes? He was there with them. He was directing them to pray, in such a way as to establish God’s kingdom within them. “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold the kingdom is in the midst of you.” Luke 17:20-21 When we look at the placement of these lines in the prayer, it is clear the first part, as established in the last blog/teaching, was to identify God’s supremacy, and now these lines establish His sovereignty. It is saying, “God, you govern me.

When God established Israel as a people through Jacob, He changed Jacob’s name from ‘Heel grabber’ or what could be translated as one who trips another up, like a usurper or supplanter, to Israel which means “one who triumphs or contends with God.” It was meant to show that Jacob had subjected himself to the will of God. Another translation is “Governed by God.”

In our day to be under the submission of governing authorities has become something to be put down. Our media has made the once honored positions of government fodder for a Roman circus rather than an esteemed and highly sought after position of public service. Instead of the dream being that any young man or woman growing up to be president, it’s easier to change the world by going on a reality television show. At least then the person has a better chance of being admired than a candidate for public office does. Yet, there is a blessing in submission and subjecting oneself to the will of God.

Jacob wrestled with God, holding fast to Him, all night long. If we picture what that must have been like we can compare it to the child who is about to be left by the parent, and the child will not let go. I was a Navy brat. One time, my father had been on the ship for months, and I was about ten-years-old. We lived a few states away because my parents owned a house there, so when my dad came off the ship he would drive back to our house two states from the base, about a fourteen-hour drive. It was a Saturday morning and I was doing my chores, and I heard a knock on the door. I went to the door, and there he was, “Daddy!” I screamed. My poor exhausted father was knocked on his rear as I tackled him. I flew at him, all arms and legs, like a monkey flying through a tree. As soon as he could get up, and I let him go, boom! My sister hit him with the same velocity as I did. She was bigger and heavier than I was. Still, he loved it! My brothers joined the dog pile, and then my mom. I picture Jacob’s wrestling like that. He was going home, and he needed God with him. Just like us kids needed our dad, He wasn’t going to let go until he was assured it really was Him, and he wasn’t alone. He said as much. “Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” Genesis 32:26.

So, Jesus says to say, “Your kingdom come.” These words are not merely asking God to come and rule over the earth. He is the creator; He does rule over the earth. These three words are much more than that. These three words are both an invitation and a pledge for those who are citizens of the kingdom. When a soldier goes into the service he pledges to defend the country from enemies, both foreign and domestic unto death. This is quite a promise. When we say the words “Your kingdom come” we are basically doing the same thing. We are submitting ourselves totally to the call of the kingdom on our lives. We are saying, “The Kingdom comes first. I’ve counted all as lost. I move toward the upward call of Jesus on my life.” If we aren’t ready to do that, we shouldn’t say it. No soldier wants to be in the heat of battle and have the guy beside him say, “I’m done with this, it’s not what I expected, I’m out, see ya,” and just leave his brothers without cover. Every soldier trains for that moment, and they go in equipped mentally, knowing they might not come out of it. That’s why we owe them our gratitude. And that’s why when we say the words, “Your kingdom come,” even if we view it as when Jesus returns, we should not take it lightly. We must see ourselves as enlisted in the kingdom as well, and as such we must submit.

There is a blessing in submission. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will being done in the believer’s life is totally up to the believer. Now, let me restate that. For God’s will to be done in the believer’s life, it is totally up to the believer. Why? Because, as it says in Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Love is a choice we make. I encourage you to read Romans 8 with that thought in mind. We must continually choose God, not just once, but every moment of every day. God’s will in our lives can only be done if we’re not in rebellion to it. We are either choosing to do His will or we’re in rebellion. There is no middle ground. People would love to read the first half of Romans 8:28, but they miss the second part, especially the submission part. That’s because people would rather have God working for them instead of having to submit to God. Newsflash—His way is much better and easier. And I can prove it!

Garden of Eden- God’s way- one commandment- Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but you can eat every other tree, note- before that we could eat of the tree of life, but not after. Man’s way-rebellion to God’s command got us out of the garden, no more tree of life, and more commandments because God now had to warn us because we now ‘know’ what’s good and bad and choose to do bad.

The Wilderness- God’s way- three-day journey across the Red Sea and back to the land of Canaan to inherit the “Land flowing with Milk and Honey”. Man’s way—Barely left Egypt and start complaining, and the moment Moses’ back is turned they form their own god so they can practice whatever they want. Rebellion ensues and they spend 40 years wandering through the desert until the last of that generation  died off.

Taking the land- God gives them the land all way back to the Euphrates and to the North as far as the mountains of Ararat. Israel stops short, due to the years of war, and everyone decides enough is enough, so they stop a third of the way in, as a result Israel is at war with their neighbors throughout their history and is eventually carried off by a people group they could have defeated had they just obeyed in the first place.

Failing to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah- God’s way was to provide for the redemption of Israel as a nation, and in doing so he provided for the ransom of the whole world as spelled out in Isaiah 51-53. Man’s way—to fail to admit Jesus as the atonement for sin and therefore suffer the continual consequence for sin. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire had conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:14-15

 Refusing to call upon the Name of the Lord- God’s way- “For ‘whoever calls on the name of LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:13 Man’s way--
The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, there is none who does good.” Psalm 14:1

Living out the will of God requires sacrifice. Jesus said to be his disciple we must pick up our cross and follow Him. We must realize that we are carrying a cross, an object of death to self, and we are taking it to a place where we will be sacrificing as He did, putting aside our sin to take up a new life. This new life can only be found in the kingdom of God, where our King sits on the throne. The blessing of submitting to His authority is knowing that we serve a King who loves us enough to have carried the cross for us to the death we deserved and suffered it for us. It’s Jesus switching his cross for ours, and taking what we deserve to give us His victory. None of the kings of this world would do that for their subjects. Their expectation is for their subjects’ allegiance to be to the death, but not the king’s death but for the king’s gain of worldly wealth and riches, which will perish. Our King’s gain is us, because He loves us.   

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, not any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39