‘Thy Kingdom Come’

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IN one sense the kingdom is here already for it came to us with Jesus: ‘The kingdom of God is in the midst of you,’ he said (Luke 17:21); it is here already because I am here, embodying the kingdom of God.

But though it’s here already, why must we pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’?

Think of God’s kingdom as two great lines which dissect, both from heaven to earth. In Genesis 1-3 we find the first line as God places humanity in paradise where ‘everything in the garden is lovely’, as we say: perfection, unalloyed happiness.

But then came a cosmic crash when that first ‘kingdom’ was dealt a terrible blow through deliberate disobedience. Humanity’s world became like a bomb crater where perfection had been shattered, leaving only shards of the original divine image in women and men.

This first line from heaven to earth led to divine judgement. It was not that God struck humanity with a thunderbolt from heaven. Paul puts it like this: ‘God gave them up…’, for he left humanity to its own wretchedness, permitting us to pursue our chosen path to its bitter end.

Nevertheless, God was still the God of righteousness, grace and love, his rule unshakeable. But now another kingdom had been born with its own character: wickedness in opposition to goodness, cruelty in opposition to love, for humanity had become morally crippled.

Nonetheless, the vestiges of the marred image of the Creator were still present in fallen human nature. The God-given ‘pilot light’ still glows in us all (John 1:4).

That brings us to the second line from heaven to earth, dissecting the first line, forming a cosmic cross, as it were. The kingdom of God is still there, for through all the self-inflicted suffering brought on by disobedience, God’s reign stood firm. In a cave human history was being played out, as events moved towards the central fulcrum – the birth of a fragile baby, adored by shepherds and Persian astronomer-priests.

Thirty years later, when he left the carpenter’s bench and began his ministry, Jesus announced: ‘The kingdom of God is at hand… the kingdom of God is being fulfilled in your midst…’. The two lines have dissected, the one – ’God gave them up’, the other – ‘God so loved the world that he gave his Son’. They represent that ever-present conflict between good and evil.

When we pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’, what are we praying for? First, we pray that the kingdom of the crucified and risen Saviour should be increasingly present in his church among his people – that Jesus Christ should be alive and well, active in his people and through them present in our streets and parishes.

Second, we are praying for a new earth, fallen creation refashioned, replacing the briars and thorns in that metaphorical crater, now the gardens of Paradise. So early believers, responding to Christ’s promise, ‘Surely I am coming soon’, earnestly prayed the petition with which the Bible ends, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, Come!