Your Kingdom Come

A question arises in my mind on arriving at this particular line in the Lord’s prayer – what kind of kingdom are we expecting and asking for? When I went looking for the answer, I was led to that much-avoided book, Revelation. And on reading chapters 19 to 22, I discovered that this line of the Lord’s prayer does not call for quiet mumbling and indifference – but a shout of joy and anticipation!

Revelation 19-21 gives two reasons to look forward to the coming of the Father’s kingdom:

1. Justice

Justice is something that our modern society cries out for on a regular basis: justice to come to murderers, thieves, paedophiles, and even the council when you trip on that broken slab…! The problem, of course, is that no-one is ever quite certain how to judge – each side looks for justice and comes to a different conclusion. But, upon the arrival of God’s kingdom, we meet with the only One capable of judging fairly and truthfully:

“Then I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war…” Revelation 19:11

Christ’s appearance on earth, the Second Coming, is in faithfulness, truth and righteousness – but to make war?? As we read on, we see that God is making war against those who work against Him – and especially the dragon, Satan (20:1-10). God is bringing the justice that he currently held back to those who deserve justice – according to His unchanging Wisdom. This IS a reason to rejoice, for who could possibly accept a God who did not punish bad, or, even worse, punished indiscriminately? The mercy and the grace of God is found in His justice – it was because of this unshakable just God that Christ was needed, and that Christ came. When God’s kingdom comes, He will right all wrongs with just punishment.

2. Heaven

Revelation 21 is probably my favourite chapter in the Bible. Consider this glorious image of heaven:

“Now the dwelling place of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away...I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:3-5

Just imagine a world without this catalogue of suffering. Humans as they were meant to be, living with, for and through God, in a perfect and wonderful world created utterly anew. I can’t wait!

“But life is really difficult and it is hard to be joyful.”

What’s so amazing about these two Kingdom qualities is that we can rejoice in them even in our suffering. When facing injustices on both a personal and legal level, we can rejoice that God will bring justice; when facing the difficulties of a broken world, we can rejoice that another, better world is on its way – and our prayers for His Kingdom become fervent.

“But how can I rejoice when my friends don’t know Christ and will be condemned?”

God’s judgement is not yet here, but it is certainly coming – as is His kingdom. It’s not just that you know they will be judged – you also know the route to freedom.

“The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17

You have heard the Church and the Spirit say "Come", and you now hold the keys to a kingdom of glory, wonder and freedom. If there was ever inspiration for evangelism, this is it: you hold the truth in your hands, so echo their invitation! How I long for those I know to share in the majesty of being a child of God in the new Kingdom of my Almighty Father – so I will tell them!

Our Father in heaven?

It’s so easy to think of heaven as something like this cartoon by Jeff Larson (fluffy white clouds, hallows and white robes):

But let's get it straight from here: heaven is not a fluffy place of pleasurable nice things. Heaven is the Kingdom of God. It is where God has His rightful rule as King over all. Our Father in heaven is this almighty king.

So what? Well, rather than an old, fuzzy grey-bearded daddy, we have an almighty king. We may be His children but we’re also His subjects – He is the Boss, and we are to do His bidding.*

People so often talk of the difficulty of God as Father for those who have had abusive, absent or lousy fathers. Although this is true, I think it is even more true that none of us have experience of the true kingship and supreme authority of the Father in heaven. In fact, due to history’s disastrous dictators, we are far more comfortable with a democratic fatherhood where some authority lies with us. Unfortunately, this is not the Fatherhood of God. He holds the whole world in His hands to supremely govern by His will and ultimately to judge according to His holiness. There is no higher authority.

Is it just me that finds this a little uncomfortable?

I sometimes find it hard to bow before God in complete surrender. It is a struggle against my self-sufficiency, my pride and my sense of self-worth. And yet, God has challenged me to accept Him as a holy and kingly Father, not limited to the extent of Fatherhood on earth. You see, on earth we grow away from the authority of our father as we grow up. But in heaven (including the element of heaven that begins as we accept the sacrifice of Christ), the more we grow up, the more bound we are into the Father’s will, and the more He demands of us in obedience.

I want to grow up in God. And I know that my surrender to God’s will brings me more freedom and joy than my own will can ever bring. So I’m determined to realise the vision of the Bible, where my God, my loving Father, is also my awesome King and the ultimate authority in my life – a Father who lives in Heaven, and whose very name is Holy.

*Luckily, He is also infinitely all-knowing, just and loving, so His bidding is always right.

Father, bring me onto my knees before You. Help me to surrender to Your will, and find infinite love and freedom there. Be the King of my heart, my head and my will, so that I would find myself living to serve you with joy and new-found freedom. Amen.

Get my meaning?

One of my struggles is with the repetition of the Lord's Prayer. I have been saying the words of that prayer since I was a small child, and know it utterly inside out, and yet I find it very difficult to mean it as I pray it – my tongue rushes away with itself before my brain can register the words!

The problem with repeating the same words and phrases is that the initial link between the meaning and the words used to express that meaning seems to degrade. In spontaneous speech, you start with the meaning you want to express and then attach the words you require to express it – but when you repeat the same words over and over again, the form becomes more prominent than the meaning. In fact, to retain the meaning in those words, you have to work very hard to re-establish the link.

I suspect that Jesus' prayer as recorded in Matthew and Luke was not supposed to be a mantra but a model.

Having talked about repetition in my last blog entry, it only makes sense to talk about variety now. In my eyes, the Bible always repeats itself in meaning, but varies its form. The poetry of the Psalms, the speeches of the prophets and the stories of Genesis can convey the same meanings through different words.

So what is the core meaning of Jesus' prayer? I think it is about putting things right.

Jesus was not a conformer to his contemporary Jewish culture – he was a radical. He came to put right the people of God, physically by his sacrifice and verbally by his words. In essence, Jesus' prayer turns our thinking from that of a sinner to that of the saved. You see, before Christ, the people of God were seeking constant mercy from an unapproachable Almighty God. Because of their sin and His holiness, they were appointed a representative – the High Priest – who by God's mercy was allowed to approach God and ask for atonement, and even he would die if he entered unbidden (see Leviticus 16). What a far cry from Adam and Eve walking with God in Eden!

It is Jesus' sacrifice that puts this right – and the first word of his prayer indicates this restored relationship. We, in Jesus' model prayer, are reminded that the Almighty God is now our Father: approachable, loving, forgiving, merciful, disciplining and just.

The model of the Lord's Prayer helps restructure our thinking to this new way of living – it puts right what sin put wrong. When we pray, we must start by remembering that we do not pray to a distant, justly angry God; through Christ, we pray to a perfect Father, who longs to give good things to His children. We bring our requests before God like a child to his Father, not like a servant to his master.

Father, help me to approach your throne with the confidence that comes from being your child – needing neither to fear you nor to grovel before you, but coming freely and intimately to talk to you.

Over and over again

My husband is rather cynical about church. Quite often, after hearing another recounting of the gospel, or another talk on money, he complains that it has been said before. And it’s not just him that notices and dislikes the repetitiveness – I distinctly remember my mother criticising some of my early writing because she'd heard it all before. I'm thinking, 'but it's the gospel! It's the truth! Isn't it good to repeat it?'

It was in church yesterday that I realised the same accusation could be levelled at Christ. Listening to (yet another) talk on money, the preacher noted the fact that Christ talked about money again and again in Luke – in chapters 6, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21, to be exact. In fact, looking across the whole Bible, it's repetitiveness is quite obvious – the Psalms repeatedly praise and acknowledge God's characteristics again and again (look up the word faithfulness in a concordance and see how many Psalms refer to it); God's promise of a Saviour from Genesis is not only directly repeated to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also referenced in God’s repetitive salvation of his people; the New Testament teachings, especially Paul's letters, constantly reiterate the gospel (read chapter one of Romans!); and we even have four accounts of Jesus' life which closely mirror one another.

Why does God find it necessary to repeat himself again and again?

Well, I think there are two reasons.

Firstly, we don’t learn. Like the Israelites, we can forget what God has told us and build another idol in record speed. We need repetition to remind us what it’s all about – and who it’s all about. Otherwise, we get lost in our own, self-centred ideals.

Secondly, the world conveys its empty philosophies repetitively. Take sex, for example. You will agree with me that sex is treated very differently by our secular post-modern society than by God. And it’s everywhere! Just count how many adverts you pass on your way to work, school or the shops which suggest every man or woman shall have sexual/relational success if they use [insert material product]. And how much of the young girl’s magazine is full of worldly opinions of sex – ‘wait until you feel right before having sex’? I could go on. The point is, the world repeats its ungodly philosophy of life constantly in newspapers, in books and magazines, in music, in adverts on billboards and the internet, on TV, in shopping centres, and even in the school curriculum. We need to hear the gospel again and again because the world is so noisy in shouting it out of our heads, replacing God’s truth with self-sufficiency and self-promotion. We need reminding to use money and possessions for God because the world constantly whispers materialistic worship into our ears. We need to be reminded of the truths about sex and relationships because the world is preaching a self-gratifying view of sex and a self-centred view of relationships.

Not that God’s word is not infinitely more powerful than the world’s – but if we don’t repetitively listen to God’s word and hear His truth time after time, we will slowly slip into the mindset of the world, blinded by the hollow haze of wrong messages. Instead, ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may test and approve what God’s will is’ (Romans 12:2).

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Psalm 1:1-3 (NLT)

Let’s not be afraid of repeating the truths of the Word of God – He was not afraid to repeat Himself, because He knew what His people were up against.

So, this is the first post! Having finally decided on a template for my blog, and spent the last hour changing all the colours, I'm ready to start writing!

Just need work out where to start now....