Every time we pray the “Lord’s Prayer” we are entreating God for something more monumental than we realize.

 

THY KINGDOM COME

Photo by Tim Rains

We all love stories and movies about the under-rated, often-maligned, and often- disadvantaged underdog who defies all the odds, overcomes unbelievable hardship and through incredible perseverance and patience, ultimately rises to claim the championship and the title. Yet, I think we greatly under appreciate the greatest of such stories, and this one is true in every detail from start to finish. It also affects every living creature on earth with eternal consequences.

I’m referring to the scene in Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation. Here the stage has been set for what happens at the sounding of the 7th trumpet in verse 15 of chapter 11—the moment all of creation has been waiting for. Up to this point, it appeared that Satan had been in control. In actuality, he couldn’t do a thing without God’s permission. Now the Kingdom of the world has become the “Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” God now openly exercises, for all the world to see, the power and authority He always had.

Everything was Corrupted

Since the time of Adam and Eve, the world has been under the influence and control (limited by God) of Satan. Since he brought sin into God’s pristine world, death, decay, and corruption have progressively ruined every part and every living thing that God had spoken into existence and Jesus has fashioned into what we call creation.

Undoing the Damage

Through deceit, Satan claimed the Kingdom of Earth that rightfully belonged to Christ. Since then, our Lord has been waiting for the day when the Kingdom will be returned to Him. In the meantime, He would have to undo the damage Satan had done to Christ’s most cherished creation—mankind. To do so, He had to leave the glory of heaven behind, come to earth as a man (retaining His deity), preach about what He came to do, while proving that He was, indeed, God by performing miraculous signs and wonders.

Yet, He was largely ignored, rejected by His own people, tortured, humiliated, and crucified as a common thief. Even though He accomplished His mission by dying as a substitute for the sins of every person on earth, and rising from the dead, His legacy was mocked and maligned.

For the past two centuries, He has watched evil spread and intensify throughout His earth. Perversions of every kind have corrupted what had been made in His image, and His enemies appeared to be gaining ground. He knew that everything Satan had done was directed at Him, so it all was very personal.

Creation is Set Free

Do you get the picture? Along with Him, all of creation has been groaning, waiting to be set free from death and decay. Then, one day, God says, “Enough!” The time has come. A heavenly court has been called with a host of witnesses. The time has come for King Jesus to reclaim His Kingdom. What He had endured had qualified Him as the only being in the universe worthy to take the scroll from the Ancient of Days, break the seals, and bring forth the judgments His enemies deserve.

The age of grace has passed. The Day of Judgment that had been dismissed and ridiculed has suddenly become very real. The Suffering Servant has finally become the Conquering King and has taken back His Kingdom. The day Christ has been anticipating for two centuries has finally come! Try to imagine what that will be like for all those who are privileged to witness this. Imagine, if you can, how Christ will feel on that day!

The Prayers of the Saints

With the stage set, let’s look at some of the participants in that heavenly courtroom as we zero in on our role in all this. When Christ (as a slain Lamb) had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

But why are harps and bowls full of incense connected with the Lamb’s taking the book (scroll) of the inheritance that was rightfully His? Did the prayers of the saints bring about this scene? Why else would our Lord command His disciples to pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth”?  The prayers of the saints are mentioned several times throughout the book of Revelation.

I believe that every soul that has been saved, every blessing any saint has received, every thwarting of Satan, every victory for God, as well as this final consummation of our Lord’s taking over the book of the kingdom—all have been brought about through the Spirit-led prayers of God’s saints.

The Universal Confession

Every saved and unsaved created thing in heaven and on the earth will say, “Unto him that sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, unto the ages of the ages.”

Here we have the fulfillment of Philippians 2:9-ll:

“Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name, which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The Restored Kingdom

Once the Kingdom of God is back in His hands, He is free to give from this great Kingdom a separate kingdom to the One who has earned it—the Lord, Jesus Christ. He will rule and reign over His Kingdom on the restored earth for a thousand years. Israel’s promised Messiah, the one she crucified will finally rule over Israel (and the rest of the world), restoring the theocracy God always desired for her.

Try to grasp the magnitude of all this. Now think of what you are really accomplishing every time you pray the Lord’s Prayer and entreat the Father with the words, “Thy kingdom come.”

I will elaborate on this magnificent moment in my YouTube presentation “Thy Kingdom Come” on August 10. Check it out.

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