"Your Kingdom Come..."

We often say or quote this verse as part of the Lord's prayer, but like so many other verses, we may not fully understand these words. What do we mean when we say, "Your kingdom come?"

Have you considered what you are actually saying? Do you understand what will occur when this takes place? Do you know what the kingdom of God is? Do you understand that the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of God?

Too many Christians believe that we will spend eternity in heaven. This is, in fact, not biblical. We are not destined for an eternity in some far-off ethereal plane.

As sons and daughters of the Most High God, we will live with Him and He with us, and we will be His people, and He will be our God on a renewed and perfect Earth. God the Father and the Lamb will live with humanity on Earth forever.

From the beginning, this was always God's plan so we could live and be with Him forever and ever.

The Required Desire

So when you pray, do you desire the kingdom of God to be made manifest on the Earth? Or is it some rote memorization that drives your prayer life?

For the men and women of faith, the desire for this eternal kingdom is foundational. Even for the ancestors, this desire guided their actions. Remember the faith of Abraham.

Hebrews 11: 8-10: 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Abraham was "looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."

Hebrews 11:13-14: 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

Those who acknowledge that we are strangers in a foreign land and exiles on the Earth make it clear that this present Earth is not our home, but rather we are seeking a homeland where righteousness and peace reside.

The desire for the kingdom of God is, again, foundational to our identity as sons and daughters. If we, children of God, do not desire our Father's house, how then can we say we are true sons and daughters?

It should be no surprise then when Jesus says, "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" in John 12:25.

Therefore, according to the Son of Man, hating our life in this world is a prerequisite for eternal life. Those who love life in this present age will perish with no promise of eternal life but rather a promise of eternal death.

The desire for the kingdom of God is a defining characteristic of those who are promised everlasting life. Those who do not desire the coming kingdom instead love this dark and depraved world.

We also see that the Spirit of God and the Bride of the Lamb both say, "Come". It is a beckoning by the body to the Lord at the end of the age. What does this mean?

It means that the church as a whole will partner with the Spirit to cry out that the King will come and establish his kingdom on Earth. It is a means by which we will recognize those who are in the body. In the days to come, if we are not clamoring and crying out and weeping for the kingdom of God to come upon the Earth, then how can we say we are a part of the Bride?

So again, I ask: do you desire the kingdom to come or is it just rote memorization? What does your heart say?

The Object of Our Desire

In light of these things, if we do, in fact, desire the Kingdom, then we must ask ourselves if we really know what we are desiring.

Can you describe the kingdom of God? Do you know what life will be like? Have you considered these things?

For many, the desire for the kingdom is not there simply because they do not know what it is and what it will be like.

To both the 12 and the 70, Jesus said, "Go and proclaim the kingdom of God." He said to tell them that the kingdom of God is near and to heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, and cast out demons.

We see aspects of the kingdom in his sending of these men. Where the kingdom of God is, there is no sickness, there are no lepers, there are no demons, and there are no dead.

Likewise, we see in Matthew 25 that those who are accepted into the Kingdom are those who feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty. They visited those in prison, and they clothed the naked. Ultimately, they loved their neighbor.

The members of the kingdom of God do these things. They are described as those who love their neighbor.

Therefore, the kingdom of God is an Earthly kingdom in which these things are a way of life. Because of the degree to which neighbors are loved, everyone has food to eat. Everyone has water to drink. Everyone has clothes. Everyone visits those who are in prison.

We see that the kingdom of God is, in fact, a place where righteousness and peace reside on every street and inside every house. This is the kingdom we are called to proclaim.

The Effectual Desire

Therefore, knowing these things about the kingdom, we proclaim the King that is coming and the Kingdom that comes with him. There is an innate response to the knowledge of the kingdom of God that propels us to preach that a better kingdom will soon arrive.

Too often, we reach Christ but forget to preach about his kingdom. Without a kingdom, He cannot be king. And likewise, if he is king, he must have a kingdom.

If we proclaim the greatest King, but forgo proclaiming the kingdom, it could be described as a half-gospel.

The proclamation of the Kingdom produces a desire to know the King of the greatest kingdom. Who could rule such a kingdom?

You see, there is a condition written in Matthew 24 which states:

The end cannot come, and thus the King cannot come until His kingdom has been proclaimed to all nations.

If we desire the King to come, then the Kingdom must be proclaimed. And if the kingdom is proclaimed, it speaks to the desire for a kingdom where righteousness and peace last forever.

When we pray, "Your Kingdom Come," it is far more than a mere three words. It is a desire, a mark of the belief that such a kingdom exists and that we are exiles waiting for the place we can call home.

And this desire should effect in us a change that causes us to proclaim the kingdom that we desire. Even to the degree that we cry out until the King arrives to all who will listen. Just as a Bride who cries out and is longing for her Bridegroom to come, and when he arrives, the wedding will take place.

Therefore, consider your heart's desire when you say, "Your kingdom Come."