Your kingdom come. (Luke 11: 2b, ESV)
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6: 10, ESV)
ARNIE! Has there ever been a more beloved golfer? Certainly, there are professional golfers aplenty who are highly regarded, even idolized. But, overall, has there ever been anyone who electrified the crowds like Arnie? Maybe Bobby Jones! Maybe Tiger, but only maybe.
Arnie didn’t come by the moniker “The King” arbitrarily. During his prime, no one held the attention of golf fans like Arnold Palmer. Even non-golfers were enamored with this charismatic, pant-hitching, virtuoso. With swashbuckling fearlessness, Arnie didn’t just play a course, he attacked it. Even Seve, with all his panache, was a distant second by comparison.
Jack and a few others exceeded Arnie’s accomplishments, but hands down, the most popular golfer who ever lived was the legendary Arnold Palmer. We saw him on Wheaties cereal boxes and the cover of Sports Illustrated. We turned on the television and there he was selling everything from motor oil to Cadillacs. With all due respect to Elvis, Arnie was “The King.”
But here’s the thing, while Arnie was the king of golf and Elvis was the king of rock and roll, Jesus Christ is the King of kings. Arnie and Elvis were metaphorical kings. Jesus is the King of the whole world. When the “roll is called up yonder,” everyone, including Arnie and Elvis, will bow on bended knee before the world’s rightful King.
This King sits on the throne of heaven ruling his kingdom without end (Isaiah 9: 7). Make no mistake, while his kingdom is not of this world, it is most definitely in this world (Matthew 13, et al). After all, it was Jesus who said, “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).
King Jesus rules his kingdom with wisdom, righteousness, and power. He cares for his subjects with unspeakable compassion. He provides for his citizens with self-sacrificing love. He, unexpectedly, makes enemies his friends. This King governs his subjects with tender mercies. He rules his recalcitrant enemies with fierce justice and unwavering righteousness.
When Jesus teaches us to pray, “your kingdom come,” he is instructing us in matters of utmost importance. He is calling us to participate in the advancement of that which he intended in the beginning (Genesis 1:26-28). He is inviting us to join him in the march of redemptive history (Mathew 28:18-20).
Jesus’ kingdom arrived at his first appearing (Matthew 4:7, et al). His kingdom is spreading throughout the earth between his first and second appearing (Matthew 13: 31-33, et al). And his kingdom will come in its consummated form when all rebellion will be extinguished (1 Corinthians 15: 24-28).
Jesus is, remarkably, including us in the advancement of his reign when he teaches us to pray — “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It is acknowledged by all that his will is being done perfectly in heaven. Our prayer should be that his will would be done on earth in the same way.
Have you ever noticed the trajectory of this prayer? Rather than flying off to heaven, he is bringing heaven to earth. We will see the curse lifted off the earth (Romans 8: 20-21). We will live forever in a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13). This earth is his by Crown Rights; he created it, he redeemed it, he is redeeming it, and one day he will finalize his reclamation project to perfection. He will not abandon earth to evil. For those who follow Christ, the future could not possibly be brighter.