“Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all..

(1Chron 29.10&11)

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

(Matt 6.9-13)

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit…You must be born again”

(Jn 3.5&7)

 We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

(Col 1.9-13)

Now and not yet – a kingdom come and coming.. The Old Testament stories are full of references to God as ruler, sovereign in his glory and a call to the people of Israel to live as loyal subjects of that kingdom. Their loyalty was designed to set them apart from other nations, so that they might demonstrate to the world just how wonderful their God was and so glorify his name. Sadly, the OT is also full of stories of how his people rejected his sovereignty and instead lived like people of other nations, loyal to other gods, giving lip service to their covenant God, and trusting in deeds and ritual instead of depending by faith on his love for them.

When Jesus came, preaching that the kingdom of God was near, many thought he meant a military power that would overthrow the tyranny of Rome. But once again, they had got the wrong idea, as Jesus taught repeatedly in his parables and directly, showing that God’s kingdom is not like a human kingdom. Its values are totally different, and ultimately we can enter that kingdom only by new birth, by becoming new creatures with a nature and life designed for that kingdom. Thanks be to God that in Christ Jesus, we are offered that new birth, that new life, and that God does everything necessary to establish us securely in his glorious kingdom of light!

This kingdom – inaugurated by the first coming of Jesus – continues to grow in the world today, but not as human kingdoms grow. Not by conquest, not by political or popular campaigns, not by adroit financial investment, bribery or coercion. Rather, this kingdom grows as heart, after heart recognises Jesus as Lord, and accepts his sovereignty in their lives. As this happens, that life becomes a place where the kingdom of God is realised in this world. My life, and yours, are to be lived examples of the values and atmosphere of the kingdom of God – where he reigns, our loving Saviour.

While we will not see this kingdom fully realised until God winds up time and ushers in the newly re-created earth and heaven, we are living in its light, by its time, and by its values. In effect, we are part of the answer to the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to say – “thy kingdom come….”, and we are also part of the work in realising the kingdom as we witness, pray and serve the Lord in our own turn.

Thank you Father, that by the gift of faith in Christ, I live now under his sovereignty, a subject of your heavenly kingdom. Thank you that a glorious day is coming when that kingdom will be visible, tangible and supreme, wiping out all trace of this shadowland where your reign is still disputed.

Let my life truly be a little part of that heavenly rule – a place where the Spirit dwells as honoured sovereign, unquenched, active and in charge. Let me live as one honouring my inheritance, delighting in my name and stake in your promised land. Let me in all things acknowledge and exalt my king, treasuring his word, engaging with his work, delighting to introduce him to those who have never met him, and resisting his enemies.

Even as the seed sown bears fruit a hundred fold, Lord so may your kingdom seed be fruitful in many lives; invisibly taking root, and then bursting forth in newness of life to your glory and the hastening of the day when all shall be finished and Christ return in glory!