Word of Salvation – Vol. 49 No.8 – February 2004

 

Praying for the Coming of God’s Kingdom

 

Sermon by Rev M P Geluk

on Lord’s Day 48 (Q/A 123 Heid.Cat.)

Scripture Reading:  Isaiah 35; Matthew 4:17, 23-25

Suggested Hymns:  BoW 103A; 145; 514; 454:3,8

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Each statement in the Lord’s prayer contains both profound and simple scriptural truths. And since our prayers will only be heard if they echo God’s will, Christians should get to know the meaning as well as the order of the Lord’s prayer. The Lord Jesus taught us to first pray “Hallowed be your name”, and it means that all we do, say, or think, may be to the honour and glory of God’s holy name. And not just Christians doing that but everyone, and all of nature as well. All must glorify God – peoples’ lives, their works, industry, politics, entertainment and the environment.

But the very fact that we need to pray for this to happen is an indication that it’s not happening everywhere. There are many things in the world and in our lives that dishonour God. And so…

1. From the first petition to the second petition

The question arises – why are things not the way they should be? We pray – Lord, may all things glorify your name, so why is it not happening? The Bible teaches, does it not, that God is all-powerful and almighty. So why don’t people everywhere honour God? Why doesn’t God make them? Why is there so much humanism and secularism? Why do we have to talk about post-modernism and new age thinking? If God used His almighty power, then none of these unscriptural ways of thinking would arise. So why do things go wrong? Why is there evil? Why are there so many refugees? Why terrorism, why oppression, why corruption?

We know some of the answers. We know that the fanatical side of Islam is aggressive and spreads terror in the world in order to achieve their goals. We know that the puritanical side of Islam doesn’t like the corruption, materialism and worldly entertainment that comes out of the western world, and since they identify the western world with Christianity, there is not much sympathy for Christians. We know that some wars are simply there because nations have disputes over certain geographical areas where there are oil and gas reserves, and they don’t care too much if people and their livelihoods are in the way. And we also know that addiction to drugs, alcohol and other things ruin peoples’ lives. But why can’t God who is almighty and powerful do something about all that? Prevent it! Solve it!

Furthermore, why do things go wrong in our own lives, in our families, in the church, and in society? Why can we pray in the morning and scream in anger later in the day? Why abortion? Why incest? Why sexual abuse of children? Why divorce? Why environmental pollution? Why the rape of nature? Why hunger when the world can grow enough food for everybody? Why incurable diseases? Why physical and mental illness? Why wheelchairs, old age and death?

Some of the answers that we’ve got don’t explain everything. We are taught to pray that God’s name is honoured everywhere and by everything, but it’s not happening. Is God not almighty then? Is He unable to crush all evil and make all things good? Can we still be confident that He will bring about a total renewal of all things? Oh, there are times when our faith in God is sorely tested!

We humans cannot satisfactorily answer as to how sin could enter a perfect world at the time of the Fall. But part of the answer to the presence of sin and evil is the reality of other powers beside God. Immediately we have to say that no power is equal to God’s power. God is sovereign. He is supreme. But there are still other powers. They are lesser powers, but they still have power to make things go wrong and crooked.

There is the power of evil men, of false religion, of corrupt politics, of godless ideologies and philosophies, the power of the occult, of worthless films and books. And behind all these human powers, influences and forces, there is the power of Satan.

So there is not only the sovereign might of God but there is also the power of man and Satan. Yes, God is the highest power and all other powers are secondary. There is only one Lord of lords and only one King of kings. That’s what the Bible teaches and that’s what we accept in faith. We can’t see our mighty Lord and King but we see a great deal of what man does and is capable of, and this makes our faith in God a bit shaky at times. Sometimes we see a lot of darkness, and we struggle to believe there’s also light. We see much evil and frequently doubt if there is also good.

Our desire as Christians is that all things glorify God – things in ourselves, in the world and in nature. We aim for wholeness, goodness, justice, kindness and truth. But from the moment we try to put these virtues into place, we realise that there is opposition. We soon clash with the opposing forces of brokenness, evil, revenge and hatred. These powers are at work in our own human natures even when Christ has come to live in us with His Word and Spirit. We can’t seem to always maintain our self-control, or manage our desires in ways that glorify God.

In fact, we are aware that the struggle against things wrong and sinful is a deep one and that these other evil forces we mentioned already can knock the fight right out of us. And so we are brought back again and again to what God wrote to the church of Ephesus in the first century, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12). That is, as Christians we’re not only fighting evil men but we’re also up against the spiritual forces of evil, which are far more difficult and powerful.

Therefore, for all these reasons, after we have prayed “Hallowed be your name”, we also pray “Your kingdom come.” We know God’s holy name is not honoured everywhere, not in our own lives and not around us. And therefore we must pray – Lord, will you so establish your rule that your kingdom may more and more be perfected in us and around us. Make it come, O God, in all its glorious fullness and power.

2. When do we expect this kingdom to come?

Is it something only for the future? We know we have to pray for the coming of Christ and we know that this will be at the end of time. Is the kingdom of God the same thing, then, as the renewal of all things at Jesus’ coming?

Well, no, God’s kingdom cannot only be future bliss. For if that were so, then it would mean that we cannot speak of God being the Ruler and King now. But the Bible makes that claim repeatedly:

“The Lord … will rule in the midst of your enemies” (Ps 110:2);

“The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (Ps 103:19);

“The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble” ( Ps 99:1);

“The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad” (Ps 97:1).

But the Bible also says this: “Your enemy the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8). Over against that the apostle John was given those awesome visions recorded in the book, Revelation, which show that Christ is King and reigning from heaven. God is on the throne and He is the supreme Commander who oversees the whole field of operations and knows exactly where the enemy is and what he is doing and when and where God must employ His forces in order to win the battle. Yet the same John who saw all that, was also inspired to write in his first letter, “…the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 Jn 5:19 ESV).

Now that is a remarkable statement to make from an apostle who, together with his fellow apostles, heard Jesus say just before He ascended into heaven: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:16). Yes, all authority – on earth, belonging to Christ! It couldn’t be any clearer.

The Word of God does not contradict itself when on the one hand it speaks of the whole world lying in the power of the evil one, and on the other hand that all authority, also on earth, has been given to Christ. What it does do is to make you aware of this tension that is there in our life, in the world and all through history.

We can say with confidence that the battle against Satan and evil has been won because Christ defeated Satan and all evil powers with His death on the cross and His rising from the dead. But God is still busy gathering the elect. There are still more to be called and saved. When that is all done, then Christ will say to the Father – mission completed, I now hand over to you the kingdom because all those whom you had chosen before the world began have been brought to salvation. And then the Father will reunite heaven and earth and all things will be made new and God will be all in all. But for the time being we are not there yet. The battle still rages all around us. Satan is still waging war and opposing God and His church.

For these reasons, now is still a tension-filled time. You can see that clearly, for example, in the Bible book of Acts. When you read Acts you have to keep in mind that what is written there is not meant to be seen as a blueprint for the way God acts in every other generation. Some tend to do that. They turn the experiences of the first-century Christian church into all-time models for all Christians no matter in which time they live. But what God did in the church when the New Testament apostles were still around was unique to and necessary for that time only. They were not meant to be repeated. There was no need to. The church in the generations that followed, right up to the second coming of Christ, must turn to Jesus’ teaching and the teaching found in the letters of the New Testament.

That does not make the book of Acts redundant. In a most powerful way Acts shows us the coming of God’s kingdom. The Lord Jesus had said that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not overcome it (Mt 16:18). And the things that are recorded in Acts show us precisely that. It becomes clear as you read through Acts that Jesus is building His church. Thousands of converts are added to the church by the power of preaching the Word and the Holy Spirit.

But there is also powerful opposition. Persecution breaks out, and it is bloody. Apostles are imprisoned and killed. There are beatings, riots, yes, terrible things happen. Not only to the church from the outside but also from the inside. False teachings are followed by false practices within the church. Satan is really busy. He puts Christians up against one another. And yet the gates of hell do not overcome. The Lord reigns from heaven and He continues to build His church. And when we come to the end of Acts, then the gospel has reached Rome and there is a church in the heart of the pagan Roman empire. By the fourth century there is even a Christian emperor and there are kingdom activities going on in a pagan culture.

So the kingdom is not just future. It’s already here because Jesus is King now. But because of Satan’s activities, it makes a lot of sense to pray, Lord “Your kingdom come.” The meaning of that short but profound prayer taught by Christ is beautifully put by the Heidelberg Catechism. In fact, its words themselves are a prayer:

Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you.

 

Keep your church strong and add to it.

 

Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force that revolts against you and every conspiracy against your Word.

 

Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all.

3. Praying this petition has personal implications

It’s beautiful to see how personal the Catechism’s prayer is. When we pray like that and mean it, then it makes us more careful not to play around with sin. Just think what it could mean for us each day when we, before we do anything else, pray, “Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you.”

When you pray like that, then you have no other option but to obey God’s will and not sin. Actually, with the emphasis on personal submission to Christ’s rule, as well as on God keeping His church strong and add new believers to it, and for God to destroy the devil’s works, the Catechism’s answer has put us right into what witness and evangelism is all about. When we pray “Your kingdom come”, then we are asking God to increase the church and drive back the forces of Satan. Now that’s the same as what we hope to achieve in our humble efforts in spreading the gospel of Christ. It’s what you hope to achieve when you stand up for the honour of Christ at work and at university. And when parents nurture their children in the Christian faith. And when teenage Christians seek to keep other teens in the ways of the Lord.

Now God will destroy Satan’s works. We know that, for He said He would. But are we willing to submit our own lives to Christ the King? It will make a difference to the church. The church will become more like Christ wants His church to be. Personal submission to Christ the King will also make a difference to kingdom works like Christian education and Christian care for our elderly, to just name a few. And Christ ruling us will also make us a salt and a light in society and the nation.

The Lord will take care of Satan – we don’t have to worry about that. But our personal submission to Christ’s rule in our daily life and work, that will have positive repercussions to what goes on around us. Now we often tell each other that these things are the things we must do, but we need motivation. So let’s look to Christ and see how…

4. The Old Testament foreshadowed the kingdom and it came with Christ

The Psalms, for example, show a remarkable clear understanding of how all of life, religion, culture, and politics is to submit to Christ’s rule. The reign of King David, who wrote many of the Psalms, was many times a glorious foretaste of Christ’s rule. So also in the first years of Solomon’s reign, as well as in the reign of some of the godly kings of Judah – especially when God’s prophets and priests were allowed to freely do their work to the honour of God. In such times the nation of Israel experienced peace and well-being. But earthly kings, priests and prophets were still imperfect and backsliding was frequent.

But with Christ’s coming, the rule of God became much more a blessed reality. Jesus went about preaching the good news of the kingdom. And those who repented and believed had their lives changed dramatically. But Jesus did not only change people’s lives from within, He also healed every kind of disease. The demon-possessed, the paralytics, the deaf, the dumb and the blind were made normal again.

And it didn’t stop there. Jesus the King also did mighty miracles in nature. Storms were stilled at sea, the dead were raised, thousands of people were fed from a mere handful of loaves and fishes, water was changed into wine, and the Lord and Peter walked on the water of the Sea of Galilee. In all this it was unmistakably clear that the rule of God had come on earth in a powerful way. The realm of the darkness of sin was dramatically forced back. God was visibly at work in every department of His creation.

Even after Christ has returned to heaven, He continued through the apostles to do things that He had done Himself. Prison doors were mysteriously opened for Peter, the young Eutychus was raised back to life after he died falling out of window when listening to an all-night preaching from Paul. And when the church in Rome got all fired up about Jewish rules that had to do with eating, drinking and holding of special days, then Paul reminded them that the kingdom of God is not a matter of keeping certain customs and traditions but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).

Now all that is in the Bible to make us see what beautiful things await us when God the Father restores the kingdom in full and when all the elect have been saved. We need to keep on hoping and believing that. Especially, because there is still all that imperfection and crookedness around that we mentioned right at the beginning of the sermon. We must not ourselves try to restore God’s kingdom by seeking to imitate the things Jesus and the apostles did. It’s not the time and it’s not in our power. Christ told His disciples just before He returned to the Father that it was not for them, or for us, to know the times or dates the Father has set to fully restore His kingdom (Acts 1:7). Right now we have to accept a kingdom that has only come in part. Christ is still busy putting His enemies under His feet. Therefore, ours is still the time wherein we must live by faith in the King and trust that He will go on conquering.

So we will not try to force God’s timetable into our scheme of things. We must submit to Christ’s rule in the way He rules. In that submission there are many things that we must leave to God. It is clear that not all diseases are healed, not every trial and trouble is taken away. No, not yet. Paul had to leave his fellow worker Trophimus behind in Miletus because he was sick, and there is no unwillingness or protest on the part of Paul or Trophimus of that being so. Not all the dead were raised in the days of Jesus and of the apostles. Neither were all life-threatening winds whipping up storms told to be quiet. John the Baptist was beheaded, Stephen stoned to death, James killed with the sword, and Paul had to accept God’s refusal to take away his thorn in the flesh.

So the many wonderful aspects of the kingdom, that became so visible with the ministry of Jesus and the apostles were not everywhere present and neither did they keep on happening. But that should not make us feel deprived. The fact is that we now know from the description God’s Word gives about the signs and wonders Jesus did, how wonderfully real the kingdom of God can be. That these signs and wonders have largely disappeared for the time being makes us live by faith all the more, and whilst patiently waiting for God’s kingdom to come in full, we in the meantime spread the gospel so that all the elect can be called and saved and live by faith in God.

It also means we are still in the battle against the forces of evil, but we don’t despair or give up when trouble or hardship are our lot. We trust that the Lord knows what He is doing. We are called to fight sin on all fronts, in us and around us. We are to be busy in honouring His name and we will let God be God and not demand from Him when to heal or not to heal, when to take life or when to keep death away. In faith we keep looking forward to the final consummation of God’s kingdom. To the time when God will be all in all and He will reign forever and ever. To the day when Christ’s rule will be completed and all God’s enemies, Satan included, will be fully and finally overcome. Then there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away. But until then, let us continue to pray, “Your kingdom come.” And live by faith.

Amen.