What is commonly referred to as the Lord’s prayer is actually the disciple’s prayer. The Lord’s prayer, His intercession for His disciples and for us, is found in John 17. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus is instructing His disciples on how to pray as follows: After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come,
God’s kingdom is His rule in the hearts of men now. It is also the future rule of Christ during the Millennial Kingdom on earth. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20
Kingdom or basileia is primarily an abstract noun denoting sovereignty, royal power, and/or dominion. It is the territory or people over whom a king rules. The Kingdom of God is the sphere of God’s rule, but since this earth is the scene of universal rebellion against God, the Kingdom of God is the sphere in which, at any given time, His rule is acknowledged. It is important to note that God has not, in the face of human and demoniac rebellion, relinquished His sovereignty, but has declared His purpose to establish it.*
The fundamental principle of the Kingdom is declared in the words of the Lord spoken in the midst of a company of Pharisees, “the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you”, Luke 17:21. That is, where the King is, there is the Kingdom. Thus at the present time and so far as this earth is concerned, where the King is and where His rule is acknowledged, is, first, in the heart of the individual believer.* Christ in you, the hope of glory!
God calls upon men everywhere, without distinction of race or nationality, to submit voluntarily to His rule. Entrance into the Kingdom is through the new birth, John 3:3. Nothing that a man may be by nature, or can attain to by any form of self-culture, avails in the spiritual realm.*
Concerning the future, the Lord taught His disciples to pray, “Thy Kingdom come”, where the verb is in the point tense, precluding the notion of a gradual progress and development, and implying a sudden catastrophic event, II Thessalonians 2:8.*
Concerning the present; that a man is of the Kingdom of God is not shown in the punctilious observances of ordinances, which are external and material, but in the deeper matters of the heart, which are spiritual and essential; “righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”, Romans 14:17.*
Outward trappings do not a kingdom make.
*W.E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words; pg 344 & 345.
…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…