Week 3, day 2: What is God’s kingdom like?

“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (NIV)

“may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Good News)

Dan Green writes:

Our discussion about this part of the Lord’s prayer centred on what God’s kingdom is, and on what it would look like for that kingdom to fully come to earth.

As a family we have lived in two kingdoms during our time… the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan! Both kingdoms have their monarchs, but the nature of their rule and their power looks very, very different. While Queen Elizabeth’s rule is largely symbolic, limited by the particular quirks of British history and by the will of the people (cue rolled eyes from the family as I even mention Magna Carta!), King Abdullah of Jordan enjoys more or less total control and what he wants to happen is pretty much what happens!

Following a brief discussion on which of these kingdoms God’s kingdom was most like, we managed to agree that we all think God’s kingdom is a place where everything that is good and beautiful in life exists, and where people are fully loved, fully healed, and fully at peace. By inviting us to pray for this kingdom to come to earth (and by declaring elsewhere that it was, in fact, near and available), Jesus was making it clear that the good things of God’s kingdom can be part of our lives today.

The other side to this coin is that God’s kingdom coming to earth also means an end to all suffering. This is very good news indeed, as we’ve been following Slave Free Lent with IJM (International Justice Mission) this month, and learning lots about modern day slavery and the ways that the products we buy have a real impact on the conditions people work in and live in around the world. So as we pray for God’s kingdom to come today, we invite you to join us in praying that every person who is caught up in slavery would be set free, and to pray for any other area of social justice that you care about.