I want to introduce you to a phrase Bible scholars use to describe the kingdom of God: already but not yet. Have you heard that? This phrase was coined over a hundred years ago by Princeton theologian Geerhardus Vos and made popular by another scholar, George Eldon Ladd, in the 1950s. The idea is that the kingdom of heaven is already here, but it has not yet come in its fullness.
Those of us who know Jesus Christ as our Lord are currently — at this moment — citizens of the kingdom of God on this earth. We are walking models of those who have allowed the Lord to reign on the throne of our hearts. We are kingdom people, infiltrating the earth for His purposes.
What Is the Kingdom of God?
Jesus began His preaching ministry with the news of the imminent appearing of the kingdom of God. He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). He also said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). In Luke 17:21, He said, “The kingdom of God is within you.”
When Jesus stood before Pilate, He said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight” (John 18:36).
When the Holy Spirit descended on the 120 disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem shortly after the ascension of Jesus Christ, the church came into sudden and sublime existence. The word kingdom means the king’s domain, so, those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord are His people, His possession. We are a spiritual kingdom in a physical world. Our Lord told us in Matthew 12:28, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Paul wrote, “For the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). In Colossians 1:13, he added, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
3 Prayers for the Coming Kingdom
When you pray for God’s kingdom on earth, you are praying for the spread of the gospel and the expansion of the church. When you pray for the missionaries God places on your heart, when you engage in mission trips around the world, when you give to ministries that are reaching the globe, when you intercede for your own local churches — you are echoing the prayer of Christ. You are asking God to let His kingdom come to all the earth.
The Bible gives us three prayers connected with the coming end of this age. The first is taken from the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus said, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
The second prayer is a one-word term I learned early in life because I grew up using the King James Version of the Bible. The apostle Paul closed his first letter to the Corinthians with the word “Maranatha” (1 Corinthians 16:22 KJV), which is a direct English translation of a Greek word meaning, “O Lord, come!” It was Paul’s exclamatory request to heaven for the soon return of Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom.
Very similarly, the third prayer, and the final prayer of the Bible, is Revelation 22:20: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
How many times have you looked toward heaven and offered these three prayers in recent weeks? They should be on our lips as we observe the troubling headlines of earth and come to mind when we face trials and temptations of all kinds. They should sound from our hearts whenever we see a beautiful sunrise and from our mouths as the sky explodes in color with the setting of the sun.
We should always make these prayers very personal, especially when we say to the Lord, “Your will be done.” It’s gripping to notice how that phrase appears at the beginning and ending of our Lord’s ministry. In His inaugural sermon in Matthew 6, as we’ve seen, Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (v. 10). And amid blood and tears, He prayed on the last night of His natural life, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).
Three in One
Because Christ surrendered Himself to the Father’s will in Matthew 26, we can pray with confidence and anticipation these glorious prayers that point toward His coming Golden Age: “Maranatha! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
If you want to start focusing on your future right now — and that of the whole world — then take a moment with me to pray this prayer:
Maranatha! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Personal Application Questions
- Read Isaiah 55:12 and 2:4.
- What do these verses tell you about the coming kingdom?
- Read Matthew 6:9–10.
- How do these verses change for you now that you know they refer to the coming kingdom?
- What are we praying for?
- Read 1 Corinthians 16:22 (in the King James Version, if you can).
- What does the word “Maranatha” mean?
- Write out each of these verses, and then combine them into the prayer that should be on the lips of every believer.
- Matthew 6:10
- 1 Corinthians 16:22 (the meaning)
- Revelation 22:20
Adapted from The Coming Golden Age by Dr. David Jeremiah, with Personal Application Questions from The Coming Golden Age Bible Study Guide.
Most days peace feels elusive, and our hope feels light-years away. And it is almost impossible to set our minds on God’s coming reign. But what if the return of the King and His Kingdom is exactly what we need to find our peace and ground our hope today? His coming victorious reign is what gives us the strength we need now.
The Coming Golden Age is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
Dr. David Jeremiahis the founder of Turning Point, an international ministry committed to providing Christians with sound Bible teaching through radio and television, the Internet, live events, and resource materials and books. He is the author of more than fifty books, includingThe Book of Signs,Where Do We Go fromHere?,andThe Great Disappearance. Dr. Jeremiah serves as the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. He and his wife, Donna, have four children and twelve grandchildren.
