Your Kingdom Come
For the kingdom is the Lord's. He is the ruler over the nations. — Psalms 22:28
He who testifies these things says, "Yes, I come quickly." Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus. — Revelation 22:20
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: When we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we ask that God’s rule appear and become visible in the world. We long for his values—love, truth, justice, grace, and life—to replace the dominion of sin, evil, and Satan, bringing an end to war, poverty, and death. This petition also reaches into our inner being: we plead with God to remove pride and selfishness from our hearts and fill them with love, grace, and goodness. We look forward to a new creation, when God will bring the tragedy of history to an end and establish new heavens and a new earth. Until that day comes, this should be our constant and fervent prayer.
After hallowing God’s name, the Lord Jesus Christ declares in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come.” What did the Lord mean by that mysterious expression?
The Greek word translated into English as “come” is “erchomai,” which means “appear, arise, come before the public, be manifested.” Certainly, all these expressions are fitting ways to express the desire for the kingdom of God to become present and visible in the world.
In saying this, the Lord was asking that the values of the kingdom of God—love, truth, justice, grace, life—establish their lordship and dominion in the world. That the madness of this fallen world, distorted by sin and evil, be replaced by the benevolent and just rule of God.
“Your kingdom come” means, “May your grace come to the earth. Destroy Satan’s dominion. Bring wars, poverty, and death to an end. Establish your kingdom of mercy, love, and goodness upon the earth. Transform our hearts. Remove pride and selfishness from the human heart, and replace them with love, grace, and goodness.”
The Lord was asking for the coming of a new age, a radical change in human existence, a new creation. We too should pray in this way. That should be our constant and ardent desire—that God’s system be established on the earth forever; that the empire of evil be dismantled and the life of God flow freely through our fallen world.
The day is drawing near when God will bring the tragedy of history to an end. Then we will have new heavens and a new earth. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 14:11). Meanwhile, our ardent desire, our persistent prayer, must be, “Your kingdom come.” Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus!