Jesus, in Matthew 6:10, has told us to pray for the Father’s kingdom to come and His will to be done in earth just as it is done in heaven.
I believe that we should do this. I also think that we must know that, in praying for these two things to be brought to pass, that there is a price that we will pay in participating in these two things.
For Father’s kingdom to come in this earth is not just about the physical earth. I believe that the “earth” that is first meant is us. We individually and corporately are earth. Adam was made of the dust of the earth and so are we.
The kingdom or the “rule of God” must first be established in our lives. We must choose to be under the rule of God and partake of all that this means.
When we were born-again we were,
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:12-13)
We are in the kingdom by the “new birth” but we must begin to live by kingdom principles. Jesus was speaking of this when HE said,
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? (Luke 6:46)
Another word or term for LORD is king.
So it seems to me that if we call Him our Lord we are also calling Him our king. Since He is King then His word is law. My question is: Do we live like this? Are we doing the things He says to do? We may be in the kingdom but we must live by kingdom principles and precepts or, in other words, do what He says.
There is a cost or a price to pay to live according to His Word in our daily lives. We have to determine that whatever that price is we are willing to pay it. Listen to what Apostle Paul has to say in regard to this:
and when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:21-22)
He knew of which he spoke for in verse 19 of this same chapter we read that Paul was stoned and left for dead for what he had said and done. Is this something that we might expect? This, at this time, may seem to be extreme. However it is possible for this to happen today if you, on purpose, are placing His word above everything else in this life.
The price that we are more apt to have to pay at this time would be the loss of friendship with some or perhaps the separation of families.
The word that Apostle Paul uses in Acts 14:22 that is translated “tribulation” means stress, strain, trouble and testing.
So we must realize that to pray for the will of our Father to be done in our lives and to pray that His rule in our lives would be made manifest, we must know that there will be strain, stress and opposition.
Then as we go further into Matthew 6 we see this:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
We see that Our King says to “seek first” His rule, realm, domain and dominion. The first priority of our life is to seek to be under His rule, in His realm and under His authority.
Our problem is we want the things that this will produce in our lives but we in most cases do not know or understand that there is a price to pay in seeking first His kingdom.
There is a picture of all of this in the following verses:
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, each one a leader among them.” (Numbers 13:1-2)
In the same way we have a similar statement in New Testament by Jesus:
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give (offer-show) you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
There was and is a kingdom given but there is a price to pay; battles to be won.
We find that when the spies went into the land they found that it was a good land; the fruit of it was good but there were giants in the land and there were walled cities. They became fearful and intimidated and, in turn, discouraged the hearts of all the people.
The people of Israel wanted the Promised Land but their thinking was that it would be given to them without any effort on their part. When they saw that there was a price they had to pay by driving out the residents of the land they were fearful and discouraged.
The church has first of all thought that the Promised Land was getting to go to heaven. This is a mistake because there are no giants in heaven; neither are there walled cities there that must be defeated.
The Promised Land is a picture of the Kingdom of God that Jesus told us to seek first.
We must understand that the Kingdom of God is here in the earth and that it is occupied by and controlled by an “alien being” that must be driven out. Apostle Paul said it this way:
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2Corinthians 4:3-4)
The “god of this world” is the same being that lied to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He deceived them into giving to him the dominion that the LORD GOD had given them.
The glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is not about us going to heaven. In reality the “good news” is that the Kingdom has been restored to us in Jesus Christ. The dominion that Almighty God gave to Adam in Genesis 1:26 has been restored.
Where the problem comes in is what Paul told us:
And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:21-22)
Jesus made the way for us to become “sons of God” through the new birth. In the new birth we can see the kingdom and we are made able to enter it.
We, as “born again” sons of God, must be willing to learn His word, His will and His way and begin to occupy the land by driving out the former inhabitants. We do this by listening to Jesus’ voice; allowing Him to renew our minds through His word and by doing His Word in our daily lives; not just at church.
Then, what is Father’s desire will be fully accomplished:
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)
Father desires a Kingdom of sons who are conformed to the very image of Jesus, our Lord.
If we believe the Kingdom has been given to us, we must know the reality of what it takes to possess the land, not allowing discouragement to get on us or in us lest we negatively affect the lives of those following after us!
We must give a good report of the land and not our opinions. It is a good land. There are giants in the land, but the Lord is with us and we are well able to posses the land.
