Your Kingdom Come

The next phrase in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Your kingdom come,’ reminds us that God is King, he is sovereign. His will and word are final. All the rights are his. He is the One who creates. He is the One who sustains. He is the One who makes the big decisions. His will, will be done.

In Genesis we discover that God created humanity in his own image, male and female he made them, and following their creation they were charged with subduing and ruling the earth – in other words they were made to be vice-regents.

This wasn’t to be done as they chose, but in relation to their creator King. Day by day they would come into the garden, God’s temple on earth, and meet with God, and receive from him the wisdom, strength and provision to fulfill his purpose on the earth. They then went out to subdue, to rule.

Then one day they listened to the wrong voice. Not only did they listen, but they took heed to it, and did as was suggested, and suddenly things were turned upside down. The world in every way was not as it should be. Something happened in them (they were spiritually corrupted), something happened in their relationship with God (they found they didn’t look forward to or like God’s company anymore), something happened between them (they started blaming one another).

A sad and sorry story. Suddenly blame, victimization, power plays, control, intimidation, fear, injustice, exploitation etc. entered their universe – the world was not as it should be.

But God the Trinity had a plan, to right the wrongs, and put things the right way up, and that plan was Jesus. When Jesus came, he came proclaiming the kingdom (or reign) of God. He declared that it was at hand, that he had come to destroy the work of the evil one. As the Servant King he modeled a different way of being and doing. He healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, proclaimed the Good News, confronted sin, forgave sins and ultimately went to the cross paying sins price, and defeated death itself.

When asked by his disciples how they should pray Jesus said, “Our Father… Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Our Father is a King, the King, and he has a kingdom, and we are called on to pray it in.

What a way to pray, praying down heaven, something of heaven now – praying something of the not yet now, something of the future into the present.

It means acting as vice-regents once again.

New Beginnings

New years like new days provide new beginnings, new opportunities.

Some would have us believe that we are caught up in an unending repetitious cycle of events, but that is not the way the Bible has it.

Yes there are seasons that come round year by year, that’s good, there is order to life.

But there is also movement, advancement.

The story of the Bible is just that – that the God who created has a purpose in it all. He made us for himself, to enjoy him and serve his unfolding purposes. His desire has always been to bless and make us a blessing. The enemies (Satan) is one of cutting us off from God, of curse and cursing, of being locked into a fallen, downward hopeless cycle of life.

Praise God that’s where the Christmas story comes in (though it begins way before that!). God came in Jesus to break the curse, the endless cycle of fallenness and hopelessness – Jesus came to destroy all the power of the evil one and in doing so to bring the reign of God and therefore his Fatherhood, blessing and purpose back into our experience.

It’s a lie of the enemy that ‘whatever will be, will be.’  God can and does breaks in! Jesus saves and delivers, and gives power to live a new kind of life. And if you know him and have messed up (as we all do) the Father’s still loving you, you are still his child, and like any good father he wants to clean you up and set you on your feet again.

With God everyday is a new beginning, his mercies are new every morning and his lovingkindness makes everyday worth living, and with him advancement is on the agenda!

The Meaning of Life

Anyone, believer or atheist can add meaning to life, but it's another thing altogether to know the meaning of life.

Adding meaning to life in the various ways that we do can only last as long as we are able to do those things.

Knowing the meaning of life means that whatever or whichever way life turns - whether healthy or strong, young or old, in plenty or in need (you get the idea) it cannot be robbed of its meaning.

The meaning of life cannot be found in what we give it, but rather outside of ourselves in something, or rather, Someone, Somebody bigger than you and I.

Persecution and the Gospel

In preparation for a focus on the suffering/persecuted church I spent some time in Acts looking at the connection between persecution and the spread of the gospel.

In the process I spent some time in Acts 6 and 7. My, what a story. The religious people didn't like the good news of Jesus Christ with all its ramifications for the temple and the priesthood.

A BIT PLAYER WITH A HUGE ROLE
Stephen (a bit player with a huge role)shares with them in answer to their question "Are these things so?" how God has worked in history outside of the boundaries of the nation and the temple to accomplish his purposes.

> God appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia
> The covenant was instituted in a foreign place
> God was with Joseph in Egypt
> God was with his people in Egypt;
> God was with Moses in Egypt and Midian
> God gave the commandments at Sinai
> God was with his people in the wilderness
> Then Solomon built the Temple for God to dwell in ....

‘YET’ or ‘HOWEVER’
'Yet' or 'however,' says Stephen,(he's about to drive home the point) "God does not dwell in houses made by hands!" (7:48)

God is bigger than the temple and priesthood ...

Some answer, some sermon! He pulls the rug from under their feet.

And to round it off he then says they are stiff necked, they just don't get it, in fact they are unwilling to get it! In fact they are just like their fathers who persecuted the prophets before them ...

They are furious ... they don't want to hear this ... they can't bear the truth ... and Stephen is stoned to death.

But as Tertullian said "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

Stephens answer provided the basis for worldwide mission.

The believers were scattered ...

The gospel was proclaimed ...

The believers multiply ...

And Saul who was there listening to and consenting to Stephens death and persecuting the church is apprehended by none other than the Lord Jesus himself, and told he is God's chosen instrument to carry his name to the Gentiles!!!!

Wow!