“After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10
What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness? And why is it so very important, being the first thing? In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he makes a most remarkable statement with regard to the kingdom of God: “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (14:17) Here, the Apostle communicates to us the difference between that which is “not” the kingdom, and that which is. Though the meaning of the kingdom is perceived in the physical world, as wind which passes through the trees, yet, the essence of the kingdom is not physical. When Jesus stood before Pilate, just prior to His crucifixion, he said to Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36) Christ’s kingdom, over which He is the undisputed, reigning Monarch, or King, has its essence in God, in Christ alone. Its meaning, and the principles by which it works, functions, and exists, is seen and grasped only as we look to the God of heaven upon His throne. It is only in seeing the Eternal King, sitting upon His throne, the absolute Monarch of history and eternity, that we begin to see that His kingdom is indeed NOT of this world, there not existing even a clear pattern among sinful men and nations, as to its meaning and essence. How then, are we to know the meaning of the Kingdom of God, and how are we to seek it first, to be known “…on this earth as it is in heaven?”
If the essence of the kingdom is first and foremost in heaven, where the King reigns in absolute and perfect authority and power, then we need to receive from heaven that clear vision of its meaning. Secondly, to understand how that kingdom is to be brought down to earth, the testimony of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, declaring it, then we need to look at the Lord Jesus as he walked on this earth. Upon entering His ministry, He preached the kingdom of God, and revealed the power associated with it. He revealed the absolute righteousness of it by going to the cross to die for man’s sin. How then is the suffering and death of Christ an essential part of revealing to us the kingdom of God, providing for us, and directing us, into God’s perfect and holy way to truly know Him?
It is essential that we see Christ, when He came to this earth, being Himself the great Divine Design. The ways and thoughts of God are not those of sinful man. They are as high as heaven itself, so far above all that we cannot grasp the meaning of the kingdom. But it is in looking at the Lord Jesus, that we begin to see, and discover, that He came to take upon Himself the government of the entire world upon His shoulder. (Is. 9:6) It is as men today, as they were in Jesus’ day, by the grace of God, repented to surrender to the reign, the authority of Christ, that the basic principle of the kingdom was revealed…that of faith in the faithfulness of God. When a person came to Christ, being born of the Spirit, he was delivered, even translated from the kingdom, or domination, of Satan, death, and darkness, into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. The call of Christ for all men to become His disciples was the call to surrender to His authority, leaving all lesser authorities, to follow Him. It was as faith was demonstrated by this surrender, that the fruits and blessings of the kingdom were revealed, the very Life of the King, being the believer’s wealth.
Dear Father, Enable us to seek in prayer Thy kingdom, and the doing of Thy will. In Jesus’ name, Amen.