Thursday, January 15, 2009

Thy Kingdom Come

I wonder what it means in the Lord's prayer when it says, "Your kingdom come." In this phrase, the verb is an imperative or a command. We often think of this phrase as a petition spoken by us to God, i.e. "God, please bring Your kingdom." What if instead it is intended to be a command spoken by us, ordering the Kingdom itself to be manifested? Or maybe we are speaking to the created order, demanding that it all come into agreement with the kingdom of God? Either way, there is a huge difference in our understanding of the power we have and how the Christian life should be lived based on how we decide to understand this phrase. Is it a polite request or a forceful demand? There is room in the Greek for both options.

1 comment:

  1. Yes! I think it's a request! And a declaration! To be sung, voiced, whispered, chanted, roared, declared, & proclaimed to the ends of the earth! Thank you for bringing this to light!

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