It’s Already Yours

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

How many times have you recited this prayer alongside others? It is a prayer that is used in many different settings and services, but I wonder how often it is said with personal inflection and not just as a ritual reciting. Do we live out this petition – in the will of the Father, displaying the glory of His kingdom?

Jesus left his place in heaven to bring the glory of the kingdom to earth, but he did it in the most unlikely way. Instead of coming as a king, he left all kingly authority and equality with the Father, in heaven. Grasping at nothing for himself, he came in humble obedience with the heart of a servant. What a contrast this was (and continues to be) to people on earth, who grasp at everything they can: Status, wealth, power, equality. To a people who feel entitled – He came without a title. In humility he came and in obedience he served, saying, ‘Not my will, but yours be done.’

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9–11

As sons and daughters of God, we are heirs with Christ, and the kingdom is our inheritance. I think we forget, at times, the significance of this incredible truth. Those things that people try to grasp and hold on to here and now are the things that God has already given to his children! What better status than Child of God? What better equality than heirs with Christ? What better wealth than ‘the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Col 1:27). Nothing is gained from walking in our own will, so why would we even entertain the notion?

The earth, the heavens, and the kingdom belong to God, so let us bow in humble obedience as we say, ‘Your will be done.’