The next thing that we must consider is the word hallowed it is a translation of the Greek word ἁγιάζω (G 37) hagiazō, hag-ee-ad´-zo; from 40; to make holy. (cer.) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate:— hallow, be holy, sanctify.[1]
Do we hold the name of God holy? Or do we treat it with a familiarity, do we make it common?
John MacArthur says this in his book “Alone with God” quotes Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “What unworthy ideas and notions this world has of God! If you test your ideas of God by the teaching of the Scriptures you will see at a glance what I mean. We lack even a due sense of the greatness and the might and the majesty of God. Listen to men arguing about God, and notice how glibly they use the term. . . . It is indeed almost alarming to observe the way in which we all tend to use the name of God.” [2]
Perhaps if we really understood that we only have standing before God as adopted sons based on what Jesus Christ has done then we would hold the name of God in higher esteem.
"‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10, NASB95)
"ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·" (Matthew 6:10, NA27)[3]
Your kingdom come orients us to at least three things:
1. God’s kingdom is not yet realized on earth.
2. God’s kingdom is to be sought.
3. The kingdom is God’s kingdom, not ours.
God’s kingdom is not yet realized on earth. In John 18:36 Christ clearly states “My kingdom is not of this world”. Christ is not working to create a theocracy. In his book “Alone With God” John MacArthur has this to say:
What concerns me most, however, is the open hostility that resentment with our nation’s leadership often fosters. When that attitude merges with the perspective that Christians ought to impact the culture by legislating morality, the church is severely diverted from its main purpose. Although changing our society by calling it back to a safer morality is a noble goal, that has never been Christ’s goal for His church.
The church has but one mission in this world: to lead people destined to spend eternity in hell to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and an eternity in heaven. If people die in a communist government or a democracy, under a tyrant or a benevolent dictator, believing homosexuality is right or wrong, or believing abortion is a woman’s fundamental right to choose or simply mass murder, that has no bearing on where they will spend eternity. If they never knew Christ and never embraced Him as their Lord and Savior, they will spend eternity in hell.[4]
The only thing that I would add to that is that the church also has the task of equipping the saints so that they can accomplish their main task of winning souls.
During our last election I recall hearing of a group of Christians who were urging people to vote for a certain politician biased on their belief that he would cause the nation to plunge deeper into moral decay there by hastening the return of Christ. Attitudes like this grieve me. Christ’s returning has more to do with the completion of the Bride than with circumstances of life on the earth.
God’s kingdom is to be sought. In Matthew 6:33 we are commanded to seek first His kingdom…, but what does that mean?
As church age believers we are not on a mission to usher in God’s kingdom on earth. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20) and as such we seek a heavenly kingdom. The way that the heavenly kingdom is expanded is by adding to the bride of Christ, the church. In Revelation 6:9-11 we see that God appointed a set number of martyrs, from this we can infer that there are a set number of believers to be added to the bride of Christ. Once the bride is complete then God will send His Son to get His bride. The removal of the bride does not mean that the hope of salvation for the lost is gone, but instead, means that God is once again dealing with Israel, the purpose of the tribulation is the restoration of Israel.
In Matthew 6:33 there is a double seeking in view; the seeking of the kingdom, which in the case of church age believers is adding to the bride of Christ and the seeking of His righteousness. The seeking of His righteousness is the development of the believer from spiritual babyhood into adult children.
The kingdom is God’s, not ours. Too many times Christians seek to implement religious or political solutions on the world’s problems. Instead we need to realize that we are called to live our lives as unto the Lord. When we do this then others can see Christ in us and be drawn to God. When Christ is lifted up then He will draw all men to Him, (John 12:32).
[1]Strong, J. (1997, c1996). The new Strong's dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words (H8674). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[2]MacArthur, J. (1995). Alone with God. Includes indexes. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
[3] Aland, B., Aland, K., Black, M., Martini, C. M., Metzger, B. M., & Wikgren, A. (1993, c1979). The Greek New Testament (4th ed.). Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies.
[4]MacArthur, J. (1995). Alone with God. Includes indexes. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
