Your Kingdom Come
Matthew
6:10
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus had taught His disciples how to pray. Praying for
the kingdom of God to come. And also for His will to be done on
earth as it is in heaven.
The kingdom of God has a King named Jesus, not anyone else. His
return is coming, and so is His kingdom.
But many Christians today believe otherwise. They believe that His
kingdom is here and now!
A group of churches teach Preterism. It believes that the events of
Revelation were all fulfilled in the first century. As the Book of
Revelation was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70,
the Preterists believed that all the prophetic and apocalyptic events in Revelation
had completely happened there and then.
Preterism was first introduced by the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar during
the Counter-Reformation. And his Preterist view served to strengthen the
Catholic Church's position against the Protestants,
who believed that the Pope was the antichrist.
Initially, Preterism struggled to gain credibility within the
Protestant communities, especially in England. However, by the end
of the 18th century, Preterism gradually became more widespread and
accepted even in Protestant churches.
As the Preterists believe, the kingdom of God is now and here. Thus,
they are not expecting Jesus to return as the King.
Another group adopts the Kingdom Now Theology. It is a theological
belief that some Protestant churches are preaching and promoting.
The Kingdom Now people believe that God had lost control of the
world to Satan when Adam and Eve sinned. Since the beginning of
Genesis, as the theology teaches, God has been trying to
re-establish control over the world through a special group of
believers.
These covenant people or overcomers or Joel’s army will be able
to bring social institutions, governments, economic and judicial
systems under the authority of God.
The Kingdom Now people believe that, since all believers have the
same Holy Spirit that indwelt Jesus dwelling in them, they have all
authority in heaven and on earth. And they also have the power to
believe for and speak into existence things that are not. And thus,
they are now able to bring in the Kingdom Age. Therefore, Kingdom
Now!
Among the most controversial belief is that the Church must take
over the secular society that is evil. Thus, there is no
separation of church and state.
Another controversial belief is that as they are the Body of Christ,
they are Christ. In other words, they have His divine nature and
power.
The Kingdom Now people do not believe in the rapture. The rapture is
just a feeling of rapture or excitement when the Lord returns to
receive His kingdom from their hands. In other words, everyone will be caught
up emotionally when He returns.
Another unbiblical belief is that all prophecies regarding Israel in
the future, both in the Old and New Testaments, actually apply to
the Church. They adopt the Replacement Theology.
Kingdom Now theology claims that Jesus cannot return until all His
enemies have been put under the feet of the Church. Thus, the Second
Coming of Jesus will be in two stages.
Firstly, a new kingdom order or apostolic reformation is needed to take dominion
over the seven spheres or mountains of society, namely, family, religion,
education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government.
After that has happened, Jesus will come in person to take over the kingdom handed to
Him by these overcomers who have been victorious. But before the
return of the King, the overcomers must purge the earth of all evil
influences.
The Kingdom Now people are very militant. If they do not get what
they desire or want, they will use violence and overthrow whoever
that is not for them or in their paths. And most of them are
lawless, doing what is right in their own eyes!
The Kingdom Now people have many conferences teaching how to
fight spiritual warfares, and prayer houses doing them. But a great
lot of fictions, superstitions, fantasies, nonsense and downright
heresies flourish under the guise of spiritual warfare. Prophetic
messages from their own apostles and prophets fuel their relentless
zeal. Instead of standing still and seeing the salvation of the Lord, they
often go ahead and enter into a superspiritual and often demonic
realm. Many of them have become supernatural human beings, and no
longer mortals.
Kingdom Now theology is basically the vain imaginations of men
seeking to humanize God and deify man. They will elect their
leaders, kings, apostles and prophets, elevating them beyond their
human weaknesses and faults. Nobody can touch or say anything
against those they have anointed or appointed.
But the truth is not like what they have believed. Firstly, God has
never lost control over the earth, and He does not need human beings
to help Him regain control over the earth.
God is sovereign. He is the Lord of the universe. He is omnipotent,
omniscient and omnipresent. He is holy and perfect in all His
attributes. He has complete control over all things, past, present
and future. And nothing happens without His knowledge and His
control! He can even use people who are evil such as Pharaoh,
Nebuchadnezzar and even the beast to do what He desires!
Revelation 17:17
For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose,
to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast,
until the words of God are fulfilled.
Secondly, the denial of Kingdom Now about the rapture is also
unbiblical. The Bible clearly teaches the catching up into heaven
in a bodily manner, and not just some plain emotional and rapturous feelings.
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
Our Final Victory
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed—
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal
has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Thirdly, though we are the Body of Christ, we are not Christ! We
can seek to become more Christlike, but not be Christ Himself! He
is still the Head, not us! Christ is the Second Person of the
Godhead. No human being can become God. This is the same lie from
the father of lies, Satan. The deceiver first told it to Eve,
tempting her with the same idea “you will be like
God” in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:5
For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.”
Fourthly, the kingdom of God is not of this world. If it was so,
the followers of Jesus would fight so that He did not have to face
death! But His kingdom is not from here! Jesus knew that He needed
to die before He could resurrect! Jesus was not afraid to lose for a
while even when He could win always!
John 18:36
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.
If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I
should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is
not from here.”
Fifthly, the belief of the Replacement Theology that the Church has
replaced Israel is totally unbiblical. The promises of God to Israel
will be fulfilled in Israel, not in the Church. God’s blessings to
Israel are eternal. They are irrevocable, and cannot be replaced.
Romans 11:29
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Sixthly, the kingdom of God is unshakeable. Its status does not
depend on which governments or parties that are elected. It does not
change every four years! It is an eternal kingdom! And it
cannot be shaken by earthly events, disasters, crises or wars etc.
Hebrews 12:27-29
27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those
things that are being shaken, as of things that are made,
that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot
be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Finally, the Second Coming of Christ will be when He, not men,
defeats His enemies and puts all things under His feet. Salvation
belongs to our God and Him alone. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End. He is and He was and He is to come. He is the
Almighty God!
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,”
says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty.”
Revelation 7:9-10
A Multitude from the Great Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which
no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation
belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Today, many Christians cannot pray that His kingdom come as they
believe that it is
already here and now!
But we can still pray “Your kingdom come” as He is coming again!
Please view:
Salvation Belongs To Our God
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preterism#:~:text=Preterism%20holds%20that%20the%20contents,fulfilled%20in%20the%20first%20century
https://www.gotquestions.org/kingdom-now.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mountain_Mandate#:~:text=The%20seven%20heads%20are%20seven,entertainment%2C%20business%2C%20and%20government
Written on 11 November 2024