Below is a message (somewhat adapted to flow better on paper) given at Legacy Christian Academy on Wednesday, April 7…
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10
My goal for you [students at Legacy Christian Academy] this morning is to give you a vision for life…
I get the privilege of leading a discipleship ministry at Denton Bible Church called the GAP Program. In this ministry, we are taking recently graduated high school seniors and are equipping them to succeed in life.
The realities of each entering GAP student are varied and different.
In the midst of all their differences, however, they each have the same challenge that requires the same solution. What do they need? They need someone to believe in what they can become…they need someone to give them a vision that is bigger than anything Hollywood or Big Tech can offer them… and they need someone (or a team in the case of the GAP Program) to tell them the things that may be hard to hear, but necessary for their growth. They are full of potential and are waiting for a biblical guide(s) to show them God’s best for their life-course…they need someone to put them on the straight way.
When I look out at all of you [the students at Legacy Christian Academy]…I see each of them. I see a sea full of potential. You are bottled up energy…waiting for the opportunity to prove yourself…some of you are doing everything you can to win the attention of a sweetheart…some of you are doing everything you can to get into your college of choice…some of you are doing everything you can just to survive. Some of you are doing all three at once…
However, in the midst of all of this busyness you face your greatest challenge. It is the same challenge the men and women face in our discipleship program…it’s the same challenge I face…everyday…it’s the same challenge all of humanity has faced. Your biggest challenge is YOU. We all want what we want and we want it now. Functionally, our prayer is often…“Our kingdom come..our will be done…on earth as it is in our minds!” By the way, this is the first step toward your so-called existential crisis! Existence (or your experiences) preceding your essence (your understanding of why you exist)…this limits God’s infinitude.
This is no surprise. You are living in a world unhinged…a culture gone insane. And, you are here as young man or woman who has at his/her finger tips more prospects and more ability to determine truth than ever before. Upward mobility is as good as it ever has been. Changing genders and so-called succumbing to love is on the tip of every tongue if they so choose. You can get what you want…you can build your kingdom now…as it is in your dreams. In the midst of all this: we are becoming an amalgamation of comparison, comfort, and convenience…which leads to jealousy, apathy, and a throw–away mentality. We’re not dealing with the real issue…
The sad reality: a life set on a path of building one’s own kingdom is a life that is forgotten just as soon as the snacks are consumed at your funeral…it is a life of what might have been…
But this doesn’t have to be you. It doesn’t have to be us. As you sit here today, you have the same choice that I had as I began my day…that I will have tomorrow…
Whose kingdom am I going to build? Whose will am I going to obey? Will I resist the enemy of the soul? Will you let your distractibility keep you from becoming all that God has made you to become…all that God’s Word has provided for you?
Will you let YOU build your kingdom or will you YIELD to the Lord and let HIM work through you to accomplish His will and let His kingdom come?
This is the question you must answer as you sit here this morning…
This is what Christ wanted His disciples to answer…as He was preparing them to launch into life as His followers. He didn’t choose them for what they were OR for what they thought they could become. No, No, He chose them for what He was going to produce in them…Christ saw what they could become after they had yielded to Him.
It was in to this discipleship of the twelve that He gave them their vision for life… a simple prayer…and specifically this one phrase…“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
The entirety of Scripture comes to bear on this one phrase… “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” This phrase is strikingly profound and is as relevant for us today as it has ever been. It is a hammer blow to the 21st Century man or woman’s vision for life…it is wake up call for all of us today: “Thy kingdom come…Thy will be done…” Notice it doesn’t say, you define your kingdom…you determine your will.. It says, “God’s kingdom…God’s will be done.”
What is it about God’s kingdom and God’s will that makes these words so powerful?
(1) This phrase takes us back to the beginning, as well as (2) it points us to the end. This phrase in the Christian life is the alpha and the omega of all things!… And there will be a time when God’s kingdom and the earth are one-in-the-same again.
(1) It was in the beginning…There was a time when God’s kingdom and God’s will were perfectly done on earth, because earth was heaven and God’s will and authority were supremely on display. It was at that time that God made man and woman and placed them this perfect environment…a garden. He intended that that do more than cultivate, care for, and keep it. In the middle of God’s instructions to care for Eden, God gave the first man and woman the command to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.
Have you ever thought why God—the Creator-God—would tell the pinnacle and glory of His creation to fill the earth? The reason was, as mankind filled the earth, the glory of God would be manifested in all the earth.
How is God’s glory manifested through man?
Man’s submission to God and his obedience to God’s will is one of the chief manifestations of God’s glory through man. God did not create robots. There is no glory in a hardwired human. Instead, God created man with the ability to choose. As he chose God’s will, then God’s glory would be manifested.
This is why the first sin is such a tragedy. It is the origination of man substituting himself as god in the place of God. It is man…for the first time building a life of his own instead of yielding to God’s will and authority. It is man taking and determining for himself the best path..the best life…the best way forward…man defining and establishing whatever truth is on the tip of his tongue. It is the first instance of an existential crisis…man no longer had His moorings or purpose in the Creator-God. He would –from now on–struggle with meaning, and live with an internal angst. Before this moment, man’s purpose was clear and it was kind. From this point on…man’s search for meaning in his existence will never be solved left to himself.
Not much has changed. Look at history. Look at wars. Look at racial tension. Look at sexual exploitation. Look at political divides. Look into the eyes of the bully… Look into the eyes of a gossip and deceiver… Look into the eyes of your own hearts…your own desires contrary to God’s best. This…is the break and the start of the man’s greatest challenge…himself!
(2) However, there is a day when God’s kingdom and will are to be perfectly done again… when God returns and sets up His kingdom on earth…reread Revelation 21 and 22.
In the meantime… God sent His Son, Jesus to inaugurate God’s kingdom. And, it was Jesus who instructed His disciples to pray this prayer…
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
What does this phrase mean?
This phrase is Christ teaching His disciples that obedience is bringing God’s kingdom to earth…it is bringing God’s will to bear upon this day…upon their lives…and upon your lives today!
As we obey the injunctions set out in Scripture, we manifest the glory of God in our lives…and we spread abroad the glory to others.
Let me demonstrate…think how you would respond to these situations…whose kingdom would you build in your responses?
- When someone spreads rumors about you…
- When someone hands me the cheat sheet for the exam…
- When the pictures come up on my screen…
- The culture defining modesty and how you dress…
- Your friend gets the position you had been working to achieve…
Can you pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Have you yielded your life to Christ?
Or…Are you still building or your own kingdom?
The choice is yours…what will you do?
TO summarize…
Jesus dealt with His disciples’ problem…themselves… and He deals with us. He gives us a vision bigger than what our minds can comprehend. He gives us a vision for His kingdom. Whose kingdom are you building?
To conclude, there was a missionary coming home to America after serving the Lord for decades in Africa. He was on the same vessel as Teddy Roosevelt as they returned together. As they landed on the shores of America, the missionary couldn’t help but notice the throngs of people gathered to welcome President Roosevelt back home from his short expedition on the African continent.
The missionary was somewhat taken back by this sight. He began to sulk and feel sorry for himself as he entered his taxi. He thought, “…Lord, I’ve served you for decades in Africa, and now when I come home, there’s no one here to greet me like they are greeting Teddy Roosevelt.”
No sooner had he thought this thought than another thought cleared the fog. A thought so clear and so relevant for us today. He was both reminded and encouraged with this simple thought, “…you’re not home.”
Let me leave you with this same thought today…you’re not home here. You’re a sojourner and pilgrim progressing on to the Celestial City. Whose kingdom are you building? One that will last? Or one that will be forgotten?
— April 8, 2021