Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Colossians 1:9-12 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
YOUR KINGDOM COME
The Kingdom of God can be viewed in two ways -- from an earthly standpoint, or a spiritual one. In general we believe and confess that God is in control of all things. No one can remove themselves from God's kingdom in this sense. As much as some people deny God, hate His laws and despise His justice, they are still subject to Him, whether they like it or not.
But in this petition Jesus reminds us of the spiritual side of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God, in a spiritual sense, comes to us through the Word of God. Paul prays about this for the believers who were in Colossae, that they "may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding".
When we pray "Thy Kingdom Come" we should think of all that God has done to make us "partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light" through Jesus Christ. We want the work of His kingdom to continue in us as we are "increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might", and we also want this for others. Just as the Apostle Paul was praying that the Kingdom of God would continue to come to the believers in Colossae, so we should pray that it would continue to come to those in our church and in our fellowship and that it would also come to those who are yet in the darkness of sin and unbelief.
Thanks be to God that He has brought His Kingdom to us here in time. May we be preserved in that Kingdom, and may others be brought into that Kingdom through the mighty power of His glorious Word!
