Reflections — Pastor’s Blog

An immigrant upon naturalization, takes an oath renouncing all foreign titles and allegiances. He pledges to support and defend the Constitution, and to bear arms on behalf of the United States. In the Lord’s Prayer, Mathew 6:10, you pray for the advance of God’s kingdom.

Pray for the advance of God’s kingdom. The kingdom involves the rule of God. The kingdom was present in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the idea of kingship was more common than the term kingdom. It refers to God’s universal reign, Psalm 47:2; 103:19. The Lord is specifically the King of Israel, Isaiah 41:21; Exodus 19:4–6; (and the whole concept of the theocracy). God’s glorious future rule was the hope of the Old Testament church, Isaiah 11:1–10. Salvation is: enduring, Isaiah 51:6; the product of God’s work, Isaiah 61:1–3; and results in the new heavens (Isaiah 65:17), the end of death (Isaiah 25:7), the resurrection of the dead (Isaiah 26:19), and the rule of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:10). Later Judaism added the strain of a purely earthly, national triumph, though still combined with the rule of the Messiah.

“The kingdom-idea is the clearest expression of the principle that… everything is subservient to the glory of God. In this respect the kingdom is the most profoundly religious of all biblical conceptions.”

Geerhardus Vos, The Kingdom of God and the Church, p. 102

Your King has come! The New Testament builds on the concept of the kingdom in the Old. John the Baptist preached the coming of the kingdom as he heralded the Messiah’s arrival, Matthew 3:2. Jesus preached the kingdom, Matthew 4:17, 23. The kingdom is a theme of early preaching, Acts 1:3; 8:12. While some passages speak of the kingdom as God’s rule (John 18:36), others imply that the kingdom involves people and a realm (Matthew 5:19; 8:11). The kingdom of God is both a future and a present reality. It is future, Matthew 4:17; 8:11. This petition of the Lord’s Prayer suggest a future nature (your kingdom come). Yet the kingdom was, and is, a present reality, Matthew 11:11; 16:19. Jesus defined his ministry in terms of the kingdom, Luke 4:16–21,43. The kingdom is a present reality, for the Messianic King has come. The age of the church of Jesus Christ is thus a kingdom age. The resurrection of Jesus, the climax of his kingdom ministry, is the foundation of the church. Appreciate both its present reality and the potential of its future consummation!

“In the fullness of time, Jesus the Christ appears, proclaiming the presently coming kingdom of God. He introduces a new understanding of the kingdom: it is religious-ethical and not political; it is present in repentance, faith, rebirth, and it is yet to come as a full eschatological reality. The one idea of the kingdom of God is realized in two sweeping moments. Jesus knows himself to be both the apocalyptic Son of Man from Daniel 7 and the royal Son of God, the one whom the Father loved and sent as his emissary. It is as the Son who alone knows the Father and is known by the Father that Jesus exercises his special authority to forgive sins, to reveal the Father’s will.”

Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 3, p. 233

So, pray for the rule of God. Prayer advances God’s rule. It is one of the means that builds the kingdom. It is something you can continue to do! Pray for the progress of the kingdom. Give thanks for its present character and for the redemptive events on which it is founded. Pray for its progressive realization and future consummation. God’s rule changes the world. The kingdom comes as the Father, on the basis of Christ’s atonement, through the power of the Holy Spirit, rules in the hearts of his own. In a sinful world, only as God’s rule advances can there be lasting improvements in your own life and in national and international conditions. Avoid substitutes that put the kingdom of men in the place of God’s kingdom.

Also, offer yourself in service to the King. Make this prayer your own prayer. Only God’s grace can change you. By nature you seek to advance your kingdom. Only sovereign grace can change your heart to seek God’s kingdom, to submit to his rule. God’s power makes his kingdom grow. God does change the hearts of men. The kingdom rests on God’s activity in redemptive history. The God who gave Christ and raised him, will not let his kingdom fail. The advance of God’s kingdom involves the defeat of Satan’s. You stand between D-Day and VE-Day.

Serve in God’s kingdom. This petition involves a concern for missions. The Great Commission is the marching orders for the kingdom. Pray for, give, and work for the spread of the gospel, in this community and throughout the world. Use your gifts in the kingdom. Although the concepts of the kingdom and the church are not identical, they are basically co-extensive. Service in God’s kingdom includes your entire life. As you wash the breakfast dishes (part of caring for your covenant family), as you study for a geometry test (learning to use the world around you for God’s glory), as you perform your daily tasks to the honor of your Savior, you are involved in the work of the kingdom. God has blessed you with gifts. Use them to further his kingdom.

Pray for the growth of God’s kingdom—and offer yourself in service to the great King who has rescued you from the kingdom of darkness!

What’s in a name? Perhaps not much—unless the name belongs to God! That is what you pray about in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9.

God reveals himself to you through his name. The names of God are important. This was true of people; Abram/Abraham (father of a multitude), Sarai/Sarah (Princess), Jacob/Israel (prince of God), Simon/Peter (rock). Phineas’ wife named their son Ichabod (the glory is departed). God’s name is not merely a label, but stands for God himself.

So, listen to the names of God. ‘El (translated “God”) views God as the Mighty One. ‘El-Shaddai is God Almighty, Genesis 17:1. ‘Elohim is a plural, and refers to God in the fullness of his power, one of the most commonly used names for God in the Old Testament. ‘Elyon is the Most High, Genesis 14:19. ‘Adonai,or Lord, addresses God as Master. Jehovah or YHWH is God’s special, covenant name. The name means, “I am who I Am,” Exodus 3:14. The name stresses God’s unchangeable covenant faithfulness to his people, Malachi 3:6. This name is used in combinations: “YHWH of Hosts,” Psalm 46:7; “YHWH Our Righteousness,” Jeremiah 23:6; “YHWH will Provide,” Genesis 22:14; “YHWH my Banner,” Exodus 17:15; “YHWH Heals You,” Exodus 15:26, “YHWH Is Peace,” Judges 6:24; and “YHWH is my Shepherd,” Psalm 23:1. “Father” reveals God’s loving character. Israel was God’s son, Hosea 11:1. The New Testament speaks of God as the Father of Jesus Christ, and as your Father, as you trust in Jesus. Though the Father is addressed here, the other persons of the Trinity are not to be excluded from the reverence required. Hebrews emphasizes the name “Son,” referring to the Second Person of the Trinity, but who also became man to become your redeemer. In a setting which saw Jesus as somewhere on a spectrum of beings ranging from God, down through the angels, to mankind, Hebrews reminds you of Christ’s uniqueness. His name as Son is above all the angelic beings, because he is God himself. He is the ultimate revelation of the Father.

“There is an intimate link between God and his name. According to Scripture, this link too is not accidental or arbitrary but forged by God himself. We do not name God; he names himself…. By proper names, particularly by the name YHWH, God made himself known to Israel. He revealed himself to Israel by the angel in whom the Lord’s name was present (Exod. 23:20). And by him he put his name on the children of Israel (Num. 6:27), caused his name to be remembered (Exod. 20:24), put his name among them and made it to dwell there (Deut. 12:5; 14:23), especially in the temple that was built for his name (2 Sam. 7:13)…. In the New Testament God’s name acquires an even richer and deeper meaning. For the Logos, who was in the beginning with God and is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known (John 1:18) and revealed his name (John 17:6, 26). Since no one knows the Father except the Son, only those to whom the Son reveals the Father gain knowledge of God (Matt. 11:27). Those who confess the Son have the Father also (1 John 2:23).”

Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 2, p. 98

Continue reading “Hallowed Be Your Name”

How does the familiar Lord’s Prayer begin? Although they seem almost exclusive, two elements merge beautifully in the preface, or invocation, of the Lord’s prayer in the first part of Matthew 6:9. They are the majesty of the King of heaven and the loving concern of your Father.

“We should not miss the balance in this opening to the prayer. We address God intimately as Father, but we immediately recognize his infinite greatness with the addition in heaven.”

Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, p. 144

Your Father is in heaven. Learn how to pray. Christ gave you this prayer as a model. Jesus gave this prayer (in slightly different language) in response to his disciples’ request that he teach them to pray, Luke 11:1-4. The language Jesus uses in Luke 11:2 suggests that these words be used, while the introduction in Matthew 6:9 implies a model. Those are not contradictory. Use the prayer, but don’t let it become an empty form. Remember the summary which the Lord’s Prayer presents. The invocation is followed by six comprehensive petitions. The first three deal with God’s name, reign, and will. The final three deal with our bread, debts, and foe.

Continue reading “Our Father in Heaven”

The Tenth Commandment forms a fitting conclusion to the law that God spoke at Sinai. It also shows you something about your relationship with God, as the apostle points out in 1 John 1:8–10.

Don’t claim to be without sin. God is light. The Word revealed this. Rather than quoting a specific saying of Jesus, John seems to be reflecting Jesus’ teaching about the Father. He sums it up in one sentence: “God is light.” Jesus, as the eternal Word, not only describes God as light, he is light, cf. John 1:4, 9, 14, 18; 8:12. God reveals himself as light. Light describes God’s character. This is one of a number of John’s brief statements about God: “God is love,” 1 John 4:8, 16; “God is Spirit,” John 4:24. “God is light” is not a comprehensive, exhaustive, definition of God (He is greater than our words or concepts), but is one of the ways that God describes himself. Why “light” to describe God? Light was the result of God’s first creative word. The shekinah cloud of glory led Israel through the desert. God clothes himself in light, Psalm 104:2. The promised Messiah would rise as the “sun of righteousness,” Malachi 4:2. Jesus proclaims himself “the light of the world,” John 8:12. God “lives in unapproachable light,” 1 Timothy 6:16. Because he is light, in him there is no darkness at all. God’s holiness is unqualified.

Continue reading “The Heart of the Matter”