Pray then like this… Your kingdom come. Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Insights: Alva McClain was the first to use the term “mediatorial”
kingdom. What McClain meant by that term
was Jesus’ kingdom is mediated out.
Before you call me a heretic let me explian. This prayer in today’s verse is for God’s
will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Yesterday we described God’s universal kingdom and His sovereign rule
over everything and everyone forever. Is
God’s will done perfectly in heaven? The
answer is a profound, yes! Yet in this
verse Jesus asks us to pray for God’s will to be done the same way in
heaven. So, is God’s will perfectly
obeyed here on earth? The answer is a deplorable,
no! For example, do you always obey God
perfectly or do you sin? You and I
obviously sin. So, because of this
sinful response we have toward God’s kingdom, Jesus mediates out His authority
to authorized earthly agents, individuals, or structures so that we would know
His will. All of redemptive history is
comprised in this mediatorial kingdom.
God gave His authority first to Adam and Eve, then the patriarchs,
followed by Moses, the judges, the kings, the prophets, the apostles and
finally the church. This mediatorial
kingdom will merge with God’s universal kingdom at the end of the age when
Jesus will make a new heaven and a new earth and His will will be done perfectly on the new earth as it has always been done
in heaven. Now, here is where it gets
complicated. In God’s universal kingdom,
there is always a mixture between the true and the false. In Romans nine Paul states, “All Israel is
not Israel (6),” and in chapter two, “A Jew is not a Jew who is one outwardly,
but is one inwardly (28).” Now let’s go
back to Matthew for a moment. In chapter
eight Jesus says, “but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer
darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (12).” Sons of Jesus’ mediatorial kingdom are born
again and do not go to hell. Yet in this
verse, Jesus said the sons of God will be cast into out darkness and a place of
weeping and gnashing of teeth, which is a description of hell. How can they be sons of the kingdom if they
go to hell? The answer is because in God’s
universal kingdom, He is still sovereign over those condemned to hell. So, God’s mediatoral kingdom has a condition
which is found in Mark chapter one verse fifteen, repent and believe. Those who do this are true and not false. For us to understand the Kingdom Parables, we
need to understand these two aspects of God’s kingdom.
Questions:
- Are you a part of the mediatorial kingdom of God?
- Are you prepared for the ultimate fulfillment of Jesus’ kingdom?
Prayer: Father, I know
is some ways these concepts of Your kingdom that we have discussed these past
two days is difficult to understand.
Yet, I also know that in Your Son I have the mind of Christ. Help me to understand these truths. Amen.
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