Our Lord, Come

July 8, 2016

Our Lord, Come

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:10 NIV

This morning when I awoke to the news of the tragedy in Dallas, the first words out of my mouth were, “Our Lord, Come.”

Maran Atha is an Aramaic phrase that is most often transliterated as Maranatha.  The Apostle Paul uses this phrase in 1 Corinthians 16:22 and it is also used in the Didache, which is a collection of some of the earliest Christian writings. The phrase is translated, “Our Lord, Come’ and was used in the earliest Christian worship services. It relates to the line in The Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom Come.” The phrase summed up the hope of the church, and by using the Aramaic it was a means to bind all of the churches together in unity, regardless of where they were or their native language.

For the followers of Jesus, there are two applications of Maranatha. First, Maranatha is an affirmation that the Kingdom of God has come into the life of the Christian. When we made our confession of faith, the Holy Spirit baptized us into the life of Christ. Now we are a new creation in Christ; “The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This new life is the Kingdom of God on earth. Therefore, part of this prayer is our affirmation that God’s will is reflected in His new creation: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

The second application of Maranatha applies to our understanding of God’s hope for the world and our role in bringing God’s hope into reality: “And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:18b-20).

The mission of every Christian is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. One of the most important ways we transform the world is building for societies that reflect the heart of God. What is the heart of God? God’s heart is for the poor and the orphan; the oppressed and the destitute; and the poor and helpless. We are commissioned by God as Christ’s ambassadors for such as these.

In the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed God’s Kingdom is for those who are poor and realize their need for him, those who mourn, those who are humble, those who hunger and thirst for justice, those who are merciful, those whose hearts are pure, those who work for peace, and those who are persecuted for doing right. The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (Matthew 5:3-10) Every time we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we are affirming God’s Kingdom within us and our willingness to be Christ’s ambassadors for the building of God’s Kingdom on earth.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.