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the Church on the Hill
by D. Eric Williams Pastor, Cottonwood Community Church pastor@CottonwoodCommunityChurch.org As you remember, the second clause in the Lord's Prayer is Your kingdom come (on earth as it is in heaven). As with the first part of the prayer outline, this phrase from Matthew 6:10 instructs us concerning our prayer life and our Christian walk. As an outline, the second point instructs us to spend time in prayer beseeching Almighty God to establish his rule here on earth. This is not to say the rule of God is somehow inoperative in this age but that the reign of God is not yet fully realized. The second point of the prayer outline also guides us acknowledge that the kingdom of heaven is administrated by Jesus Christ. Thus our attention is turned to the second item in the covenant sequence: the hierarchy of order or representation within the covenant relationship. This is why we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. He is the one who stands at the right hand of power and who is the only mediator between God and man (Romans 8:34, 1 Timothy 2:5). It is his righteousness that enables us to approach the throne of grace, for He made Him who knew no sin to be [a] sin [offering] for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). As we spend time in prayer contemplating this aspect of the covenant sequence we should ask the Lord to draw the unsaved to himself and to fully subdue the hearts of those who are called by his name. We also should request Almighty God to cause believers to manifest Jesus Christ in their own life and arena of activity, bringing all of creation under the authority of the Father. As I have mentioned elsewhere, this outline of prayer is also an outline for living (see the series at dewms.com). We discussed the practical ramifications of living with God as the sovereign in an earlier article. This is brought to a sharper focus as we consider how to live with Jesus Christ as our representative before the throne of God. We will deal with the "nuts and bolts" of living under the authority of Jesus in the next installment (Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven) but it is important to acknowledge the ramifications of Christ as our master and mediator. The Eternal Son incarnate is mediator between God and man because he lived a life of sinless obedience before God and died as a substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf. We die to sin as we participate in his death and walk in the newness of life through participation in his resurrection (Romans 6:1-4). Our part in this first resurrection means we are under the authority of one who has conquered sin and death and imparts to us that same power as we are made alive together with him. This is not to say we will achieve sinless perfection but that in Christ we may overcome sin and experience the full benefits of covenant life (Ephesians 2:5, John 10:10). Because he is our mediate representative we are raised us up together, and made ...[to] sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6-7). Paul wrote this as the old covenant age was coming to its conclusion so we understand that it is in this age of the Son of Man that Almighty God desires to show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Next week we will look at the third point of the prayer outline and discover the apparatus through which the tremendous blessings of the covenant are realized. |
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