Has the Kingdom Come?

It is not uncommon today to hear someone recite the Lord’s prayer (Matt 6:9-13). The words, for many, have long since been committed to memory. While the memorization of God’s Word is always something to be encouraged, this prayer is not one that we should pray today. One line of this prayer is particularly problematic, “your kingdom come” (Matt 6:10). This is appropriate for the time Jesus said these words, because the kingdom had not yet come. But how about our time in the modern day? Has the kingdom come?

We should note that many in the wider religious world have their own unique views on the kingdom of God. Manmade doctrines have differing views of the kingdom’s nature, duration, and its founding. However, what we read in the Bible is clear. The kingdom is spiritual in nature, eternal in duration, and was founded in the first century. The kingdom of God has already come.

We can know the kingdom has already come from the prophetic work of Daniel. He interpreted the king of Babylon’s dream of a great image (Dan 2:31-45). We know the Medo-Persian Empire followed Babylon, and they were followed by the Grecian Empire. The fourth kingdom was Rome, where Daniel described the God of heaven setting up His kingdom “in the days of these kings” (Dan 2:44). The kingdom came in the days of the Roman Caesars.

We can know the kingdom has already come from the teaching of John the Baptist and Jesus. Both proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matt 3:2; 4:17). Additionally, the Lord Jesus announced that some living as He walked the earth, would still be alive when they see the kingdom come with power (Mk 9:1; Lk 9:27). Clearly, the kingdom came during the first century.

We can know the kingdom has already come from the fulfillment of some other Old Testament prophecies. Isaiah and Micah described the Lord’s house being established and all nations flowing into it (Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1). They reveal that this will take place in “the latter days”. Peter used this same phrase in connection with a prophecy from Joel when he spoke in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21). Referring to the powerful signs occurring on that day, Peter declared “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16). The kingdom came with the events of Acts 2.

We can know the kingdom has already come from the further writings of the New Testament. Paul wrote, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that God had already conveyed Christians into the kingdom (Col 1:13). Don’t pray that God’s kingdom would come. The kingdom of God is now in existence. Those who believe and obey will be added into it by the Lord (Acts 2:47).