Thy Kingdom Come!

The season of Advent begins November 29th.  The word "advent," from the Latin adventus or the Greek parousia means "coming" or "arrival." The season of Advent is focused on the coming of Jesus Christ . During the four weeks of Advent our worship, scripture readings, and prayers prepare us:

1. Spiritually for Christmas and the gift of our Lord's first coming;
2. and focuses our hope on His second coming.

This is why the readings from the Bible during Advent include:

1. Old Testament passages that anticipate the expected Messiah;
2. and New Testament passages that anticipate our Lord's return to judge both the living and the dead.

"Thy Kingdom come;"
This is the third petition of the Lord's Prayer.  In this petition we learn to pray daily for the Kingdom that God has promised will come, a Kingdom that is already present to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Sacramentally, the Kingdom of God touches our lives today, even as we await its arrival in fullness in God's time.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus deals with this.  He provides an extensive revelation of the many aspects of the Kingdom of God; and how the Kingdom is to be realized through the Body of Christ.  God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of love, justice, and mercy where sins are forgiven, the sick and suffering are made whole, enemies are reconciled and the needs of the poor are met.

The Kingdom of God includes all of these things, and so much more, for ultimately the Kingdom is Jesus Christ and all He means for us!  The Kingdom is already here because of the redemption of Jesus on the Cross.  But in another sense, the Kingdom of God is "not yet" here, since the final transformation of every person, society and culture has yet to happen in its fulness.  This is why Jesus taught us to pray daily: "Thy Kingdom come."