Prayer
THE PROMISE OF GOD
The one who has the right to rule and reign is none other than the King Himself, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. Psalm 2:6–8 says of Him, “I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.’ ” Isaiah 9:6 says “the government will rest upon His shoulders.” Jesus Christ is the One who fulfills the promise of a coming King. He was to be the Messiah—the “anointed one.” He is the hope of Israel, the hope of the church, and the hope of the world.
In one of his dreams, Daniel saw a statue representing the kingdoms of the world smashed to pieces by a flying stone, which represents Christ (Dan. 2:34–35). Then the stone fills the whole earth. The symbolism is clear—Christ ultimately crushes the kingdoms of men and establishes His own.
Christ is inseparable from His kingdom. The holy purpose of God is to exalt Christ in the consummation of history when the Son rules and reigns in His kingdom. The Jewish Talmud is right in saying that the prayer in which there is no mention of the kingdom of God is not a prayer at all (Berakoth 21a).
John F. MacArthur, Jr., Alone With God (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1995). 67-68.
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