Answer: Matthew 6: 10, which forms a part of the Lord’s prayer, reads:

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” The word “kingdom” in common usage is generally used to mean a territory, state or people under the reign of a king or queen. In the Bible, however, it also means a royal ruler or the authority by which he reigns. The Rulers God has designed to act as His Representatives, and to exercise His authority in the coming Millennial-Age Reign, are Jesus and His faithful Church. These are referred to in passages such as (Matthew 5: 3) (Mark 10: 14) and (1 Peter 2: 9).

The Bible speaks of Jesus and His Church as the Kingdom from two standpoints:

(1.) Some passages speak of Them from the standpoint of Their earthly lives, during the Gospel Age, when they experienced trials, sufferings and persecutions – accurately referred to as The Church Militant. In this condition the members of the Church have been called the embryonic, or suffering Kingdom.

(2.) Other passages speak of Them from the standpoint of Their Heavenly existence, when They will reign over the earth – properly spoken as The Church Triumphant. In this condition the Church is called the born, or glorified Kingdom.

Which standpoint of the Kingdom was Jesus referring to in Matthew 6: 10? It is true that at Jesus’ First Advent He taught His disciples that a change in dispensation was imminent, as we read in Luke 16: 16:

“The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”

Jesus Himself began that Kingdom and the preaching of it during His ministry of three and a half years. His Apostles and other disciples continued it on the Day of Pentecost when they received the begetting of the holy spirit. The Kingdom began including Gentiles at the home of Cornelius three and a half years following Pentecost. It advanced and expanded throughout the entire Gospel Age, as they were being prepared, trained and perfected for their reign in the earth following the Gospel Age. But the fact remains that the Kingdom class has never yet reigned, and God’s will has never been done on earth as it is in heaven, as a study of history reveals. The Kingdom class is actually named as such in anticipation of their future reign over the world of mankind during the Millennial Age. Mankind itself is waiting and longing, though ignorantly, for the Church’s future reign, as Romans 8: 19 indicates:

“For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”

In conclusion, the Kingdom in Matthew 6: 10 refers to the reign of Christ and His Church which has its beginning at His Second Advent. When Jesus, as the King of Kings, and His Joint-heirs enter into their office as the Kings in the earth, the Kingdom Reign of truth and righteousness will begin, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12: 3). By the close of Their thousand-year Reign, every member of the human family who has ever lived will have been given the opportunity to attain the human perfection that Adam lost back in the Garden of Eden, by his act of willful disobedience. The willing and obedient, through the favorable arrangements and influences of the Kingdom, will have restored to them human perfection. Following a brief period of comprehensive testing, the faithful will be rewarded with eternal life upon a glorious and perfected earth.

Note: Please find a more thorough examination of this subject in Study 14 of God’s Wonderful Plan of the Ages.

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