Heaven On Earth, Part One

“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

I think we can all recognize the first part of the Lord’s Prayer. Recognition, however, is not what we are shooting for. What does this prayer imply, and why should we pray like this? I could examine the whole Prayer, but for now I will stick with this part.

First, let’s think about prayer. What is it? The way I see it, prayer is simply talking to God. We can intercede for people through prayer; in other words, we can pray for them. We can also pray for ourselves, that our needs will be met. We can also pray to God and simply spend time with Him, getting to know Him through prayer and reading His word.

When we pray, we are to pray according to God’s will; in other words, if we pray “God, in the name of Jesus, I pray that I will become a duck,” we will not be made into a duck. However, if we pray something that God wants to do, something that He wills, it will be done. So how do we know what God wills? Through reading the Bible. God lays out his will in the Bible. Therefore, we know that when we pray something, say, that He would “…supply all my needs through his riches in glory through Christ Jesus,” we know that it will be done, because He said so in His word, and God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Another example is that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of sound mind.” That is in the Bible, and therefore, it is to be believed. It follows, then, that we have no reason to be afraid because that fear that we feel comes not from God but from the devil. Also, “The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy,” but “all God’s promises are yes and amen.” Therefore, if someone loses everything they have, if they die, or if other misfortune falls upon them, it has not been sent by God, but rather it has been sent by the devil. God does not hurt his beloved creation; He can, however, remove his protection from his wayward children. When He does that, the devil is free to come into that person’s life and steal, kill, and destroy, since God’s protection has been removed. God can chasten his beloved, but He does so by removing his protection from them.

But now let’s look at the Lord’s prayer. I want to focus on this part: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Jesus said that is how we are to pray. So why would we pray something like that if there is no chance we are going to get it? We are to pray that because it is God’s will.

Now what would happen if God’s will was done on earth as it is in heaven? To determine what God’s will in heaven is, we must look to heaven. For starters, there would be no strife. In heaven the Baptists aren’t still fighting with the Methodists and the Pentecostals aren’t still arguing with more reserved denominations. Instead, I think that in heaven, all are united in their love and worship of God. If heaven is like that, it is undoubtedly God’s will that heaven would be like that, and when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking for God’s will in heaven to be done on earth. I believe that God wants unity among Christians (though not ecumenism), even if we don’t agree on certain points of doctrine which don’t affect our overall salvation.

The bickering among denominations in the body of Christ is sinful. The body of Christ is meant to work like a body, with all the parts working together. However, with all the fighting, the body of Christ looks like it is having a seizure. The toes are pulling on the ears and the mouth is biting the knee. That’s not what’s meant to happen. God wants us to work together to further the influence of the Gospel, not argue over whether baptism is sprinkling or dunking. Such matters which don’t affect the salvation of the individual are small compared to common ground which all Christians have in Christ. To cause strife because of them is prideful and sinful.

Paul warned us to avoid sectarianism, saying that is carnal, or of the flesh, to say “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” reminding us that we are all “of Christ.” Unfortunately, different groups interpret the Bible differently. Therefore, differing opinions are inevitable. The best thing we can do is, in my opinion, to avoid causing strife with one another. Debate is great among Christians, so long as there is no strife. When strife ensues, it is best to simply agree to disagree, and to remember that all Christians have the common ground of Jesus Christ.

Finally, I must remind you that I am not advocating ecumenism, or Unitarianism, which is basically believing that there are many ways to God. The Unitarians are a liberal sect (or even a cult) which, in its attempts to avoid offending people, has watered down everything in its teaching until nothing but a skeleton remains where Christianity once stood. That is not the solution to division. Instead, we must understand that even though we interpret the Bible differently, we agree on Salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing else is worth causing strife over. In other words, if you want to sprinkle water on someone’s head in order to baptize him, be my guest. I’ve been dunked, and I will advocate dunking. Even though our methods differ slightly, the point is that the person has been baptized. Christ is bigger than any of our petty differences.