Today’s phrase of the Lord’s Prayer finally ends the first sentence: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). The whole prayer so far has been one sentence: addressing our Father in heaven, calling Him holy as He is, desiring that His kingdom come, and that His will be done. Today, we’re looking at how and where those things should happen - on earth as it is in heaven.
Interestingly, the Greek for this phrase appears backward from what we read in our English translations. It literally translates to “as in heaven also upon earth.” But even though the wording is in a different order, the English meaning remains true.
This phrase, “on earth as it is in heaven,” links the previous two phrases of “your kingdom come” and “your will be done.” Where or how will God’s kingdom come? It will be on earth as it is in heaven. Where or how will God’s will be done? It will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.
God is currently reigning over His kingdom in heaven. His kingdom is present here on this earth, but not in the same way. Only perfection exists in heaven, while the earth is still full of sinfulness and brokenness. When we pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying for that holy and perfect reign to be over all the earth as well. One day at the end of this world, we will get to experience the new heaven and earth. We are currently separated from that perfection by our sin, but we look forward to the day that it will come, and this earth will be like heaven.
I encourage you to read all of Revelation 21 for more about what this will look like. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” (Revelation 21:1-5a).
The kingdom of God is already present on this earth, but we want to see it come in its perfect form as well - we want it to be on earth as it currently is in heaven.
Next, we want God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We can discern God’s will for our lives on this earth, but it’s not the same as God’s will in heaven. Again, the separation and difference are due to the sinfulness of this world in comparison to the perfection of heaven. God’s will is perfect, but we aren’t able to fully perceive His perfection through our sinful minds.
It’s important to note the context of this passage of the Lord’s Prayer when we look at this topic. As I wrote about in the introduction, the instance of this prayer that we’re focusing on happens during Jesus teaching what’s known as the Sermon on the Mount. This teaching includes topics such as murder, adultery, divorce, loving our enemies, giving to the needy, fasting, not worrying, judging others, etc. When we are living in the perfection of heaven and God’s perfect will is all we know, none of these topics will be relevant! God’s desires will always be accomplished; we won’t need to be instructed on how to do so. There will be no evil to compare it to; everything will be perfect, including how we’ll know what God’s will is for us.
This phrase of the Lord’s Prayer also confirms for us that heaven is real. While it may not be a physical place as we understand space in this world, but heaven is a place where we will be able to live one day, as long as we have faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. If heaven were not real, Jesus would not reference it in this prayer. We may not know all the details about heaven or be able to understand it with our limited intellect, but it’s sufficient to know that it will be far better than this earth - it will be perfect. For more on heaven, check out this post.
We desire that this earth would look more like heaven. As we pray this model prayer that Jesus has given us, we desire for God’s kingdom to come to this earth as it is currently in heaven, and we desire for God’s will to be done in a most perfect way.
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