A Kingdom of God Primer

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In Luke 11, we have Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. We’re much more familiar with Matthew’s because it is the one we recite. A few lines are shared between the two, five in total –

Our Father

Hallowed by thy name

Thy kingdom come

Give us this day our daily bread

Forgive us… as we forgive 

"Thy kingdom come" is especially important to focus on for it’s Jesus's central vision. Repeatedly, Jesus refers to his dream of the coming kingdom, a kingdom that is also right now waiting to happen. God’s kingdom actualized here on earth - that's the endgame.

What marks the kingdom yet to come but at the same time here and now waiting to be cultivated?

Well, it’s crucial we start with the preposition “of God.” It’s God’s kingdom we’re talking about. 

Are we talking theocracy here?

While the answer seems to be yes, we should remember the truest definition of God the Bible gives. God is Love. 

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of love. 

Instead of theokratia – rule by God - in Greek, we might call it agapekratia – rule by love.

Jesus was not a republican or a democrat. Jesus was an agapekrat. Me, too, as a follower of Christ.

Christ called for the rule of love. Christians must as well. 

What would a kingdom, or today’s equivalent, a nation, ruled by Love look like? 

Hard to know. We’ve never seen it in full. But that’s what Jesus is calling for. That’s what we pray for each time we pray the Lord’s prayer. We’re praying for God’s kingdom of love to come and be realized on earth as it is in heaven. We’re praying that Love’s kingdom will be realized here and now.

What marks God’s kingdom? What are the attributes that define the kingdom?

First, equality marks the kingdom of God that is the kingdom of love. 

Remember the parable Jesus tells of the workers in the vineyard, a story found in Matthew 20. As with most of his parables, through them, Jesus tells us what the kingdom looks like. 

A landowner hires workers at different hours of the day, offering the same daily wage to all, regardless of how long they worked. This leads to grumbling from those who worked the longest. The landowner defends his generosity, highlighting that he is not being unfair and that his actions are a demonstration of his own will. 

God is the landowner in the story. And God and God’s kingdom is all about radical equality.

In the life of the kingdom, all will be on equal footing. No one will be high and mighty while others live lowly lives, unable to make ends meet or feed the kids, eking out of a life of quiet desperation. The rich and the poor will be no more!

As Isaiah says and Dr. King quotes, “every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. The glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.”

Or as Mary puts it in Matthew 1: God’s kingdom will scatter those who are proud and bring down rulers from their thrones and lift the humble. The hungry will be fed good things and hunger will be no more while the rich will be sent away.

Or as Jesus simply puts it – in the kingdom, the last shall be first, and the first shall be last, the high and mighty humbled and the humble ones lifted up.

Radical equality will mark the kingdom.

What else? 

Peace will define the kingdom. When someone gives the blessing, Rest in Peace, they confirm the truth that peace will reign in the kingdom of God. 

Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. Jesus, as the angels sing to the shepherds, brings peace on earth and good will to humanity. Jesus quotes repeatedly from the book of Isaiah which, pointing to Jesus, says, 

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 

Jesus himself commands, put away your sword. Blessed are the peacemakers.

The Father’s kingdom ends wars and brings endless peace.


Another mark of the kingdom of love that is God’s kingdom will be justice.

Love doesn’t ignore wrongs done with no remedy. Love faces wrongs and remedies them. 

Another parable Jesus tells is that of Lazarus and the Rich Man. 

Found in Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells of a rich man who lived in luxury while ignoring a poor beggar named Lazarus, who was covered in sores and laid at his gate. Both men die, and Lazarus is carried to Abraham's side in heaven, while the rich man faces justice in Hades. The parable highlights the consequences of neglecting the vulnerable, a neglect that defies God’s law of love. 

The kingdom of love will be marked by justice. The injustices of this life will be remedied in the kingdom. And all will be restored to love.

Love and justice move together. They must. As a philosopher once said, “justice is what love looks like in public.”

One last thing. The kingdom of love will be marked by perfect well-being. No more suffering. No more sorrow, no more hunger, no more poverty, no more callousness or care-less-ness, no more loneliness, no more depression, no more war, no more hatred, no more division, no more violence. 

Imagine the most joyous, peaceful, perfect moment with your loved-one – the kingdom of love will be akin to that moment but made infinite!


The kingdom of love Jesus preaches about is marked by equality, peace, justice, and well-being.  

To close, let me say this. Why wait for the kingdom of love’s realization some age in the future? Why not start now? 

Jesus in Luke 17 famously says, “the kingdom of God is within you.” We have the capacity to make the kingdom real now. We have the capacity to make equality, peace, justice, and well-being a reality now. It’s not foreign to us if its within us. With God’s help us, we can create a new world now.

It begins with us, the church.

If we the church are not living out these realities, if the church isn’t living out our calling and actualizing equality, peace, justice, and well-being here and now, then what are we doing?

Indeed, let us pray the Lord’s Prayer and mean it now. Let us pray and practice God’s kingdom now. Let us foster the kingdom into being now. Let us be conduits of Love’s will and desire to heal the world as the church now!

Let us pray as Jesus taught to pray and live. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

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