 
The internet is as much a part of our world today as television or radio. It enables people on every continent to communicate instantly using the information highway. How did it all begin? In 1962, an engineer named Paul Baran found a way to move messages through a network of Defense Department computers. Just a few years later in 1968, the Department of Defense commissioned the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), a branch of the military that developed top secret systems and weapons during the Cold War, to build the ARPA net. The first data exchange of this new network connected a total of four computers, three of which were located in California and one in Utah. It wasn’t until 1984, just three years after IBM began making personal computers that the internet began to take on more users. Less than ten years later, in 1992, more than a million computers were on-line. By 1995 that number had jumped to thirty million. Today, no one is exactly certain how many people have access to the internet, but by most estimates it is well into the hundreds of millions.
Some people have compared the kingdom of God to the worldwide web. Though it started with only a few disciples following Jesus, it wasn’t long after the resurrection that people began to “come on-line” with Christ on a daily basis. After only one century it is estimated that there were one million Christians in the Roman Empire. Over the last nineteen centuries, the number of people who have professed faith in Christ has grown to more than two billion!
Certainly one important reason for the massive spread of Christianity has been the prayers of the saints. In the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6, Jesus instructed His disciples to |
pray “Thy kingdom come.” Every time believers sincerely make this request, we are expressing our desire for more people to acknowledge God’s reign and submit to His will as He works it out in their lives. This happens, of course, as unbelievers confess and repent of their sin and trust in Christ as Savior and Lord.
This is not the only way this prayer can be answered, however. The call for the kingdom of God is also related to Jesus’ second coming. Many 1st century Christians longed for that day and so prayed, "Maranatha,” which means “Come O Lord.” They were looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness continually dwells. While they hoped that it would be during their lifetimes, they understood that the Lord was not slow about His return, but long-suffering toward mankind, not wanting any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Today, we too, as subjects of the Living God, pray as the early church did, “Come Lord Jesus.” We look forward with great anticipation to that day when it will no longer be necessary to say, “Thy Kingdom Come.” Instead, we will praise our Lord for keeping His promise. Until that time, please continue to pray for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ.
|
|
