Matthew 6:9-10
“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.“
The mystery of God’s Kingdom in regards to Christ’s first and second advent. And I agree that in Christ, here in this age, we are indeed free from the power of Satan because of Romans 6:18, which says, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Yet, our power rests only in Christ since Satan, sin, and evil have only been crushed in Christ; they will be finally destroyed in his second advent. When Jesus returns, these elements that afflict our souls will be completely and finally destroyed. Until that blessed day, we, like Lot in the city of Sodom, are tormented by the presence of evil. The Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 2:6-8, “if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);”
The Apostel Paul writes about this twofold reality of the Kingdom in Ephesians 3:14-17, which says, “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”. Paul speaks of the church as the family of God that is in heaven and on earth. The Puritans called this twofold church the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant. The Church Triumphant are all saints of God who are in heaven since the beginning when righteous Abel was killed by his brother in Genesis 4. The Church Militant are those born-again saints here on earth from people of all nations. These are the saints who have the living Christ in them; they continue to fight in the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ as it says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
The Apostle Paul also says in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I long to be with my Lord Jesus Christ and I pray, “Come quickly Lord Jesus!” Nevertheless, I pray that as long as my sovereign Lord God wants me to remain here in this body, I pray that I will be resolved to live my life in battle against all rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and the spiritual forces of evil; with all dependence on my Lord Jesus Christ in prayer!