The principle intention of the Our Father calls for the Kingdom of God to reign here on Earth.  What are we truly asking in this request?  Are we simply asking for God to make life easier on Earth or something more?  In order to answer the question, we have to go back to when creation was in its original state to understand what we lost, so that we can understand what we seek to regain.

At the conclusion of the sixth day of creation, God looked at everything, including humanity, and “found it very good” (Genesis 1:31).  Everything God created is fundamentally good, because God is complete goodness.  With this reality in the beginning, humanity existed in a state of original holiness with their creator.  Evil has not yet entered into the world, thus humanity was in perfect union with God and His will.  Humanity was in a perfect state of love with God, so we loved God in the way that He loves us.  When the Scriptures state we are created in His image and after His likeness, it refers to this reality. 

Sadly, we did not stay in this state.  When the serpent tricks Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge, humanity’s will ceased to be united with God’s.  God commanded us not to eat of the tree, yet we did it anyway.  We cannot blame the serpent, only ourselves.  Once the original holiness and unity was severed, we entered into the state of original sin.  We all receive this from the original parents of Adam and Eve.  This sin caused us to turn away from God and His will and look towards our own will.  Since God made humans the stewards of all creation, the rest of creation fell with us.  Everything in the world is affected by original sin.  The reason things are not perfect, the reason evil exists in the world, the reason we die is all because of original sin.  Adam and Eve surrendered the Kingdom to Satan, so Satan was allowed to reign in the world.

God does not leave us in this state, but He also has chosen not just to wave a magic wand to fix everything.  Our fallen world contains a lot of suffering, hardship, evil, and sin, and God allows it.  But it is not in vain.  God sent His Son into the world to die for us and our sins so that we may have eternal life.  God’s way of redeeming the world and beginning to heal it from the Fall was to enter into the sin and suffering by dying on the Cross for our sins, thus conquering the result of the Fall.  He conquers evil, sin, and death.  The Cross is God reclaiming His throne. 

The problem we face daily is that we still encounter evil, sin, and death in our lives.  It can cause us to ask, “Where is God in all of this?”  The answer to our question can be found in realizing as Adam and Eve took the step to sin and bring all creation into this state, we now are called to play our role in ushering in the Kingdom of God and restoring the original unity with our Lord.  Even though God sits on the throne, the Kingdom only comes into reality when we, the members of the Kingdom, make it a reality.  This task would be impossible for us alone, but God blesses us with His grace to restore His Kingdom.  The primary grace comes from our Baptism, which wipes out our original sin and restores us to be a new creation in Christ.  The challenge comes in every day seeking to live out the baptismal promises, but when we seek that holy way of life, we usher in God’s Kingdom.

The restoration of God’s Kingdom is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer.  We ask God to assist us in our task, for without His help it would be impossible. Let us strive to let God reign in our hearts, minds, and souls so that His Kingdom can become a reality.