The model prayer in Matthew 6 contains an interesting phrase, “On earth as it is in heaven.”
Rabbis of the day believed it was their responsibility to find the heavenly pattern of things and replicate them on earth. This was a noble desire, although their approach was lacking. They attempted to replicate heaven on earth by keeping an intricate set of laws. In doing so, they believed that God’s kingdom would come and His will be done.
However, this was an incomplete plan to usher in God’s kingdom. The prophets had already explained that the Messiah, not the law, would usher in the Kingdom.
The Hebrew word for law, hallakah, is essentially the same as the word for “way.” Can you imagine the shock when Jesus said ,“I am the way”?
In other words, the kingdom does not come through the law, but through the Messiah to whom the law points. And the Messiah is working in the hearts of His people to transform the hearts “on earth” to be more and more responsive to the reign of Christ “as it is in heaven.”
And one day, He will return to consummate the physical kingdom comprised of a new heaven and a new earth. So that in every sense (not just our hearts), things are “on earth as it is in Heaven.”