I wonder if we’re not perhaps getting the kingdom and new creation motifs muddled up. As Andy points out (though he may not have meant it this way), Jesus said that the kingdom was coming soon: the reign of God through the resurrected and vindicated messiah would soon (in biblical historical terms) replace the satanically inspired reign of Caesar. This is what the Lord’s prayer refers to: thy kingdom come, deliver us from the evil one, the accuser of the people. The disciples prayed for the kingdom to come because they were a small beleaguered, persecuted sect facing eschatological crisis.

But, if I may be so bold, I’m not sure Wright is correct to associate this language so closely with the new creation theme in Revelation. I don’t think we pray for the new creation. We hope for it, it inspires faith and mission, and in a very important way the renewed, Spirit-filled people of God anticipates the reality of it. But we don’t cry out for the renewal of creation in the way that the suffering early believers cried out to God to intervene and vindicate them against their enemies (Luke 18:7-8). The new creation is the terminus ad quem, but as far as we are concerned it is given to us as a gift for the sake of the present: we are involved in the renewal of creation now through our life and worship together.