What is The Kingdom of God?

 The kingdom of God doesn’t come with empirical observation, neither will they say, “Look, here!” or “There!” Because look! The kingdom of God is inside of you. - Luke 17:20b-21

Because the kingdom of God isn’t eating and drinking but a state of right being and peace and joy by means of the Holy Spirit; because the person being enslaved to Christ with this is a delight to God and proven to human beings. - Romans 14:17-18

And saying that, “The time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at this point in time; change your mind and trust in the Gospel.” - Mark 1:15

     What do Jesus and the New Testament authors mean by the twin phrases, “The kingdom of God” and “The kingdom of Heaven”? These can be some of the most misunderstood terms when studying what the Scripture says because they invoke the imagery of a political entity, a nation with territorial boundaries, and the imagery of a literal kingdom on earth with the Messiah as its head of state subjugating all other nations through force. It is this kind of kingdom that the Judeans in the first century were taught to look for, the restoration of a Davidic king on the throne in Jerusalem bringing all of Israel’s enemies to their knees. And when we see all other pretenders to the Messianic title in the first century, this is exactly what they attempted to bring about, culminating in Rome losing their patience and destroying the temple, razing Jerusalem, and hunting every last “ZELΩTHC” down that they could. As Jesus predicted this would happen if they didn’t listen to Him and turn around, clearly, this isn’t what He was talking about.

     The kingdom of God, as the New Testament understands it, is made up of all those who choose to submit to and cooperate with the Spirit of Christ. By so doing, they maintain their connection to Jesus Christ Himself like members of the body to their Head. By so doing they acknowledge and commit to the absolute authority of the Spirit of Christ, the absolute authority of God Himself over their words, actions, behaviors, and lives thus acknowledging Jesus Christ as their “king” in this kingdom. It is a kingdom without borders or boundaries. It is a kingdom that, like the mustard seed, begins small inside you and then grows immensely large. It is a kingdom that, in order to really obtain it, one must say goodbye to everything to which they are attached. It is a kingdom where some are enslaved to the Spirit of Christ, and some are enslaved to their own flesh and it is hard to sort out who is who until the end. It is a kingdom whose citizens are not of this world, do not live enslaved to their own malfunctioning flesh, and realize they are merely passing through. It is a kingdom for whom God Himself is their home, their king, and their security. It is a kingdom that cannot fall to any earthly attack, because its citizens are one with God Himself.

     One cannot bring the kingdom of God about on earth through political or military action because these things only serve to incite the malfunctioning flesh to fear and aggression, thus pulling back control from the Spirit of Christ. One cannot force someone to submit to and cooperate with the Spirit of Christ. This has always been and always will be expressly voluntary. He will not force Himself on anyone. Attempting to enforce “God’s Law” by political, military, or other violent means cannot further the growth of the kingdom of God because these means are diametrically opposed to its nature, and any attempt to do so will only result in the same self-destruction which happened to Judea in the first century. One might be able to create a fear stricken population of religious zealots, but one will not and cannot build the kingdom of God using these means. One can only build the kingdom of God by making disciples of the Way of Jesus Christ, and this is done by teaching them to submit to and cooperate with the Spirit of Christ, not by teaching them to keep rules and laws.

     One also cannot bring the kingdom of God about on earth in any other meaningful way because Jesus Christ already did it in the only way that is meaningful. One can only build the kingdom further by being a disciple themselves and teaching others how to be disciples, make their home in Him, and walk as He walked, manifesting Him in their words and actions.

     At some point in the future, sooner rather than later I suspect given the direction everything is heading, humanity will have driven this planet and themselves to such a brink of self-destruction that our only salvation as a species will be invasion and military and political occupation by Heaven’s forces. But don’t mistake this for the kingdom of God which Jesus and the Apostles preached. This is Heaven sending relief and peacekeeping forces to keep us from finishing the job much like Pompey occupied Judea to keep the Judeans from destroying themselves through their civil war. This is Heaven saying “enough is enough,” while still not forcing the Spirit of Christ on anyone. This is last resort for our survival as a species and the survival of our world until the completion of everything. The only way we keep ourselves from reaching this point is by being disciples ourselves and building the kingdom of God as Jesus taught us to do.