The Kingdom of God is NOW!
Many of the sermons Jesus gave in the gospels were meant exclusively for the Jews as he sought to free them from the religious legalism of Judaism. But certain themes lived on, you might say, into the apostle Paul’s teachings — and one of them was Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom of God.
We first see John the Baptist, before Jesus declared himself as Messiah publicly, preaching, “Saying, All of you repent: because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Mt 3.2]
And after John Baptized Jesus, Jesus began also to preach, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” [Mt 4:17]
“Is at hand” means it has arrived — not it is coming, but it’s it’s in my hand or at my hand.
In what’s commonly called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said not to worry about food and clothes and the things that people who didn’t trust God worried about, but direct your energies elsewhere: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you!” [Mt 6:33]
And in Mt 12:28, Jesus is casting out devils from a person and he says, “If I’m casting out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
It has come.

When Jesus was dragged before Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus if, as the Pharisees accused, he claimed to be a king, and Jesus answered in the affirmative. But then Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight so that I might not be delivered to the Jews. But now My kingdom is not from here.” [John 18.36]
We have a paradox. Jesus says earlier that surely the Kingdom has come, then tells Pilot that his kingdom is “not of this world”. Has it come or hasn’t it come?
The solution is that Jesus’ kingdom has come, but for now it’s comes spiritually, not physically. There will come a day when the heavens and the earth are destroyed and then recreated, that His Kingdom will be on earth physically as well as spiritually. But not yet — not from this world.
But thanks to my friend, Tim Price, the Kingdom of God is not to be seen as some mystical, invisible force. Tim observes that the risen Christ intended for His followers to be the Kingdom of God in the midst of society.
Every person who follows Christ is in His Kingdom and — like an embassy in a foreign land — everywhere that person goes, there is His Kingdom!
What’s it like to be an Ambassador of the Kingdom of God?
For one thing, it affects you personally as Paul observes in Rom 14.17: “The kingdom of God is… righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!”
But it also affects those around you, and the best account of how that happens is found again in Paul’s writings, in 1Cor 13. 4ff, commonly called the “Love Chapter”. Let’s look at that briefly.
“Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth.”
The person in whom resides the Kingdom of God today loves those around him or her. To be patient or kind to a person affects that person! If you’re not arrogant but reasonably humble and not rude, it affects any person you’re around!
But the Kingdom of God in you has a completely different way of presenting itself in the world today, and that’s through the various gifts given by the Spirit, listed next to the Love Chapter in 1Cor 12! Some of these gifts are listed in verses 8–10:
The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom.
The same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge.
To another person the same Spirit gives courageous faith.
To another person the same Spirit gives the ability to heal.
Another can work miracles.
Another can speak what God has revealed.
Another can tell the difference between spirits.
The followers of Christ are the Kingdom of God in the midst of society today! You don’t try hard to have any of these Spirit-given gifts — you just exercise whatever gifts you’ve been given. And you impact society around you in the process.
If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, then the kingdom of God is come unto you!
Em
