Where Is The Kingdom?

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”” (Matthew 13:31–33, ESV)

The Kingdom of God

There’s a lot of talk about “the kingdom of God” in the Gospels. A quick search of the word “kingdom” showed the word occurring 124 times in the Gospels. Jesus repeatedly says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2, ESV) and tells us to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV). Jesus also tells many parables that begin, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Matthew 13:24).

Some Confusion

I remember studying this topic of “The Kingdom of God” in my undergraduate program. In one class the professor kept saying something like, “Everyone limits their understanding of the Kingdom of God to Christians, but it’s more than that.” It was an intriguing point, so I asked, “If it’s more than the number of Christians, what is it?” He didn’t answer my question. He kept saying the same thing about people’s limited understanding but never told me what it was. So, I asked him again because I wanted to know the answer. I got the same thing. Eventually, I concluded that this professor knew what the Kingdom of God was NOT but didn’t know what it was. So, I went on a long journey through scripture to figure it out.

The Kingdom and Christians

After my last story, I need to make sure I’m not misunderstood. The Kingdom of God is about Christians. When Nicodemus sneaks over to speak with Jesus one evening, Jesus tells him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5, ESV). So, you enter the kingdom of God by being born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. So, on a basic level, as more people put their faith in Christ, and are born again, the Kingdom of God grows. Yet, there’s more to the Kingdom of God than this. 

The Kingdom Within You

In Luke we read, “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There!” for behold, the kingdom of God is in you.’” (Luke 17:20–21). This is an interesting passage because it says that the kingdom is coming in ways that cannot be observed. Yet, we CAN observe Christianity growing in numbers. 

So, why does Jesus say we cannot see it coming? Because the Kingdom of God is in us. Throughout history, many theologians understood this as teaching that the Kingdom of God resides in our hearts—which I think it does. 

But…What About?

Yet, there’s an objection to this. If the Kingdom of God is only about our hearts, why does Jesus tell us to pray that his Kingdom would come ON EARTH? Why would Jesus tell us that the Father would “give us the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32), if it was only about our hearts? That doesn’t make sense. My professor was right. The Kingdom of God is about more than people becoming Christians. 

Yet, some can take this idea too far. Some have made the Kingdom of God about the kingdoms of this earth. Some have tried to bring the Kingdom of God to earth solely through laws and policies. Yet, they have neglected the heart and have forgotten that the Kingdom of God is ALSO about the heart and about being born again. 

Both/And

This is getting long, so let me tie it all together. One biblical truth that helped me connect the dots. I wrote about this a couple weeks ago. Jesus taught us that our actions come from our hearts. Out of the overflow of our heart, our mouth speaks and our hands act (Matthew 15:19). So, nothing stays in our hearts. It has to move from our heart into our hands. 

That’s why the Kingdom of God can BOTH reside in our hearts AND work itself out in the world. It’s not an EITHER/OR. We need to hold these together AND we need to keep them in the right order. Hearts are changed first, then actions are changed. We do not change actions first, then hearts. It doesn’t work that way. 

Then, as the Kingdom grows in our hearts—changes our hearts—the Kingdom overflows into our actions. When the Kingdom overflows into our actions, it changes the way we parent our children, buy our groceries, and work our job. This is how God brings his Kingdom into being on this earth. It begins in the heart, but works itself out through our fingertips into everything we touch. As more people’s lives are changed in this way—through the Gospel—entire cities, nations, and cultures are changed. The Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.