What is the Kingdom of God? Is it a place? If so, where is it? Is it Heaven? Is it Earth? Is it both? Is it something that we are waiting on, or is it already here? As we look to the Scriptures for the answers to these common questions, we find that Jesus taught a great deal about the Kingdom of God; in fact, it was the subject of Jesus’ first sermon. 

“The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. ‘The time promised by God has come at last!’ he announced. ‘The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!’” (Mark 1:12-15)

This phrase, “The Kingdom of God is near,” is one that we see repeated throughout the Gospels. It is what Jesus told His disciples to preach when He sent out the seventy-two.

“‘Heal the sick, and tell them, “The Kingdom of God is near you now.” But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!” I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day.’” (Luke 10:9-12)

For towns that welcomed them, Jesus gave His disciples two instructions: heal the sick and tell them, “the Kingdom of God is near you now.” So the Kingdom of God, as far as we can understand it, is not a physical place if the seventy-two disciples were going to go to various towns and tell each one that the Kingdom of God was now near them once their sick had been healed. The Pharisees even asked Jesus about the Kingdom of God, specifically, about when the Kingdom of God would come.

“One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘When will the Kingdom of God come?’ Jesus replied, ‘The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.’ (Luke 17:20-21)

Jesus said the Kingdom of God is already among them. It’s already here! As the English Standard Version puts it: “The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” We can often confuse the Kingdom of God with the new heaven and the new earth that is to come at the end of days; when we do this, we tend to think that the Kingdom of God is something to watch for, that it will indeed come with signs to be detected, but Jesus clearly said that it is not. The Kingdom of God is already here.

“Here is another illustration Jesus used: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.’ Jesus also used this illustration: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.’” (Matthew 13:31-33)

In these parables that Jesus used to explain the Kingdom of God, we can see that it is like something that is planted: it might start small but once it’s planted—or like a pinch of yeast put in the flour—it expands and grows. So the Kingdom of God is here and it may start small but it will grow and expand. Here’s what Paul concluded about the Kingdom of God.

“For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)

The Kingdom of God is a matter of living a life of goodness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ answer about the Kingdom of God back in Luke 17 can be translated a few different ways: The Kingdom of God is already among you or within you or within your grasp. When we repent of our sins and believe the Good News, as Jesus instructed in His first sermon about the Kingdom of God, then the Kingdom of God is near, it is here, it is among us and within us. Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God, giving us the Holy Spirit who resides within us. When we live a life of goodness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, when we tell others about Christ, planting the seeds of the Good News, and we live as a good example of Him, that is the Kingdom of God.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed