Luke 17:20-21Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
The Pharisees probably observed the moons and the stars to find out when would the kingdom of God arrive, or they could have been watching the times and politics to see whether would the kingdom of God arise from any political power. Whatever their question meant, Jesus told them that the kingdom of God was unlike any other kingdom they were familiar with. It is spiritual and internal rather than physical and external therefore its coming could not be observed.
What then is a kingdom?
A kingdom simply means a place where a king rules. Therefore the kingdom of God simply means wherever God reigns over the lives of His subjects. The kingdom of God is not visible because God is not visible. It is a spiritual kingdom and not a physical one.
The kingdom of God is where people declare their Kingship to the King of Kings and their Lordship to the Lord of Lords. They serve only one King which is God.
Jesus gave us, in the Lord’s Prayer, a petition to God: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That shows the priority that Jesus gave to the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, everyone and everything is subject to God’s power, instantly, without any question. But in the physical world, there is resistance to God.
Wherever there are those who honor Jesus Christ, the King, there is the Kingdom of God.
If you are a Christian, and if you follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly, you then have the Kingdom of God within you. Having been belonging to the Kingdom of God, I now realize that I should not be inferior to the physical kingdom that my physical body is living in. I know that the physical kingdom will perish but the spiritual one will not. From today onwards, I want to maintain the Kingdom of God within me. If there be any misconduct, I know that God will forgive if I repent and the kingdom of God will still be within me.
Having known this truth, we should not be afraid of the physical kingdom that is always shutting its doors to the Gospel. Know that you are the vessel God uses to share the Gospel to this physical kingdom and also to bring the Kingdom of God into the people who now lives in the physical kingdom.
Although I have to be subject to the rules set by the physical kingdom, I will gladly break them if it hinders me from sharing my faith. The government tells us that we are not to share our faith with the Muslims but what is wrong with that? Is their faith so small that they cannot bear to hear even a little about Jesus? Are they afraid that they might start doubting their faith? That I do not know but what I know is that I belong to the spiritual Kingdom of God and I am not afraid to do what my King says.
Wherever there are those who honor Jesus Christ, the King, there is the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 6:33
Seek first His Kingdom…
Belonging to His Kingdom,
Zlwin Chew
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