The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Within You
CHRIST Jesus categorically told the Pharisees in Luke 17:21 that the Kingdom of Heaven is not a geographical location. Verses 20 and 21 provide the context viz. “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’
This is one of the main messages Jesus taught. In the Bible, both in parable and precept, Jesus mentions the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God, interchangeably, referring to the Kingdom of heaven 29 times and the Kingdom of God 52 times. Indeed, Luke wrote Theophilus (Acts 1:3), stating that Jesus mainly spoke ‘about the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God,’ especially after His resurrection.
Thus, it is important to understand what the Kingdom of Heaven means practically for Christians today. There have been many postulations regarding what Jesus meant, when He said ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is within.’ From the philosophical, with Leo Tolstoy using it to advocate non-violence, to the literal, with some scholars saying it indicates that Jesus was saying He dwelt physically among the Jews as their king.
But there is also the spiritual meaning. Church founder, Mary Baker Eddy, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, that heaven is not a locality, but the reign and harmonious government of God. This government includes spiritual, pure and sinless man – God’s manifestation. Eddy also says that in the kingdom of God, Spirit, man has the mind of Christ. Essentially, it is where man comes to the full awareness of his spirituality, as God’s image and likeness [Gen 1:26].
Similarly, Eddy outlines why hell is also not a geographical location. She writes that evil beliefs, which originate in human belief, bearing the fruits of sin, sickness and death, constitute hell. This state of suffering and self-destruction, brought about by the effects of sin, is experienced by many here and now. Echoing the Bible,
Eddy says hell is that, which worketh abomination or maketh a lie.’ (Rev. 21:27). Romans 3:23 reminds that every mortal has sinned and come short of God’s glory, but the grace of
Christ saves man. This is why Jesus’ message of salvation admonishes Christians to repent from this mortal state - this material sense of things - and find the truth of being, man’s spirituality – the kingdom of heaven within. Understanding man’s spirituality bears the practical fruits of better health, holiness and longevity. It is reassuring to know that Jesus’ instruction in Matt 5:48 to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect, can be obeyed. Christians can confidently work out their salvation from the standpoint Jesus declared and proved - that God’s kingdom is already within man. Moji sol a george, christian science committee on publication for nigeria west