Kingdom of God here now?

[ariandgabe]

The Kingdom of God.

Where is it? Is it already here or are we to preach; “The Kingdom of Heaven is near, or coming”?

Is it coming at the ‘end of the ages’ the end of time which is ‘that Day’ when the Lord appears the second time?

How could we know if the Kingdom was here or not? We can’t see it, or, can we?

If it is NOT here, where is it, or when will it come?

First of all it is written that, the ‘kingdom of heaven’ is NOT something you can point to or see with these physical eyes.
Luke 17:20-21
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."
NKJV

And in; 1 Cor 3:16-17
16 Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! 17 So if anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you yourselves are his temple.
TEV

Is this it? “Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you” 1 Cor 3:16 so that the Spirit is ‘the kingdom of God in you.’ Luke 17:21

So that means that our body is the ‘temple’ where the ‘Spirit of God’ lives. So all the Christian believers (sons of the kingdom) here on this earth which is the field, who are filled with Gods Spirit are IN the ‘Kingdom of God’. Another word, where Gods Spirit dwells is where His kingdom is, which is here on this earth now.

It is beautifully explained in; Matt 13:37-46
“37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.”

But for now, we share this ‘kingdom of heaven’ with others ‘the sons of the wicked one’ that have been planted by ‘the enemy who sowed them is the devil’, who at ‘the harvest’ which ‘is the end of the age’ will be gathered up and burned, as it says in;

Matt 13:40-42
40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
NKJV

Above is another clue that Gods kingdom is HERE and NOW; 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness” It is here on earth where people can still practice lawlessness. He will send His angels to gather those that offend from here on earth.

Also in Matt 13:44"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Only on this present age and here on the earth do we continue to sell and buy.

Our King has left to a far country and will return soon. So we must do our work diligently as we wait for His return:
Mark 13:32-34
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. 34 It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.
NKJV

Do you know that this is a great secret revealed to us who seek? Gods message of the coming of the ‘kingdom’ has been kept secret since the beginning of time and is now revealed to ‘his’ people by the Apostles that Jesus chose himself;

Col 1:25-27
25 And I have been made a servant of the church by God, who gave me this task to perform for your good. It is the task of fully proclaiming his message, 26 which is the secret he hid through all past ages from all mankind but has now revealed to his people. 27 God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.
TEV

Here is where other scripture comes to life. Remember when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden,
Gen 3:22
22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" NKJV

There are so many interpretations of the ‘tree of life’ by great scholars, but none seem to grasp the meaning.

First of all, ask yourself, how long did Adam live before he sinned?
He had eternal life there in the Garden of Eden that is Paradise, and the clock did not start counting his age until he sinned. This is when God said: “19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” Gen 3:19 NKJV

Once Adam and Eve sinned, their days were numbered. But what caused them to age?
I used to think that it was sin that caused them to get old.
No. Sin does not cause aging; in the same way as doing good does not cause you to get younger.

Look at this;
Gen 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
NKJV

“For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” Did Adam die on the day he ate of the tree of ‘The Knowledge of Good and Evil’? Yes he did.

Just as Jesus calls everyone who lives in sin ‘dead’ (… let the dead burry the dead etc.) this is how Adam and Eve died on that day. They were ‘sinners’ before God, thus they were dead to Him.

But how did they die?
They were cut-off from the ‘source of Life’, the tree that gave them life; "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat”. This is what kept them alive, every day eating of the ‘tree of life’ and drinking from the ‘river of water of life’ that flowed from that tree.
They were cast out from there, and could not eat of it anymore.

This is that same ‘tree’ that is revealed in Revelations;
Rev 22:1-2
“22:1 The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 and flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.” TEV
(I thought, how could one tree be in the middle of a street AND on either side of the river? Well, it is a Great big Tree, and from the middle of it flowed the river which is the water of life)

Dear friends, this is the same ‘tree’, the same ‘bread’ the same ‘water of life’ that gives us eternal life NOW; this is that comes from Jesus Christ;

John 4:13-14
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
NKJV

So it was with Adam, the food that he took from the tree of life was not some ‘fruit’ that gave him power of eternal life, neither was the ‘tree’ just that; a tree. We now know that it is Christ the Bible is referring to as the ‘Tree of Life’ and it is His ‘Words’ that gives us ‘eternal life’.

Look at this:
Gen 3:8
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. NKJV

It was Jesus ‘the ‘Lord’ walking in the garden, it was He (The Tree of Life) who talked to them and taught them, and it was ‘His Words’ (Fruit) that kept them renewed day after day giving them ‘eternal life’, just as it gives us NOW.

So when Jesus comes back to take possession of His Kingdom;
Matt 13:41-43
41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! NKJV

So let us not harden our hearts to the truth, the kingdom of heaven is here and we must enter in by being born again and walking in the Spirit or end up as the foolish virgins, who were too lazy or hard headed to fill their lamps with oil (spiritual knowledge) until it was too late. You know what happened to them;

Matt 25:1
"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom …
"And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' … And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut …
"Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' 12 But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'

"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. NKJV