God's kingdom is wherever his will is done, both a future reality and present now, even within believers. Because it's not of this world, Christians must establish it on earth through the Gospel, creating a cascade from changed hearts to transformed families and society.
A kingdom is a king's dominion, the place where a king's will is carried out. Wherever God's will is being accomplished, God's kingdom exists. Now, there are 2 perspectives on the kingdom of God that seem to contradict one another. On one hand, we have those who recognize that the kingdom of God is not of this world, and this is true. Jesus tells us so. My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is not of this world. That's John 18:36. On the other hand, We have those who recognize that we are to bring the kingdom of God to this earth. That is definitely true, for when teaching on prayer, Jesus said this: So then this is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. That's Matthew 6:9-10. The Bible clearly teaches that the kingdom of God is both otherworldly and something that should be established on earth. Do we have a contradiction here? By no means. Both realities of the kingdom can be true at the same time. The Kingdom of God is both then and there and here and now. In fact, the Kingdom is also within you. 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, nor will they say, see here or see there, for indeed the Kingdom of God is within you. That's Luke 17:20-21. Because the Kingdom of God is then and there, we don't need to worry. We know our futures are secure. Because the Kingdom of God is here and now, we don't need to wait. We know our authority works here too. The Kingdom of God isn't supposed to stay anywhere. It's supposed to go everywhere. It's tempting to sit idly by, to become discouraged and say, oh, there's nothing we can do. We know that the world is just gonna get darker and darker. But it's precisely because the Kingdom of God is not of this world that we ought to work to establish it in this world. That's what God desires. Otherwise, why would Jesus tell us to pray for it to be so? So how do we establish God's Kingdom? It's through the preaching of the Gospel. When a soul is saved, the heart and mind are transformed. When the heart and mind are transformed, character is transformed. When character is transformed, behavior is transformed. Change the individual, you change the family. Change the family, you change society. Change society, and you can change the world.
