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Where is the Kingdom of Heaven?
As Solomon observes at the dedication of Jerusalem’s Temple:
1 Kings 8:27 (KJV)
27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven
of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
And David
Psalm 113:5 (KJV)
5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth
on high,
But the heavens –sky – serve as a metaphor -‘dwelling on high’ = a higher
state of being = spirit; not a geographical place like London or New
York, or the moon or Jupiter, or up there…
The prophet adds to the mix
Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits
eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and
also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit
of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah has God simultaneously inhabiting eternity; being high and lofty,
and at the same time dwelling with the contrite and lowly man.
Consider David’s observation
Psalm 139:7-10 (ESV)
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your
presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in hell, you are
there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of
the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
David recognizes there is no ‘where’ where God is not; both in the
natural – even ‘the uttermost parts of the sea’ and the supernatural –
even in hell – literally Sheol, the abode of
the dead – God is there; as Jesus observes ‘God is a spirit’ or as David
asks ‘where shall I go from your Spirit’?
Unsurprisingly God’s Kingdom is where God is; and God rules everything.
1 Chronicles 29:11 (KJV)
Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth
is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head
above all.
Psalm 103:19
The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17
Jeremiah 23:23-24 (ESV)
23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God afar off?
24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?
declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
Thus God’s Kingdom is “all that is the heaven and in the earth,” and this
“Kingdom ruleth over all”, its
also “at hand” because God is “at hand” because as God says “Do I not
fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”
Paul observes “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some
of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Acts
17:28 (ESV)”
So that’s pretty straight forward, most people grasp the idea that God is
everywhere – up to a point… [Even though the bible says God is in Hell
too, this concept often proves a little difficult for many…] any way -
God’s Kingdom is everywhere because God rules over everywhere.
John 18:36 (ESV)
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world…”
God is a Spirit; so God’s kingdom is a spiritual Kingdom, to enter you
must be spiritually born again; “Jesus answered, I assure you, most
solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. [John 3:5 (AMP)]”
Oh yes
Luke 17:20-21 (KJV)
20 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:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
kingdom of God is within you.
As Paul observes
Ephesians 4:4-6 (KJV)
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of
your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in
you all.
Thus
Luke 24:49 (ESV)
49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay
in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Where ‘on high’ just means from ‘the Spirit’ = ‘the Kingdom of God’,
which is already in you! The Spirit comes upon you, that is up on you;
because God is everywhere even in you and me,
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