It is already in you!

Luke 17:20-25

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God begin?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God isn’t ushered in with visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘It has begun here in this place or there in that part of the country.’ For the Kingdom of God is within you.”

Later he talked again about this with his disciples. “The time is coming when you will long for me to be with you even for a single day, but I won’t be here,” he said. “Reports will reach you that I have returned and that I am in this place or that; don’t believe it or go out to look for me. For when I return, you will know it beyond all doubt. It will be as evident as the lightning that flashes across the skies. But first I must suffer terribly and be rejected by this whole nation.

Food for Thought!

For the Kingdom of God is within you!

What did Jesus mean by this statement? It is difficult to interpret but if we compare it to what is said in Deuteronomy 30, we come closer to understanding it. "Obeying these commandments is not something beyond your strength and reach; for these laws are not in the far heavens, so distant that you can’t hear and obey them, and with no one to bring them down to you; nor are they beyond the ocean, so far that no one can bring you their message; but they are very close at hand—in your hearts and on your lips—so obey them."

From this text we come to know that it is all in us; that in us there's godliness and goodness and holiness. In other words, we are godly, we are good and we are holy people. This is what makes us humans to be distinct; we are honourable and glorious because of what is in us. We are not great because of what is on us, not because of what we have acquired in this life; we are great because of what is IN us. 

This godly thing within us, the reign of God, is due to the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). Or better, the image and likeness of God in human beings is the godly capacity in them. Thanks to this godly capacity in humans, they are capable of doing many godly things, like good deeds, inventions of all kind. Indeed, it is this godly capacity in humans that differentiates humans from other animals. This means further that the more godly we are the more human we are; and the more human we are the more godly we are.

This is what Jesus taught us this week, that doing good, mastering evil, is within us. "It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others." (Eph. 2:10)

Christ also taught us this week that the faith we have is a tremendous force. He is saying the same thing today. The kingdom of God is not out there but in there; it is not to be sought from without but from within us, in our hearts. And if this is so, as it is, it means that no one should ever deceive us to look for it beyond us, because it is already within us! Just as the very Son of God was among us, as one of us, so is the power of God (the kingdom of God) within us. We all have it, and so we thank God for it. To Him be praise and glory and honour, both now and forever.