The kingdom of God is not of this world. Jesus made this clear when He said, "If this were my kingdom then would my servants fight for me." John18:36. This is why in Eph.6:12 Paul said "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

The arena we fight in is a spiritual one. Not a natural one. So, when Jesus said "the kingdom of God is within you", it was relative to the new spirit birthed in us that He came to provide for mankind. Through the New Testament that Heb.9:15 says was given power through His death and resurrection. And not the natural world around us.

Before Jesus came the kingdom of God was not IN anyone. Man was never spiritual before Jesus came. But, Israel got to experience in some ways what the kingdom of God is like through their natural senses. Heb.6:4,5 explains how this happened saying that in the Old Testament Israelites, "were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come." The world to come. The kingdom of God.

In Acts1 we see the disciples inquiring of Jesus saying, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." Here we see that Jesus did not reply saying the kingdom of God is within you. Because the kingdom He referred to is the kingdom He will establish upon His return and not before.

Instead He replied, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Making it clear that until His return and the establishment of His kingdom on earth they would have the kingdom of God within them through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

In Rom.10:9,10 Paul said believing in Jesus' resurrection and confessing that He is Lord is how men are saved. This salvation is how we come to have the kingdom of God within us. But, this salvation is not universally given to all men. Nor is it denied to the "many" and forced upon the "few". But, only to those who of their own free will choose to accept God's gift of faith.

To be born of God by confessing Jesus as Lord, and believing that He has raised from the dead. And as His children they become heirs to His kingdom. And while still on earth His kingdom is inside the natural body because when saved it becomes God's temple.

So for now while we live here on earth until the resurrection unto life that kingdom is within the believer because he has been made a child of God. Having God's spirit living inside him communing with his spirit that was birthed when he was born again.

But, when the believer dies, or is caught up to be with the Lord, he will enter into the literal kingdom of God. And when Jesus returns to earth to establish His kingdom here for 1,000 years the believer in heaven will come with Him to rule and reign with Him on earth.

So the kingdom of God is within you is a reference only to the spirit that is birthed in us and the Holy Spirit that comes to dwell in us when we are born again. And is not a reference to the literal kingdom of heaven the believer will one day inherit when he leaves this life behind. And is certainly not meant as God's kingdom on earth. Nor is it some kind of new age christ consciousness.

This is why it is imperative that men come to a saving faith in Jesus. The kind of faith by which Jesus was able to say, "Nevertheless not my will but thy will be done." This is "the faith of Christ" wherein Paul says in Gal.2:16 men are justified/righteous.

But, until we are born from above, born of the Spirit, we are only natural, flesh and blood, like Adam(1Cor.15:45,46) was when God made him. And Paul said "flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God." 1Cor.15:50. This is why even if Adam had not eaten the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil he still needed Jesus to conquer mortality for him.

So until we leave this world to inhabit the kingdom of God, His kingdom inhabits those who have believed in Him. Our bodies must become the temple of God. Something made possible only when we are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1Peter1:23

When this happens the word of God is mixed with God's gift of faith in us giving birth to a spirit we never had before. Making us spiritual children of the spiritual one and only true God. The Creator of all that has ever been made.

As it happens in God's plan from before the world was made He makes His kingdom available to "as many as received him." And "to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John1:12,13

It is because God is love that His plan was to create the circumstances by creating us with free will to make it possible for real love to not only exist in the Godhead. But, to also come to exist in us. As we freely choose to receive His love when we hear the gospel that says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever would believe in Him should not perish. But have eternal life." John3:16

So salvation happens when we with our free will say yes to His gospel. Because only when we say yes of our own free will does He then give the gift of faith by which the gift of salvation is received. Eph.2:8,9. All so that a loving fellowship between God and His creation would be possible. It's all about love that gives the gift freely to all those who ask. Works have nothing to do with it.

If you have confessed Jesus as Lord and believed His resurrection then the kingdom of God is within you. But, if you have not believed in Him then the kingdom of God is not within you. You are still only natural, flesh and blood just as Adam was when God made him. And as Rom.3:23 says you are still in need of the glory of God. Which means you are still in need of His presence in you, the kingdom of God, by the new birth and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

If you will trust in Jesus and confess that He is YOUR Lord. And will believe in your heart that He has raised from the dead. You will be saved. You will have God's presence in you. You will be saved from death to life. From mortality to immortality. From the kingdoms of this world and the god of this world. To the kingdom of God to live forever in His presence.

Do this and the kingdom of God that will be within you now will prepare you to enter into the kingdom of God when your old body is changed to a glorified one to leave this life behind. Do this and you will be a child of the God who made you. And as His child you will inherit His kingdom. Do this and you will have immortality and eternal life.

Do this... and I will see you there or in the air!

This message can also be heard at: Rumble