Luke 17:20-22 (AMP)
20 Now having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed or with a visible display; 21 nor will people say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence].”
The kingdom of God is one full of mystery. The Israelite were waiting for a messiah who would come and elevate the Jewish nation to prominence, they were looking forward to a physical kingdom that would be set up and put then on top. Jesus comes and announces the kingdom is here but not in the way that they thought. It is not a kingdom that would come to take over with signs and wonders as they had thought; it was not a kingdom to be observed with physical display. Jesus declares that the kingdom of God is already here among us because of his presence. He came to establish the kingdom of God within us who believe.
Colossians 1:13-14 (AMP)
13 For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,14 in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins’ penalty]
We who have believed are now part of the kingdom, like ambassadors sent to a foreign territory to represent the interest of our king thus you and I ought to live our lives as people belonging to the kingdom displaying the will of the father.
When people see you and I, when they interact with us they should see the glory of the kingdom we represent through the way we live our lives because our way of life is governed by a higher law based on the constitution of our kingdom. We should be as strange to this world as Jesus was because he operated under the laws of the kingdom. In other words we should let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and give glory to our father in heaven. We belong to the kingdom of light and thus its now our nature to shine light everywhere we go, we can’t help it because that is who we are.
The kingdom of God is wherever you are, wherever God plants you because he now lives in you.
