You are not far from the kingdom of God.”—Mark 12:34............WHAT PEOPLE SAY Many people believe that God’s Kingdom is, as one major denomination of Christendom put it, “the reign of God in the heart and life of the individual.” WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS The Kingdom is a real government, not just a metaphor for a person’s submitting to God in his heart. God’s Kingdom will rule over the entire earth.—Psalm 72:8; Daniel 7:14. What, though, about Jesus’ statement that “the kingdom of God is within you”? (Italics ours; Luke 17:21, King James Version) Jesus could not have meant that the Kingdom was in the hearts of his listeners. Why not? Because on that occasion his listeners were the Pharisees. Jesus said that they would be excluded from the Kingdom because their form of worship was hypocritical and thus unacceptable to God. (Matthew 23:13) However, Jesus could rightly say that God’s Kingdom is “within you” or, as the New World Translation says, “in your midst.” Why? Because he, as the future King of the Kingdom, was standing right before them.—Luke 17:21.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:48:15 +0000
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