From my reading in Luke 17:20-37 in the One Year New Testament.
Jesus was asking by some of the Pharisees “When will the Kingdom of God come?” He started his description of what some of the signs of his ultimate return like this…
“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Luke 17:20–21
The Kingdom Is Already Here
Jesus said that the kingdom is not something physical that can be seen with our eyes of observed with our senses. The kingdom is a spiritual kingdom.
The kingdom God is wherever Jesus is king.
If the Christ is the king of your heart then the Kingdom of God is within you!
We still live in a fallen world but God has already established his kingdom on earth through his followers here.
Followers of Christ are ambassadors of the kingdom in a foreign land.
In the Olympics when the USA team walks into the stadium the announcer says the USA is here even though it’s not actually the entire USA. They are representatives of a greater whole.
In a similar ways we are representatives of the Kingdom of God. We have the privilege inviting others to be a part of the kingdom and showing them an example of what life in the Kingdom is like.
Already But Not Yet
We have received the Kingdom now, but we are still waiting for the full completion of God plan on this earth and the establishment of his permanent physical kingdom in the new earth.
The battle of D-day in World War II is a good example of the concept of “already but not yet”. On D-day when the allied troops won the victory everyone knew that eventually they would win the war.
Even though victory was secured there were still some small battles still to be fought and the enemy hadn’t surrendered yet.
The cross is the Christian’s D-day. Jesus secured the victory with his death on the cross as he yelled “It is finished.”
Christ’s death and resurrection achieved victory for us, but we still live in a sinful, fallen world. We have temptations, trials and tests.
Jesus is waiting for more people to be saved before he comes back and takes away all pain and suffering for Christians.
We live in the already but not yet kingdom.
Jesus has already won the victory through his death and resurrection.
But he has not yet returned to judge the world and establish his permanent physical kingdom.
Why?
He is mercifully waiting for more people to become kingdom citizens! And we get to be a part of the recruiting process.
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