Is the Kingdom of Heaven a far far away place??

Growing up in Christian circles, I always had the impression that the kingdom of Heaven
was a place that was far, far away; Similar to the “Land of Oz”. But is that really the
correct concept of the Kingdom of God? As we shall discover in this article, the
“Kingdom” is far more than just a place that all mankind seeks to attain, but much, much
more.

Let’s start by looking at what we already know.

Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how
much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Matthew 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and
shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

These verses tell us what most of us already know. Which is that Heaven is the abode of
the Almighty, and is a “place” that is separate from finite earth. Heaven is no longer on
earth, as Adam and Eve were “kicked” out of the garden in which the presence of God
dwelt. And that “Holy of Holies” would not become open again until the Second Adam
(Christ) would come and give us the key to the “Tree of Life” that was blocked when
they were expelled from the garden. This concept of what things were like in the garden
will be very beneficial in our study on this topic. But I want to make it very clear that the
"kingdom of Heaven/God" is most definitely a place that one day we will inherit. But this
concept is only half of the story as we shall see. The kingdom of God is more than just a
place. And the kingdom has everything to do with the Spirit. Let's begin our excavation
of this topic.

John the Baptist not only declared the following statement, but Jesus Himself declared it
as well when he said in Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,
Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Think about this for a moment. Is Jesus
saying that Heaven has come to earth? What is really going on in the thoughts of both
Jesus and John? By the end of this article we will be more equipped to answer this
question.
Now, let us dig deeper and explore some of the passages in scripture where the Messiah
Himself describes for us just exactly what is the “kingdom of Heaven”. And He does this
mainly through parables. It is important to point out that the "kingdom of Heaven" and
the "kingdom of God" are the same thing. The two phrases are Hebrew idioms that are
synonymous and are used interchangeably in scripture. For example, Mathew says that
the "kingdom of HEAVEN is like a mustard seed, while Mark says the "kingdom of
GOD is like a mustard seed. One is declaring the name of the Kingdom (Heaven) and the
other is declaring its king (God).

24 ¶ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened
unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way.

26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
also.

27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow
good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou
then that we go and gather them up?

29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with
them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but
gather the wheat into my barn.

What is the “kingdom of Heaven” like? Jesus tells us over and over again what it is like.
In this parable it is like a field in which grew good wheat, but also tares. What is the
wheat? What are the tares? What is the harvest? Let’s keep reading.

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came
unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are
the children of the wicked one;

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the
reapers are the angels.

40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of
this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom
all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth.

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who
hath ears to hear, let him hear.

With this one parable, we can see that the “kingdom of Heaven” is more than a place.
And that this "kingdom" is not IN Heaven yet. Let’s look at another one.

44 ¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a
man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and
buyeth that field.

What is the field? The field is all the people of the earth. The man is Christ who gives all
that he has (His life), to redeem all mankind from the sting of sin which cannot be
shaken. And the “treasure” are those that accept that payment and are willing to be
purchased. So the Kingdom of Heaven is in this parable are those that are the treasure of
God amongst all of the world (those that are His).

47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish
of every kind;

48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered
the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

Again, the “kingdom of Heaven” is described as a dragnet of love that is cast throughout
the entire earth. And those that accept that love and pursue it will be given eternal life.
Those that reject it by living their lives the way that they want, will be burned up in the
lake of fire. Once again, the kingdom is described as having good people and bad people
in it in which one day they will be separated so as the true kingdom will become evident.

23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to
settle accounts with his slaves.

24 "When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was
brought to him.

25 "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold,
along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.

26 "So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have
patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

27 "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the
debt.
28 "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’

29 "So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have
patience with me and I will repay you.’

30 "But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back
what was owed.

31 "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and
came and reported to their lord all that had happened.

32 "Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all
that debt because you pleaded with me.

33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had
mercy on you?’

34 "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should
repay all that was owed him.

35 "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his
brother from your heart."

Here, the kingdom of heaven is described as people who forgive with their hearts.
The Parable of the Vineyard

33 ¶ "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD

AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A
TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey.

34 "And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to
receive his produce.

35 "And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a
third.

36 "Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same
thing to them.

37 "But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

38 "But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the
heir; come, let us kill him, and seize his inheritance.’

39 "And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
40 "Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-
growers?"

41 They *said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out
the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons."

42 Jesus *said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH
THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS
CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?

43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be
given to a nation producing the fruit of it.

44 "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it
will scatter him like dust."

45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that
He was speaking about them.

Here we have an interesting parable. This parable has been incredibly misinterpreted over
the years to mean that the Jews killed Jesus and because of that, God changed His chosen
people to the Gentiles. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Let’s look closely. God is the landowner that chooses his people (the vineyard) and
protects them by putting a wall (the Word of God-the Torah) around them. Then, God
“rents” (entrusts) his people to the vine-growers (the priests and leaders), who were to
grow the people of God spiritually. Then God sends his slaves (the prophets) to warn the
leaders to repent and teach the people to follow their God, but they are rejected and some
of them killed. Then, He sends His only begotten Son to redeem the field from the
wretched leaders. But the Son of God is also rejected and killed outside the city walls,
just as scripture foretold. Then, in verse 43 we read that God takes the “kingdom” from
the “vine-growers” (the leaders) and gives it to a nation (another people) that live out the
will of God.

Paul calls this nation one in which their is no Jew, no Gentile, man or woman, but all are
united under the banner of Christ. Gal. 3:28 And how do we know that it is the “leaders”
that are stripped of their watch over the kingdom? Because the last verse gives it away:
45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that
He was speaking about them.

Who were the vine-growers? The Pharisees and religious leaders of that day. So, what
this entire parable is about is the unfaithful and bad leadership of God's chosen people.
And you can just see Jesus at the very end of telling this story, look directly into the eyes
of the Pharisees when He says, "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken
away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. 44 "And he who falls
on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like
dust." And what is it to fall on "this stone"?

Those who trust Christ and prostrate themselves before Him will be broken. Meaning,
that their pride will be broken and healing will befall them. For those that the stone fall
on, they will be destroyed. Those that refuse and constantly reject Christ will certainly
find themselves being judged by Him and destroyed. What does Jesus mean when He
says that the kingdom of Heaven will be taken away from them (the leaders) and given to
another nation? He is telling them that at a time in the near future, they will no longer
have authority over His people.

The Kingdom of Heaven is supported by the Spirit of the Father. And the Spirit holds the
name of the Father, which is YHVH (Yahweh). And that name brings great authority.
Originally, God wanted a personal relationship with His creation when He made Adam
and Eve in the garden. But as time went on, the people wanted a king like other nations.
The prophet Samuel warned them that having someone other than Yahweh leading them
will end up in disaster, as they will lord over them and make them pay taxes, etc... So the
priests, judges and kings came into the picture and ruled over the people of God and the
people were no longer under the direct authority of God Himself, but had to go through
the priests to access the Living Lord. Jesus came to restore the kingdom (the spiritual
authority and access) to the people. No longer will people have to go through any man to
have access to the Father, for they will all be a kingdom of Priests and Kings before the
Father (Rev. 5:10). Their authority would now be Christ. Jesus said "I am the Way,
Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father but by me." John 14:6

The Pharisees and religious leaders that were listening to Jesus give this parable knew
exactly what He was saying. They knew He was telling them that they no longer were
"going to be needed". Their authority would be coming to an end because of their
rebellion and misuse and abuse of the vineyard that they were suppose to tenderly grow.
This subject of authority will be discussed more in the upcoming article on authority.

So what is the “kingdom” of God? It is not only a “place”, but a “who”. The “kingdom”
IS THE PEOPLE OF GOD! Over and over again, the Kingdom of God is described as a
“People”. Then how can it be a place, you ask? Because, in reality the kingdom of God is
the place where His Spirit resides. Heaven is where the Father is (Mat. 7:11). And where
the Father is, there is His Spirit. Would Heaven be Heaven without the Spirit of God? No.
It is only Heaven BECAUSE the Spirit (God) is present.

So, now let’s back up and see if we can answer our original question of “How can the
kingdom of God be at hand”, as declared by John the Baptist and Jesus Himself? Because
the Messiah was the Word, which was the Spirit made flesh. Jesus was full of the Spirit
of His Father. And when Jesus brought the Spirit to earth, He, in a very real sense, was
bringing the “kingdom of Heaven” with Him. And why did He say that He must go? So
that He could send the Comforter. And who is the Comforter?
None other than the Spirit of the Living God. And for all those that choose to follow the
Son, to those, are given the Spirit as well. And so, each one of us that are true disciples of
Christ are holding inside of us a part of the “kingdom of God”. Think about this most
incredible truth. WE are the “kingdom” of God! We are the ones that are representing the
presence of God to the world. We are to show them what Heaven is like. No longer do we
have to depend on the priests and leaders to teach us the will of God, because the Spirit
will teach us all things" John 14:26).

What was taken away from the “vine-growers”? The authority to mediate between God
and man. Now, every man is a priest and has the right to come before the Father through
the Son. And as each individual believer begins to see that they are now in submission to
Christ, and then to those that are part of His body, personal responsibility and spiritual
growth will be inevitable.

One final question: Why does Paul tell us not to forsake meeting together? Why are the
“gifts of the spirit” so important? Why does Paul spend so much time teaching his
converts how to come together and worship? Because Paul understood what the
“kingdom” was. It was the people of God, COLLECTIVELY! Just as when at the end of
time all believers will TOGETHER, rule and reign with Messiah for a thousand years, so
in part, it is today. Every time believers come together to worship the Almighty God,
Yahweh, they are simulating what it will be like to be truly in the presence of God in
Heaven.

When believers unite together and display the gifts and nature of God collectively, the
Spirit of God is SUPPOSED to be profoundly manifested. Unfortunately, because most
“church” institutions are set up in the image of our “Roman” forefathers, the concept of
“community”, and personal responsibility is all but vanished. And what we are left with
is a system that promotes a kind of "spectator sport", verses a living, breathing,
responsible, and life-giving “kingdom” that is united and fully representing its King.

With that, I will leave you with a few pondering thoughts. There is very much two real
kingdoms: The kingdom of God and the kingdom of His enemy. Everyone is a part of
one of those two kingdoms. Which one are you representing?

If you are sure that you are part of the kingdom of Heaven, then would John the Baptist
say of you what he said of Jesus? "Behold, the Kingdom of God is at hand". Does your
life reflect the "Kingdom" that you are a part of? If those that know Him are part of the
kingdom of God, then why isn’t the world astounded by its beauty?

Maybe, we should STOP building our own kingdoms and playing "church" every
Sunday, and START BEING the “Kingdom of God” through local fellowships with
REAL community! Maybe then, those that rightfully doubt the power of God through His
church will begin to see that His power is real, vibrant, full of life and ready to fill the
emptiness of all who call upon His name.
Jim Staley

Originally written-6/26/04