The Spiritual RealmSample

What Did Jesus Say About the Spiritual Realm?

When Jesus stepped on the scene, He proclaimed, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” We see this over and over at the beginning of His ministry—so much so that John the Baptist, who was meant to be the opening act for Jesus, the one who was supposed to profess and proclaim that Jesus was coming, said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is near!” (Matthew 3:2)

But what did John mean, and what was Jesus really talking about? As we read scripture, specifically in the Old Testament, we see hint after hint pointing us to Jesus. We even see it in the creation story when we read, “Let us make man in our image” (Geesis 1:26). God was speaking as multiple. (Hint, hint. God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.) But once Jesus steps on the scene in the Gospels (the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), He proclaims that the Kingdom of Heaven, or the other realm (a.k.a. God’s space), is near.

Jesus was initiating a move towards joining the two realms, returning creation to the way God had intended, where God’s space and man’s space overlapped. But Jesus was taking it a step further. He was declaring that Heaven and Earth wouldn't only overlap. He was saying that they would become one, and He would ultimately sit as the ruler over a unified realm—a realm where we who follow Jesus would live with Him forever.

Question to Ponder:

Jesus declared that the Kingdom of Heaven was near. Do you feel near to the Kingdom of Heaven? (Why or why not?)