What is the kingdom of God?

[Śrī Anil asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmi! In the Bible, the Jews asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, to that Jesus replied “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.” By this, was Jesus referring to Himself (as the Human Incarnation) as the kingdom of God, since He was present amidst them at that point of time? Please grace us with Your answer to this question. At Your Divine Feet - anil.]

Swāmi replied: The statement of Jesus has two meanings: (i) The first is that every soul is ruled by God, but the Human Incarnation is very close to God since God lives in the Human Incarnation. It is like the palace of a king is very close to the king. But the palace is also located within the kingdom. In fact, it is the most important part of the kingdom and all the rules of the country are finalized by the king in the palace itself. This means that the palace is the real kingdom. (ii) The second meaning is that the term ‘Kingdom of God’ does not mean a political government in a physical sense. But it is an invisible government that exists within the physical kingdom, pervading all over the kingdom. If one wins a case in a human court through false means, the court of God existing within and above the human court punishes the sinner at the proper time, surpassing the human court. Hence, the administration of God is invisible existing within this world itself and it is the ultimate. Hence, Jesus said that the kingdom of God is amidst human beings.

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