Jesus Said "The Kingdom Of God Is Within You" Isn't That The Same As Saying God

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   vveaseyposted 10 years ago

   Jesus Said  "The Kingdom Of God Is Within You" Isn't That The Same As Saying God Is Within You?
   
   

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   Ericdierkerposted 10 years ago

   Great Statement phrased as a question. Of course this is true. If you do not get any other take away from the reported teachings of Jesus it is "God is Love" and then the two greatest commandments. Love God and Love thy neighbor. I have traveled extensively and always always try to take note of what every human shares in common and the only thing I can find is love. Everybody loves. (except extreme psychopaths that feel nothing) Therefor the only thing that I have observed as being omnipresent is love.
   So if a God is omnipresent and the only thing that is in all of us is love.......
   If we say "God is love" with out qualifiers then the result is that love is God.
   
   Now this makes sense for many reasons but it also damns most the notions of religion. For religions put qualifiers on that love principle. That would be like putting restrictions on God. Bad ju ju. So when we see interpretations of biblical principles and principals that are not consistent with pure unadulterated love then we see deviation from the one universal and omnipresent being, which is love which is God. As God is not a thing, neither is love. But they are both a sense of being.
   So the kingdom of God is that which God has total dominion over. And that one notion is only love. We got free will, we got other emotions that interfere with God and then we got love which is God's dominion and Kingdom.
   
   As always vveasey this question of yours stirs the pot. And this is required lest our soup becomes stagnant and much of it sedimentary. Keep the spices of thought mixed in with the broth lest it becomes tasteless and bland.

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      vveaseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      "Keep the spices of thought mixed in with the broth lest it becomes tasteless and bland." I like that! Well put.

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      lone77starposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Eric, this really made my day. Bless you. Speaking from the Holy Ghost through and through. Love with which to shake the universe.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Reminds me of a quote I keep with me daily - "It's only a choice between fear and love".  I'll keep love in the front of my mind this blissful day - thanks for the healing inspiration.  May it keep us all well today.

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   JThomp42posted 10 years ago

   Yes!!!!! Great question!! God is within us and we are within him. The love of Christ and God the father are always within us when we accept Christ.

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   Lee Teaposted 10 years ago

   Say "I am."  Now I'll say "I am." And that part of us that can say that is the same.  We are one.

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   lone77starposted 10 years ago

   Genesis 1:26 tells us that God created us ("man") in His image and likeness.
   
   Of course, some people forget the obvious: God is not Homo sapiens.
   
   So, we are, when we are His children, non-physical, spiritual and immortal sources of creation. If this is the real us, then where did things go wrong?
   
   Remember the Garden? It wasn't a physical place. It was a spiritual place. God said Adam would die on the day he ate of the forbidden fruit, but he didn't literally, physically die on that day. He died a spiritual death. The Garden was a spiritual place. The fruit (product) was the end result of physical creation -- dichotomies of all kinds -- good-evil, etc.
   
   These dichotomies are the "blood and bone" of something we call "ego" -- the heart of selfishness, vulnerability and separateness. Ego is the blindfold we pulled over our own spiritual eyes in the Garden. Ego is the descending path in the Kabbalah's "Tree of Life" found in 2 chapters of Genesis.
   
   When we give up ego, we are no longer separate. We become, once again, one with God. When we love unconditionally, share with infinite generosity, we drop our ego blindfold as I experienced in 1971 when I found myself a spiritual being surrounded by empty space just above Los Angeles. I hunger to return to that light. The less selfish I become, the closer I get.
   
   The more I reflect on my needs and loosen my attachment to them, the easier it gets. The more I am humble and put the needs of others, first, the easier it gets.
   
   The path truly is narrow. The door is so narrow that nothing of space or time can get through it. And ego is a creature of physical reality -- vulnerable because of its construction of physical things -- time, space and energy. Ego will not fit through a non-physical gateway. It's like trying to drive a truck through a paper cut.
   
   Bless you all for being children of God -- my brothers. I the love of our elder brother, Christ. Blessings to you all.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This was a beautiful read first thing this morning.  People are approaching this question from different angles but we're heading towards the same idea... it's exciting, actually fills me with joy!

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   Brenda Durhamposted 10 years ago

   weasy,   
   You're asking if God is within everyone, correct?
   
   The answer is....Not exactly, no.
   Jesus was saying that the Kingdom is Spiritual,  not necessarily that it is within each person.   As JThomp said,  IF we are Christians, then the Kingdom is within us (because the Holy Spirit is in us).    Small word  (IF) but a very vital one.
   Besides, some scholars' interpretation of the Kingdom being "within you" is meaning "amongst you" or "in your midst",  meaning of course that Jesus himself was the Kingdom.   And that interpretation is proven by the succeeding verses after Luke 17: 21,  where Jesus expounds upon the fact that He won't be literally on earth to walk with them forever.   He tells us more in verse 22, and even warns against following false teachers in verse 23:
   
   "And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there:  go not after them, nor follow them."
   
   So....you see,  the whole thing is about Jesus,  the Spirit.  It isn't about mankind.   That's something that, sadly, many false teachers try to convince us of---that we are "God".    Nope, God isn't homo sapiens, as one such erroneously-speaking person said.   But indeed homo sapiens (people) aren't God either.     Distraction doesn't work with people who actually read the Bible in context instead of just taking one passage and inserting their own earthly desire into it.
   Jesus was real in the flesh.   Just because God is Spirit doesn't make Him any less "real" in essence,  nor any less distinct from the human spirit.
   Gotta humbly claim the blood of Jesus before ya can rightfully claim to be "one" with God.    Hard fact, I know, but a fact nonetheless.

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Let me get this straight Brenda,
      Little baby newborns are not one with God? The Kingdom is not in them? And you can restrict who God goes into? And where do we find these rules placed on God? (I understand they are rules to follow for man)

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      Brenda Durhamposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Ericdierker,
      Newborns don't have the capacity to make a choice either way.   My understanding is that they'll go to heaven.But if they live to an age of accountability when they get old enough, they'll need to make a choice just like everyone else.

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      But I thought we were speaking of the Kingdom of God being in us. I presume it is in the newborn and some how comes out of the child. Based on your interpretation.

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      Brenda Durhamposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      eric, we were talking about Jesus and how HE is "the Kingdom".   Notice that I explained that in my first post and proved it with surrounding Scripture passages.

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      So Jesus/the Kingdom is in infants. Why does God later take it out of them? Because the become sinners?

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      Brenda Durhamposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't say Jesus was in infants.   I said infants are innocent, as far as what I can ascertain from the Bible, and from common sense.  I said that if they live, they will grow to an age of understanding where they'll need to make a choice.

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      Ericdierkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      So you are saying that God and infants are not one. They are damned if they die before becoming of age to decide? This really is a simple question. Is the Kingdom in children?

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      Brenda Durhamposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Why do you not understand?
      I said they're innocent.   That means God will take care of them.   
      No, it's not such a simple question,  because once again you've posed it in a tricksy way.   The Truth is simple;  you should go with that.

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      Harishprasadposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      So far I perceive, Kingdom was within the great Christ or in other words he knew the God's way very well and he poured it out before all people to see, feel and experience but a very few succeeded to have a glimpse of it. Kingdom is akin to insight.

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   Harishprasadposted 10 years ago

   Yes, you are right. Just think it over, what is it that is the most subtle, mysterious and complex in your whole existence. It is not your body, not your heart or other parts inside the body. To everyone, mind is a such stuff which is the most subtle, mysterious and complex but more than it, sense of the self is the most deepest and beyond comprehension. Even the most serious scientists are perplexed over it and struggle to make it out but have failed miserably. The sense of self is a kind of miniature God inside our mind. It is so apparent and crystal clear, yet we cannot grasp it easily. When Jesus said, " the kingdom of God is within you ", it does imply that God is within us and that is " the Self ", he was referring to. It is unfortunate that the world did not give any heed to this simple truth uttered by the great Jesus and wandered in a very different direction. All teachings of Jesus are simple but people made them all complex. Instead of venturing into the inner world, people took the outer realm like Jesus will take over our sins and reserve our birth in Heaven and even act as a broker before God. What Jesus emphasized on has been forgotten at all and in it's place, everything bizarre took place. What Jesus was trying to spread was very similar to what is prevalent in the east, especially in Indian Continent. If people of Europe and America would have emulated in real sense the preaching of Jesus about the innermost of ourselves, the whole world have been entirely different. However, it is heartening to observe that now people are beginning to concentrate on the real essence that Jesus called as the kingdom of God. Real religion of Jesus which was lost has now been resurrected. People can challenge the past resurrection of Jesus, the great but the current resurrection is very marvelous and very effective also. The real philosophy of Jesus is hidden in these very precious words- the kingdom of God is within you. Though I am alien to Christianity, yet with this philosophy of Jesus, the great, I have no hesitation to say that such a wonderful soul was one and only one. So great soul was he that he forgave his tormentors. I would say that Christ without church is more authentic and truthful and appealing to the world. If the faith of Christ is propagated with such a philosophy without ant external paraphernalia, Christ will rule the hearts of everyone irrespective of religions of people of the world. You have put up a wonderful query, many thanks.

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