that "Eurika" moment.

There are no “new revelations”. Scriptures have revealed all that there is. It just takes some of us a little longer to discover them. It’s called a Eurika moment. And when it happens, we slap our forehead and say, “Duh!” Ever had that happen? It just did for me (once again) this week as I had coffee with a friend.

A little bit of background. It turns out that years ago, a loved mentor told me that salvation and the Kingdom were two different things. I didn’t quite understand it then, but as time went by, I tried to reconcile the concept by finding Bible quotes and verses to support it, and how. Over the years, I tried to come up with several explanations. Influenced by my old fundamental teachings, which held that although salvation was the same and freely available to everyone who accepted Christ, there were different levels of rewards according to one's level of faithfulness. One possibility was to compare the Kingdom of God with feudal earthly kingdoms, where we find courtiers within the castle or city walls, who ruled over those who were far and outside, but residents of the kingdom nevertheless, like peasants, slaves, etc. Another one was to think of the possibility of us ruling over the different planets and galaxies in the universe in the future. After all, an eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful God would have every single detail prepared for us, right? And why create all those planets and universes for no reason at all?

For years, it all seemed logical to my small, finite mind. As the years went by, I never paid too much attention anyway, because it really wasn’t that important. I simply concentrated on pleasing and serving God as much as I could out of my love for Him, rather than as a means to “be in court”.

Then, I had coffee with my friend, and for some unknown reason, I brought up the subject in conversation. I don’t know why, maybe subconsciously, I wanted to show off my theological knowledge and perspectives. Silly me. She must have thought I was nuts. That’s when the  Spirit of God took hold of me. I think it’s called conviction. I had been reading about the Kingdom of God and studying the Sermon on the Mount. Inconspicuously, these things had been inching their way into my mind, until one day, in prayer, I had my noted, Eurika moment. I read Jesus’ trial before Pilate, when He said, “My Kingdom is not of this world,” not once, but twice. Duh! The Kingdom of God is not a where, or a when, it’s a what.

Please don’t turn me off just yet. The Kingdom of God is not about a place or a time. Yes, after Jesus returns, He will establish His Kingdom on earth, but before that, it needs to be established in us, in our hearts. The Kingdom of God is a lifestyle, an attitude; it is internal, it lives in the heart. It can’t be compared with physical kingdoms, past or future. The Kingdom of God is found in our obedience to Jesus’ words, in our victory over circumstances, in living abundantly, in making disciples, in our heart attitudes that drive our behavior and decision making, in the fruit of the Spirit, the peace that surpasses all understanding, you get the idea.

Therein lies the difference between salvation and the Kingdom. Unfortunately, even though many can and will be saved, even “as by fire”, they may not be living as citizens of the Kingdom. They still live in defeat, always asking themselves why they can’t have the joy and peace that others have, why they can’t shake off an addiction, why they think their faith is shaky. I can say so much more about this, but space is of the essence. But there, that was my Eurika moment, my duh. Not because it was a new revelation, it’s always been there, but because it took me a while to get it. Let’s have a cup of coffee and talk some more.

C.