THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS TRANSFORMED HUMANITY
Heb. 10:32-39, Ps. 36, Mark 4:26-34

With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade" (Mark 4:30-32). 

Now, since the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, we who have faith in him and are transformed by him are living in the kingdom of God on earth. Although it appears small now, it is constantly growing in the world and will become very great, like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, becoming the largest of all shrubs.

The kingdom of God is in Jesus Christ, in whom divinity is united to humanity. His divinity divinized his humanity; and by contact with him he divinizes us too, when we believe in him. His divinity enters into our humanity to divinize it from within, when we receive him with faith.  Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!' or ‘See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you (entos hymon)" (Luke 17:20-21 NKJV). The Greek means "within you." The kingdom of God is within the hearts of those who believe in Christ and love him.

This kingdom is growing now in the world, for it is in the hearts of those that believe in Christ. The Church proclaims this kingdom in the world. It is a kingdom of love and brotherhood, a kingdom of humanity renewed by its faith in Christ, a kingdom of heavenly peace on earth, a universal and everlasting kingdom that will last forever and extend to the ends of the earth (Luke 1:32-33; Isa. 9:7; Dan. 2:35b, 44). Christ is the king of this kingdom. The signs of its presence in the world are the persons justified and transformed by their faith in him.

We try to live more and more in this kingdom by loving our neighbor with the love of Christ and by giving ourselves to the service of our neighbor for love of God. To live in the kingdom we have to love God with all our heart, seeking all our delight only in him.

Our age is the final age, the age of the kingdom of God, the Messianic age, the age of fulfillment and grace, the age of salvation. "The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached" (Luke 16:16 NKJV). "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matt. 11:11). There are so many graces in the kingdom of God that even a child in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist, the greatest in the Old Covenant. In the kingdom of God people are transformed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in Christ are saved humanity that has a mission to transform the world. This movement to transform the human race is the kingdom of God growing in the world. The kingdom of God is God's mission in the world. It is also the Church's mission in the world, and it should be our mission too.