What is the Kingdom of God? And is it possible to see it before you die?

I realize I can not fully answer these questions because I am a human trying to use finite words to describe something infinite… but I can tell you what I have experienced in wanting to be God’s… for no other purpose than that I love Him and He is so so Good. 

When I read Genesis, I can’t help but think – I still want this. I want to live trusting Him fully, part of His Creation, knowing that whatever I leave in His hands is in Good hands. Sounds like Paradise. I also know that God is still the same God that He was during the Creation…  and He has promised to redeem us and make us His again… to give us Life. 

But! the world sounds its alarms of worry and chaos and ever-comparing standards of everything creating distractions around every corner and thought. My human side caves and I look away from what is Good… but not for long because my heart yearns for Him… and the more I get to know God, the quicker I can identify what is not from Him and the more quickly I move back to His sheltering wings. 

Now, I have come to discover that the darkness of a human heart runs deep and I don’t want any of it, BUT my sinful flesh and habits won’t always let me break these ties as I would like. For me, this just won’t do. I don’t want a little selfishness or anger or greed or jealousy… I want to be Saved from sin… all of it… 

George MacDonald spoke in a sermon once that he didn’t believe that he himself was saved – not until every last bit of himself was One with the Maker. 

Just consider, perhaps salvation isn’t about heaven and hell but about new Life, being made holy or set apart for God… being His again. Perhaps some will see heaven before we die, through our oneness with Christ. I will never even venture to guess who is going to heaven or hell – that is not for me to judge nor do I pretend to know each man’s soul.

I do know, as I grow to know God, I think less and less about heaven or hell and more about Him… being His. And I do want to be saved… saved from all the evils that lurk in me so that I can be completely His.