As I end this series of posts on the territory of the kingdom of God, I thought it a good idea to address a possible objection that may arise as one begins to think about the kingdom of God in this way. One might say this talk of the kingdom of God having territorial distinction in the natural is purely theoretical and unlike earthly kingdoms because one cannot see the territorial lines of the kingdom of God.
However, one cannot see the territorial boundaries of an earthly kingdom unless they are marked with a sign. One can see the geography, the actual terrain, but one cannot necessarily tell where the kingdom begins or ends by merely looking at the territory. Maps help, but only because the person who draws the map knows the location of the territorial boundaries of the kingdom. In fact, when one thinks of a nation’s territorial boundaries one usually sees a map in one’s mind’s eye.
But just because one cannot draw a map of a nation’s territory does not mean the nation does not have a territorial boundary. It would only mean that the person drawing the map did not know where the boundaries of the nation lay. It’s the same with the kingdom of God. We can know that many places are kingdom territory because we can see that those in authority in that place exercise that delegated authority in accordance with the laws of the kingdom. We can see a household under the authority of a Christian who lives in obedience to King Jesus. That we cannot see into every heart or every place does not mean that the kingdom of God does not have a geographical presence and territory. It only means we are not good mapmakers.
Such is the earthly territory of the kingdom of God on earth. Like the earthly territorial distinctions, they are sometimes fluctuating and are not always well defined, but they exist. GS