And He said to them, I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."

Mark 9:1, NIV

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin... and He is the head of the body, the church...

Colossians 1:13-14, 18, NIV

One of the benefits of reading the Bible is that it helps us to understand vital facts like the one we read about today: The Kingdom of God! Jesus and the apostles talk about the kingdom on many different occasions and in many different ways. Sometimes they appear to be taking about heaven after the Second Coming, but at others such as we see in the verses above, they seem to be talking about a kingdom here on earth... so which is it?

The answer, is both!

But how could that be? How can the kingdom be both here on earth and in heaven. The answer is that the kingdom is eternal. As is pointed out in Mark 9:1, it was something that some of the people that Christ was talking to at that time would see before they died. So, were there going to be a bunch of really old people living until the Second Coming of Christ? No, but there would be many people who would see the kingdom, because it has an earthly side to it - the church:

And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:47, NKJV

The Scriptures reveal an important fact about the kingdom of God that will help us to better understand the eternal nature of the kingdom. First, God adds us to the kingdom when we obey the Gospel. Those who remain faithful (and therefore in the kingdom) on this side of Judgment, will surely be a part of the kingdom on the other side of Judgment throughout eternity. Obviously, we have not connected all of the dots in this short set of readings today, but that's one of the reasons you are reading - so that you can connect the dots for yourself, and better understand this kingdom of the saved, that extends from this physical life into life eternal. 

Today's reading is Mark 9. Aren't you glad that you have decided to read the Word!