The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God — also called the Kingdom of Heaven — is the reign of God over all creation: his sovereignty, his justice, and his love made manifest and effective in the world. It was the central subject of Jesus's preaching: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15; CCC 541).

Already and Not Yet

The Kingdom is both present and future. It is already present — in the person of Jesus, in the Church, in the sacraments, in the lives of those who live by the Gospel. And it is not yet fully realized — awaiting its definitive coming at the end of time when God will be "all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28). The Christian life is lived in this tension between the "already" and the "not yet" (CCC 567, 671).

The Kingdom and the Church

The Church is not identical to the Kingdom of God — the Kingdom is broader than the Church — but the Church is the seed, sign, and instrument of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is wherever God's will is done; the Church is the sacrament of that reality in history (CCC 763–769).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Kingdom of God political? No, though it has social implications. Jesus explicitly rejected the role of political Messiah (John 6:15). The Kingdom of God is not a earthly political order but the reign of God's justice, mercy, and love — which does, however, transform every human institution that is touched by it (CCC 2819).

What does "thy kingdom come" mean in the Lord's Prayer? The petition asks for the final coming of God's Kingdom and for the progressive realization of that Kingdom in the present — through the conversion of hearts, the spread of the Gospel, and the lived experience of God's reign in every community (CCC 2816–2820).