The short answer
The Kingdom of Heaven is both here now and still to come — already begun in part, not yet arrived in fullness. This is not a dodge but the settled shape of Jesus’ own teaching. He announced that the Kingdom was near and even “in your midst” (Luke 17:21), and in his ministry its power was already breaking in. Yet in the same Gospels he taught his followers to pray “your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10), which only makes sense if its full coming still lay ahead. Both strands are true at once, and the Christian life is lived in the space between them.
Theologians have long summed up this tension with the phrase “already but not yet.” The Kingdom has genuinely arrived with Jesus and is present now wherever God’s rule is welcomed; it will reach its complete, visible and final form only when Christ returns and God’s purpose is fulfilled. This article walks through the verses that pull in both directions, explains the framework that holds them together, and then shows how the Divine Principle understands the Kingdom — as something that begins within a person, grows through families, and is built up toward a restored world on earth.
The verses that pull both ways
Scripture speaks of the Kingdom as present and as future, and both sets of statements come from Jesus himself. On the present side: he declares that if he drives out demons by the Spirit of God, “then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28); he tells the Pharisees the Kingdom is already among them (Luke 17:21); and he describes it growing quietly like a mustard seed or yeast worked through dough (Matthew 13). These are not promises of a distant event but descriptions of something already at work in the world through him.
On the future side, the Kingdom is plainly not yet complete. Jesus teaches his followers to pray for it to come (Matthew 6:10); he speaks of a coming day when the Son of Man returns in glory and gathers the nations for judgment (Matthew 25:31–34); and Paul writes that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God as it now stands (1 Corinthians 15:50). One study of the theme puts the balance simply: the Kingdom is “present through Jesus’ ministry and the Holy Spirit in believers, yet it will reach its full consummation only when Christ returns” (baonline.org). Taking either set of verses alone distorts the picture; faithfulness means holding both.
The “already / not yet” framework
The “already but not yet” framework is simply the recognition that God’s reign has been decisively inaugurated without being finally completed. The decisive beginning is the first coming of Jesus: in his life, death and resurrection the Kingdom broke into history and a new age began. The completion is still future: the full, world-wide, uncontested reign of God awaits the Lord’s return. Between those two points the church lives — enjoying the firstfruits of the Kingdom while still praying and labouring for its harvest. The framework keeps us from two opposite mistakes: pretending the Kingdom has fully come, or acting as though it has not come at all.
This way of reading was given its modern shape by the Princeton theologian Geerhardus Vos early in the twentieth century and later popularised by George Eldon Ladd, though the pattern is drawn straight from the New Testament. It is widely held across Christian traditions precisely because it does justice to the text rather than forcing it. It is worth adding a note of humility: some writers caution that the formula can be used too neatly, as if everything slots tidily into “now” or “then.” The framework is a faithful summary, not a mechanical key — the living reality is richer than any phrase.
Why it is not yet fully here
The Kingdom is not yet complete because the world is plainly not yet remade: suffering, injustice and death still run their course. If God’s reign had already arrived in fullness, there would be no more grief, no more oppression, no more graves. Scripture is honest about this. Creation still “groans” and waits (Romans 8:22); believers themselves await the redemption of their bodies. The “not yet” is not a failure of God’s plan but a true description of where we stand — inside a story that has turned decisively but not yet reached its end. To deny it is to set people up for disillusionment the first time life hurts.
Naming the “not yet” honestly is also pastorally vital. It explains why faithful Christians still face hardship, and it protects the hope of the Kingdom from being reduced to a promise of immediate ease. The right response is not despair but patient expectation: the same Lord who inaugurated the Kingdom will bring it to completion. That is why the question of why God allows suffering and the question of the Kingdom belong together — both are answered by a God who is restoring all things in his own time rather than all at once.
The Kingdom in the Divine Principle
The Divine Principle teaches that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be established first on earth and then in the spirit world, and that it grows progressively as people come into line with God’s purpose. On this understanding the Kingdom is not merely a place we go to after death; it is the condition of a world living fully under God’s love. And it is built in a definite order — beginning within the individual whose original mind and body are united around God, extending to God-centred families, and widening from there to communities, nations and ultimately the whole creation. That is why Jesus could locate the Kingdom “within” people: it starts inwardly before it can be seen outwardly.
Read this way, the “already / not yet” tension is exactly what one would expect of a Kingdom that is built up rather than dropped down ready-made. It is “already” wherever hearts and homes are being restored to God now; it is “not yet” because that restoration is still spreading toward its full extent across the earth. The Kingdom, in other words, is a work in progress — the fulfilment of God’s plan of restoration moving from the inside out. For how this earthly Kingdom relates to the final hope, see whether heaven is our final home or a restored earth.
Living between the “already” and the “not yet”
Because the Kingdom has already begun, believers can live its values now; because it is not yet complete, they do so with patience and hope. The “already” is a summons to action: forgiveness, justice, mercy and love of neighbour are not postponed until the Lord returns — they are the shape of Kingdom life to be practised today. To belong to a Kingdom that has broken into history is to let its priorities reorder your own, so that the way you treat people and spend your days begins to look like the world God is bringing about. Waiting passively is not the posture of the “already.”
At the same time the “not yet” keeps that effort free of both arrogance and despair. We do not imagine we can build the Kingdom by our own strength, nor pretend it has fully arrived when the evidence says otherwise; neither do we give up when the world resists. We work as those who know the outcome is secure because it rests on God, and we pray “your kingdom come” as people who mean it. That blend of active service and humble hope is the healthiest Christian posture there is — and it flows directly from understanding that the Kingdom is both here and still to come.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Kingdom of Heaven here now or still to come?
Both. The consistent biblical answer is that the Kingdom of Heaven is “already but not yet”: it has genuinely begun with the coming of Jesus and is present now wherever God’s rule is received, yet it has not reached its full and visible form and awaits completion. Jesus announced the Kingdom as near and even “in your midst” (Luke 17:21), yet still taught his followers to pray “your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10). Holding both together — present in part, future in fullness — is how the Gospels speak of it.
Why did Jesus speak of the Kingdom as both present and future?
Because both were true of what he was doing. In his own ministry the Kingdom broke in — demons were cast out, the sick healed, sinners forgiven — so he could say the Kingdom of God had come upon his hearers. Yet the world was plainly not yet remade: evil, death and injustice continued. So he taught his followers to keep praying and working for the Kingdom’s full arrival. The present signs were a real beginning; the prayer “your kingdom come” reaches for the completion still ahead.
What does “the kingdom of God is within you” mean?
In Luke 17:21 Jesus tells the Pharisees the Kingdom of God is “within you” or, as many translations render it, “in your midst” or “among you.” He is correcting the expectation of a kingdom that arrives with visible political spectacle. The reign of God was already present among them in his own person and work, not something to be spotted on a map or a calendar. The phrase points to a Kingdom that begins inwardly and relationally — in hearts that receive God’s rule — before it is seen outwardly.
How does the Divine Principle describe the Kingdom of Heaven?
The Divine Principle teaches that the Kingdom of Heaven is meant to be established first on earth and then in the spirit world, and that it is built up progressively as people and families come into line with God’s purpose. It begins within the individual whose mind and body are united around God, extends to God-centred families, and grows outward to a restored world. On this view the Kingdom is both a present reality taking root now and a future fullness still being realised.
How should Christians live in the “already but not yet”?
By living as citizens of a Kingdom that has begun while praying and working for its completion. Because the Kingdom is already present, believers can embody its values now — forgiveness, justice, mercy, love of neighbour — rather than only waiting. Because it is not yet complete, they do so with patience and hope, not despairing when the world resists and not pretending the Kingdom has fully arrived. The posture is active hope: receiving God’s rule inwardly and extending it outwardly, while longing for the day it is made whole.