OUR beloved Master had much to say of the kingdom of heaven. He did more than speak of it, for his whole life and ministry exemplified heavenly harmony. What he lived, he taught; hence his teachings are of the highest value in pointing the way for others. Had his mission been limited to his own individual experience and practice, his marvelous demonstrations of divine power would have had no particular effect beyond the short period in which he lived, and history would have recorded him only as a great man. But Jesus was more than this. He was the anointed of God, the heaven-sent messenger to the poor, the oppressed, the sinning, the diseased, the dying, to demonstrate to them the way, through Christ, to an understanding of their eternal spiritual unity with God. Does not such understanding bring dominion over evil? Moreover, this understanding, once established in individual thinking, should be permanent.
Jesus never intimated that the spiritual understanding of God required any special endowment of intellect by which it might be attained. Man's God-given heritage of everlasting life may be consciously enjoyed by everyone. As the creator is infinite Spirit, God, and forever the same, so must His creation be universally spiritual and eternal. Such were the teachings of the master Christian, and his wonderful works, resting upon this everlasting foundation, bore full evidence of the enduring reality of spiritual life, intelligence, and substance.
The advent of Christ Jesus signified the manner of the appearing of the Christ, Truth, to human thought. It betokened meekness, joy, reverence, love, and peace—not pride, pomp, ecclesiasticism, strife, and vainglory. Earthly kings and kingdoms trembled lest "The Prince of Peace" and his kingdom, long heralded, should take away their power and prestige. The mission of Christ Jesus, however, was not to overthrow human governments, but rather to enlighten both rulers and nations, to show all mankind the better way of Christ, revealing individual self-government, derived from the might of divine intelligence, the kingdom of God. It is true that the understanding of this heavenly kingdom proclaimed by Jesus was to uproot and destroy selfishness and sin, do away with oppressive laws and practices, and usher in a new reign of righteousness and peace. But this rule would in no wise disturb the fundamentals of law and order. On the contrary, it would bring them to light and establish them in the hearts and minds of all peoples. Jesus definitely stated that he did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Fulfilling the law of harmony through the perfect understanding of God and man as Father and son, he became humanity's guide, its Way-shower.
Mary Baker Eddy diligently sought the Christ-way, partially obscured since the early centuries when Christianity's healing and redemptive power was known and practiced. The pure spiritual teaching of the Master was revealed through her faithful study of the Bible as the perfect Science of Christianity, to be comprehended by all who sought to know the true God. As the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy has brought to light and made practical the means and methods used by Jesus whereby multitudes have been reclaimed from sickness, poverty, vice, and threatened destruction, and are now enjoying health, happiness, and harmonious activity.
Onpage 291of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the textbook of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy states: "Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of 'the mind of the Lord,' as the Scripture says." It is evident from this that a right concept of man as the idea of God, divine Mind, must be gained in order to enjoy harmony. The Scriptures explicitly state that God's work is spiritual, finished, and "very good." Throughout the inspired Word mortals are commanded to turn away from the contemplation of things material and to behold the spiritual ideas of God, which reveal the true nature of man as God's likeness. Spiritual ideas, emanating from divine Mind, define the character of man and sustain his being under all circumstances. They are the "angels of God" which are available to humanity, and which guide, guard, and govern, and when apprehended and trusted, ensure clear thinking, safety, and deliverance from all evil. If man were material, his identity would not be Godlike; he would be a distinct creation, apart from God. Again, if man were both material and spiritual, he would be a contradiction, for matter and Spirit are opposites and cannot combine. Such theories are untenable, and their acceptance through the teachings of scholastic theology has plunged mankind into the darkness of dogma, where sin, disease, discord, and death have thrived, and man's real existence, the consciousness of spiritual, harmonious being—the kingdom of heaven— has been obscured.
According to human belief many causes, supposedly beyond control, are responsible for the woes of humanity. Sin, physical laws, heredity, material conditions, climate, environment, force of circumstances, and so on, are supposed to produce impairment, illness, estrangement, discord, failure, loss, and other inharmonious conditions. Hence, mortals continue to seek and struggle for health, harmony, and freedom, and this struggle elicits the very best efforts that human skill and invention are able to bring to bear upon these baffling conditions. But the human mind is incapable of providing a real remedy for its ills. Material means cannot correct discordant effects produced by so-called material causes. To seekers in the realm of matter, unawakened to their priceless inheritance of spiritual blessedness and freedom as children of God, the kingdom of heaven is apparently far off. But Jesus declared it to be "nigh," and revealed it to all who sought him for this precious enlightenment. His inspiring words, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," glow with wondrous meaning in the revealed light of Christian Science. Interpreting and demonstrating true Christianity, Christian Science gathers within its holy embrace all who mourn—the discouraged, the helpless and hopeless, even the outcasts—those for whom every material means and human agency has failed in their search for physical, mental, and moral freedom. It speaks to them in these consoling words of Jesus: "Fear not,... for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
The kingdom of God reveals the inexhaustible riches of infinite Love. Within its sacred precincts there is no place for "any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." In this realm of reality no regrets, disappointments, taunting remembrances of past failures, or sinful suggestions enter to harass the loved of Love. The sanctuary of Spirit, where all creation abides and abounds, includes no supposition of matter, or evil, and in this holy habitation, where the children of God perpetually live, disease, discord, and death are utterly unknown. It is not impossible or too transcendental for the real sense of being, unfolded through divine Science, to dawn upon human consciousness as a present experience, for this is the "Father's good pleasure."
Whence comes the power or influence that would condemn His children to mortality and extinction? Where is the origin of the opposer of God's pre-eminence and the undoer of His perfect work? In what domain does the reign of unrighteousness flourish? Surely the all-knowing Mind would be cognizant of even the assumption of the claims of evil, if such really existed. If matter with its multitudinous ramifications were actual, it would have to derive its power from and operate in the very ' presence of omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Life, Truth, and Love. But man, beloved of the Father, is conscious of his eternal coexistence with infinite Mind, and is therefore forever apart from every claim of mortality. Our Master declared, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." This absolutely true statement points the way of deliverance to every pilgrim on earth believing in the reality of matter. With clarion voice it calls upon all to reject discordant physical sense impressions from without and all erroneous thoughts from within, and bids them look heavenward for divine Mind's unfoldment of reality. It says to those ambitious for power, place, and worldly achievements, to those seeking personal pleasures and placing their dependence upon material possessions: Be not deceived by material sense, which has no real origin, substance, or life, and can offer nothing but the temporal, superficial, and unreal; for the kingdom of God, everlasting good, including all real health, happiness, and peace, is already at hand, awaiting acceptance.
But why are mortals so disinclined to welcome this heavenly state? The answer is, because the self-seeking pride of mortal mind continues its delusions, and the individual is not ready to exchange the belief of human personality for his God-bestowed birthright and the power of right accomplishment which accompanies it. The superficial, self-willed, and impatient would take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and suffer inevitable defeat, while the humble, discerning the demands of divine Principle, Love, are willing, even glad, to yield to its blessed precepts and enjoy peace, even through tribulation. No clearer indication of the coming of the Christly kingdom can there be than in the patient, loving, and confident manner in which Christian Scientists meet the daily issues of human experience. Thus heaven comes to earth, and right human endeavor is hallowed.
In "Miscellaneous Writings"(p. 154) our divinely appointed Leader has written, "It is the purpose of divine Love to resurrect the understanding, and the kingdom of God, the reign of harmony already within us." This kingdom within cannot be affected by so-called outward conditions; neither can it be even temporarily obscured or lost. Its permanency is established by the King of kings, whose "kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and [whose] dominion endureth throughout all generations."
