Throughout the Bible from the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis to the description of the holy city given in Revelation, we find frequent reference to and description of God's kingdom, or the kingdom of heaven. For centuries men have been taught that the account in the first chapter of Genesis refers to the creation of the material world, and that the holy city, as described in Revelation, is a place called heaven in some remote, unknown locality where mortals go after they have passed through the transition called death.
How helpful, satisfying, and enlightening it is to learn through the study of Christian Science that God's creation is not material, and that God's kingdom is not some faraway realm known as heaven, but that it is the spiritual realm, in which we live here and now. When through Christian Science we learn that in reality we are God's children, dwelling eternally in God's kingdom, we find ourselves in a happy, harmonious, and loving state of thought which brings into our experience peace, health, and abundance—heaven. If, however, we think of ourselves as living only in matter, seeking happiness, health, and supply through material channels, we find we are dwelling in a state of unhappiness, fear, sickness, and lack.
The Bible and the writings of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, give beautiful accounts of this kingdom of God and urge all who follow the Christ, Truth, to seek this heavenly habitation. God said to Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." And from the time of Abraham onward the Old Testament gives eloquent and inspiring descriptions of the promised land. Especially does the prophet Isaiah give ardent accounts of the kingdom of God, speaking of it always as a land of beauty, abundance, joy, and health. To his clear perception of the things of Spirit, the spiritual universe was as real and tangible as the material universe seems to the material senses. When Jesus was asked by the Pharisees regarding the kingdom of God, and when it would come, he answered plainly, "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."
