When we try to understand the kingdom of God, it's a tough concept for a lot of people today, for modern folks, if you will, because very few of us have ever lived in a kingdom. And it's especially difficult if you are in a country that once had a king and you got rid of the king, because that has negative connotations; we don't want kings. When we do think about kingdom, oftentimes, it's geographic. We think of the boundaries, the national boundaries that a king would oversee. And that, on one level, helps us understand the kingdom of God, but it really doesn't get to the heart of it all. At the root of a kingdom is the relationship between a king and his subjects. And wherever those subjects are, living in allegiance to the king, well, the king's rule extends to that place. So, when we think about the kingdom of God, it is everywhere that Christ's followers are, because they have an allegiance to the king. They are living under the authority of the king, and so they extend that influence of their king into the world every day. In one sense, it is geographic in that the entire creation comes under God's rule. But when we look at the New Testament and its relationship to us as believers, it's really about our relationship to Christ our King, our obedience to him. The old word would have been "fealty," that we have this relationship where we honor and respect and obey the king, and therefore, the king reigns and rules in our lives and where we are.