What did Jesus mean when He said 'the kingdom is within you'?
When Jesus said the kingdom is within you, He meant that being part of the coming literal, physical, political kingdom requires an inner spiritual relationship with God. He was not describing an ethereal, invisible kingdom; He was showing that being born again is necessary to see that kingdom of heaven, which will be set up on earth at His return.
Les explains that all through Scripture there is only one kingdom—the kingdom Christ will set up on earth when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus' statement that the kingdom is within you does not mean an invisible, ethereal kingdom. Rather, to become part of that literal, physical, political kingdom that is coming on earth, a person must have an inner spiritual relationship with God. This is what Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus that unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. That kingdom of heaven will be the kingdom on earth; it is the same kingdom. During the church age, Scripture still points to this. John the Baptist's message was that the kingdom of heaven was at hand because Jesus was just around the corner, about to begin His earthly ministry; He is the essence of the kingdom. The kingdom is spiritual, physical, and political, and it will come to fruition when Christ returns and sets it up on the earth.