Let’s take a look at this scripture from Luke, where Jesus assimilates the Kingdom of God with the process of making bread.
“And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.””
Luke 13:20-21 ESV
http://bible.com/59/luk.13.20-21.esv
To get a full picture on what Jesus is getting at here, let’s consider how bread is made.
First, what is leaven? Trusty Google sidekick, help me out here:
So leaven is essentially yeast. It is an essential part in making bread. You cannot have good bread without leaven. You absolutely need a rising agent to give the bread a proper density. Without it, you’d have not much more than a baked rock.
That’s like life and the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom represents God’s fullness. It is the realm where God and His principles reside – the supernatural realm. The Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is the culmination of the work of salvation by Jesus. When Jesus came, the Kingdom came.
Jesus says that the Kingdom is like the rising agent that bread needs. Just like the yeast, the Kingdom is necessary in our lives to produce a good result.
I find it extremely interesting that Jesus is referred to as the Bread of life. And I think that He knew exactly what he was doing when he made this analogy to the Kingdom. Think about it:
- Jesus announced the Kingdom came when He came.
- The Kingdom of God represents leaven, or yeast.
- Yeast is inside of the bread to act as the agent for change.
- Jesus is the Bread of life.
Are you seeing it? Leaven in bread. The Kingdom in Jesus. The Kingdom of God was, and is, encompassed in Jesus.
Take it a step further. When you believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord over your life, you are saved, and Jesus himself lives within you.
When Jesus is in you, the Kingdom of God is in you.
So where is the Kingdom of God? It lives within you. He lives within you.