To Christ Jesus the kingdom of God, the realm of all good, was always vividly at hand and included by man, God's emanation. This was a natural consequence of his conviction of God's categorical allness. And his conclusions were mightily practical.

Mrs. Eddy comments on this aspect of his teaching: "Jesus came announcing Truth, and saying not only 'the kingdom of God is at hand,' but 'the kingdom of God is within you.' Hence there is no sin, for God's kingdom is everywhere and supreme, and it follows that the human kingdom is nowhere, and must be unreal. Jesus taught and demonstrated the infinite as one, and not as two. He did not teach that there are two deities,—one infinite and the other finite; for that would be impossible." ^{No and Yes, pp. 35, 36;}

To realize—and to live the realization—that the infinite is one, and is spiritual and good, is to enjoy today the kingdom of God to which Christ Jesus referred. To think that the infinite is somehow accompanied by a finite experience and creation is to suffer, in some measure, the illusive opposite of the kingdom of God.

God's kingdom, being boundless, is the only kingdom there is. Jesus' consciousness of this metaphysical fact meant that his basic relationship was with Mind and its spiritual ideas rather than with a material world peopled by mortals, including numbers of invalids and wrongdoers, and sometimes visited by destructive nature. He did not believe in two mutually hostile realities—the spiritual and the material—nor did he believe in a perfect divine reality and an imperfect mortal one and then mentally try to get the perfect to override the faulty one. His uniquely clear comprehension that "God's kingdom is everywhere and supreme" explains his authority, and his ability to heal and adjust whatever seemed wrong and limited, when he was confronted by claims of a material realm and mortal beings. He knew that he was not faced by an incoherent material reality he had to harmonize mentally. His capacity to heal flowed from his unequaled saving spirituality, meriting the title Jesus the Christ.

The same capacity is accessible to us today through the eternal Christ, the demonstrable consciousness that the kingdom of God is at hand and within us—not merely imminent (near at hand) but immanent (indwelling).

The argument that there are two deities, two creators, two creations, is the claim of the anti-Christ, and is the source of every conceivable human woe. To recognize this imposition as totally groundless is of demonstrable value.

Mrs. Eddy also saw through the claim of dual realities, and her acknowledgment and demonstrations of the presence of only the impeccable kingdom of God confirm her as a most devoted, intelligent follower of Christ Jesus. Like the master Metaphysician, she refused to believe in mortal mind's apparent kingdom or presence, embracing suffering and disappointment, restriction and disease. She teaches us how to prove scientifically through Christian Science that the unchanging presence of Spirit, God, constitutes the only real existence.

Beginning to grasp that "God's kingdom is everywhere and supreme," we understand the significance of Christ Jesus' mission. We begin to be his true followers and in some degree to emulate his works. In our true being we're not mortals struggling out of a matter-world and reaching for God's kingdom outside us and far off. All that comprises God's realm—substance, love, joy, peace—is demonstrably present and concrete.

Jesus assured Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." ^{John 18:36;} To Jesus, there were no material realities to be believed in, threatened by enemies, defended, fought over, won or lost. Reality, to him, was entirely spiritual, beyond sensual grasp, and permanently divine in nature. The kingdom of God, Spirit, was Jesus' kingdom.

At this time of the year when we think especially of the birth of Christ Jesus and the implications for humanity of his career, we might best celebrate Christmas by rededicating ourselves to our citizenship in the kingdom of God. It is a special time to remind ourselves that infinite, spiritual good is the subjective reality of the divine Mind, which is ours now and always. This is a most spiritual way in which we can commemorate the nativity of Christ Jesus. Stressing the need for spiritual assessment of the significance of this season, Mrs. Eddy says, "In Christian Science, Christmas stands for the real, the absolute and eternal,—for the things of Spirit, not of matter." She adds, "The basis of Christmas is the rock, Christ Jesus; its fruits are inspiration and spiritual understanding of joy and rejoicing,—not because of tradition, usage, or corporeal pleasures, but because of fundamental and demonstrable truth, because of the heaven within us." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 260.}

Heaven within us! What an insight to enjoy at this season—or at any time! Our living from this point of view is the highest gift we can give our loved ones, and humanity, and is the most genuine evidence of our appreciation of the life of Christ Jesus.

Geoffrey J. Barratt