Because Jesus said His Kingdom isn't "of this world," many assume that only Heaven is worthy of being pursued, and that the Earth should be forever viewed as an enemy of God's Kingdom. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus didn't say the Earth itself was unworthy or ungodly; He simply stated that His Kingdom wasn't "of this world." What's more, the phrase "of this world" really just means it's not "from this world." Saying it's not "of" implies an inherent incompatibility between Earth and this other place; but saying it's not "from" just lets us know it didn't originate on Earth but instead comes from somewhere else.

So, while one word-of-leads us to the traditional assumption that we need to leave here to go where Jesus is, the other word-from-lets us know that it came from another place and is now taking up residence as a new frontier of God's expanding Empire.

This is the story of that new frontier and of that expanding Empire.