He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Matthew 13:11

11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

Mark 4:11

And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Luke 8:10

The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of his dear Son are phrases used in the Bible to describe the domain of God’s reign. All three terms are referring to the same thing, but may be referring to different aspects of portions of the whole.

If I am visiting the country of Germany and someone asks me where I am from, I tell them, “The United States.”

If I am visiting the state of California and someone asks me where I live, I tell them, “Georgia.”

If I am visiting Savannah, Georgia and someone asks me where I live, I tell them, “Outside the city of Good Hope.”

All three of my responses are different but true. The reason this is possible is because Good Hope is in Georgia, and Georgia is in the United States. Each location is a subset of a larger location.

And so it is with the kingdom heaven in the Bible.

Sometimes the Bible uses the term kingdom of heaven and is referring to the place where God resides above all the universe. Sometimes it is referring to the realm of heaven where the souls of departed saints have gone. Sometimes it is referring to the visual manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth which is the church. All of these, and others, are true because all of these locations are the dominion of God!

Therefore, there can be places called the kingdom of God that can only be entered by the power of God while there are other places called the kingdom into which the children of God must press to enter.

When we read about the kingdom of heaven in the parables, or in other places, it is important to understand that all the places being described are the dominion of God but may be located in different places.