The Son became flesh and walk the earth, then he was seen preaching and demonstrating the kingdom—he was just about the kingdom. And when it was time to declare why he came he didn’t say, ‘I came for the kingdom’, rather he said, ‘I came to give life and to give it abundantly’. That surprising, what’s the relationship between life and the kingdom? Why was he busy doing kingdom work yet saying he came to give life? Well, that’s because the kingdom is the reign of life. Wherever you find life reigning, that’s the kingdom in demonstration. Or I can put it this way, the kingdom is in the life, it exists in the life. This is why Jesus said he came to give life, because by releasing life on earth, that is how he brings down the kingdom of heaven on earth. The kingdom is in the life, and the more life is released on earth, the more you will see the kingdom of heaven in manifestation on earth.

“I have come that they may have life, and have it fully.” (John 10:10).

So we can now understand why Jesus made this statement. The fullness of the kingdom would be manifested where there is fullness of life. To have the fullness of the kingdom manifesting on earth, the earth must be fully filled with life. But Jesus' plan is to first of all get us filled with life, and then through us he would begin to fill other things with life.

“Which is his [Christ’s] body, the fullness of him who fills all things.” (Eph 1:23).
He that descended is the same that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Eph 4:10).

His plan is to have all things (the entire earth) filled with life, because that is the only way the fullness of the kingdom would be manifested on earth. But to do that he must have a body that is the fullness of the life, and with this body he would begin to fill all things (the entire earth) with the life. Christ is the life, and he wants to have a body that would be the fullness of that life. That body must be the fullness of the life, it has to become the fullness of the life, for that is the plan. He would not rest till his body becomes the fullness of the life. “I have come that they may have life, and have it fully.” (John 10:10). This is what he planned to do in this age, his first coming is so he could have a body fully filled with life. While his second coming is for the entire universe to be fully filled with life, as death would be completely cast away.

"After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power... And the last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1Cor 15:24, 26).

What happens when something is fully filled with life? Yes, the fullness of the kingdom would be manifested on that thing. So when we have a body fully filled with life, that means the fullness of the kingdom would be manifested in that body. The body becomes a community where the fullness of heaven finds expression. Just take some time to imagine how that would look like—a community where the kingdom of heaven is in full expression. Angels and heavenly creature would be seen moving about in that community, the supernatural laws of heaven would be in full effect. The things going on in that community would be beyond the earthly realm, for it has been completely taken over by heaven.

In the books of the gospel we see how greatly the Kingdom of heaven was manifesting in Jesus's life. I mean, supernatural healing, supernatural multiplication of food, money from a fish mouth, and acts that defies the laws of physics, such as walking on water. This man was existing in another reality, now imagine what happens as this man becomes a community. And rather than having heaven manifesting in the life of a single person, we then have it manifesting in a whole community. Imagine what it would be like to be in that kind of community where the food miraculously multiples, people are walking on water and defying the laws of physics, and supernatural healing is happening everywhere. Imagine existing among a people who could only express love, joy, peace, wisdom and all the nature of this loving God. Imagine being surrounded by a body of believers who have attained the fullness of life.

This is what Jesus wants to achieve in this age, to have a body who is the fullness of him (life). Everything he is doing in this age is to bring his body to the fullness of life, for that is what the body is, she is the fullness of him, she is not a mature body until she becomes the fullness of him. When the body comes to maturity she becomes the fullness of the life (Christ).

“He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 10-13).

First that scripture says the reason why Jesus came to earth, descended even further into the grave, only to ascend again above all things is so he might fill the whole universe. And rather than going further to explain how he would fill the universe, that scripture focuses on how he had arranged to get his body filled to fullness. This is because the filling to fullness of the universe is met for his second coming, but the filling of his body is a job for this age. And in order to get this job done he had given us apostles, prophets, evangelists and the rest, so that they can equip the body in order for her to be mature, attaining the fullness of the life (Christ). When this happens then we would have the Kingdom of heaven in full manifestation among the body of Christ. Anybody who walks into the body would see heaven in full manifestation on earth. In fact, it would feel like walking into heaven, as the whole place would be filled with the supernatural, accompanied by love, joy, peace and holiness.

Do you see how glorious it would be when we as a community of believers grow in the fullness of the life? By pursuing this growth in life we are pursuing the manifestation of heaven on earth, because the more we grow in the life, the more heaven would manifest in our midst. And this is what we are called to do—to pursue life—for Jesus came that we might have life abundantly and fully. This is what we should put all our effort in doing, we should never rest or settle till we attain the fullness of life.