Title : Our Citizenship is in Heaven
Scripture : Philippians 3, Romans 12, John 15, 1 John 2
Date : June 7, 2007
Last Updated : July 17, 2009
As a Christian, do you ever feel out of place in this world, like somehow you don't belong; because, everybody else has this whole completely different mindset and view on life?
Philippians 3: 18-20 (NIV)
For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Romans 12:2 (The Message)
Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
John 15:18-19 (The Message)
If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me [Jesus]. If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.
1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world -- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does -- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (CEV)
Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings that someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever. While we are here on earth, we sigh because we want to live in that heavenly home. We want to put it on like clothes and not be naked. These tents we now live in are like a heavy burden, and we groan. But we don't do this just because we want to leave these bodies that will die. It is because we want to change them for bodies that will never die. God is the one who makes all of this possible. He has given us his Spirit to make us certain that he will do it. So always be cheerful! As long as we are in these bodies, we are away from the Lord. But we live by faith, not by what we see. We should be cheerful, because we would rather leave these bodies and be at home with the Lord. But whether we are at home with the Lord or away from him, we still try our best to please him. After all, Christ will judge each of us for the good or the bad that we do while living in these bodies.
Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV)
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
When we were saved and born again, we were made new people. We are no longer of this world. We just live in it until our soul returns to God, or until Jesus comes back, whichever comes first. In the meantime, we are to keep our eyes on Jesus. "Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. " - Philippians 3:14. We are also here to be fishers of men. Just as we have been so graciously blessed to hear and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ, let us also share the Good News, so that others may come to know Christ. Though we are not of them, we must live among them, among the unsaved. Christ didn't only die for us, but for everyone. God says we our the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). What good can we bring to them if we are hidden? So as we live here on earth, don't get distracted by worldly things that will cause you to slip or stumble. Always place God first because He is the only one who will still stand by your side, even after the world has abandoned you and persecuted you.
Nowadays Christianity, holiness and righteousness are taking on less and less meaning by the people of today. It's as if "everyone's a Christian, everyone is going to heaven." But we who know the truth must grab hold of it and never let it go. Let us speak in truth and in love, so that people will know hear the truth about eternal life through Jesus Christ, so that they may taste God's salvation.
