Citizens Belong
For our citizenship is in Heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
who will transform the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of his glory,
by the exertion of the power that he has
even to subject all things to himself. - Philippians 3:20,21 (NASB)
Read that again!
What Jesus accomplished on the cross can be described in many ways. One which excites the imagination in a special way is his winning for us a new citizenship.
What does citizenship mean? If you are an American citizen, you belong here. Many people would like to belong in the United States. Some wait long years for the privilege. Some pay vast sums of money to come here illegally and hope they are never found out. In most countries, those who are not citizens face the possibility that at any time some officer of the law may come and ask for their papers. If those papers are not in order they may face expulsion. Citizens never face such a threat.
Citizens belong.
Have you fully realized that you belong in Heaven? That you are a citizen there? Jesus has arranged your papers. The qualifications for your belonging have been taken care of. He has “made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12) and also “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).
Many citizens of this country could not satisfy the requirements to get in if they had not been born here; how could we imagine that we could meet the standards of Heaven on our own?
The US requires “no criminal record;” Heaven requires perfection. Far short of that, we had a criminal record. But Jesus “canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). One translation says he “blotted out the writing against us.” The “expunging” of a criminal record is the equivalent here, and it is rare.
You have all seen places which have dress codes: limitations on who can enter. Along the boardwalks in shore resorts you often see stores with signs that say “No bare feet;” they don't want people tracking in sand from the beaches. In fancier places coat and tie may be needed. To get into Heaven, a robe of righteousness is needed, and our best is filthy rags.
But Jesus was made sin for us, “he who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Coriinthians 5:21). That is just a part of what he accomplished for us on the cross. He did it by the “exertion of the power that he has” (Philippians 3:21). His love put that power to work for us, and now we belong.
Our citizenship is in Heaven.
Meditate:
Philippians 3:20,21
Don Barnhouse email circa 2015
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