Citizenship

Where is your citizenship? As Americans we know we are citizens of this great country, and that entitles us to the full rights that all Americans enjoy. The Constitution and Bill of Rights recognize that we are all created equal, and we are endowed with these inalienable rights by our sovereign God, and those rights have been protected by every person who has worn the uniform over the years. We are also residents of our state and most local municipalities. 

For the Christian, though, we have dual citizenship. We are very much American citizens, and yet our citizenship is simultaneously in heaven. In Philippians 3:20-21 Paul wrote, ““But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

The Greek word for citizenship (conversation in the KJV) is unique and appears only hear in the Bible. The word refers to the locality where one’s name is listed among the official register of citizens. In other words, there is a place somewhere where each person’s vital records are on file; birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage licenses are stored in a building somewhere, and that place is where the person is an official citizen. This was a great analogy for Paul to use for the Philippians for one important reason: Rome had adopted Philippi as an official Roman province. 

Because of its location Philippi was prime real estate, and it generated a lot of tax revenue for the Roman Empire. The famous Roman Road called the Ignation Way ran through Philippi, and traders from around the world came through to do business. Rome was so grateful for the profits that they made the Philippians official Roman citizens, giving them the full rights of those born in Rome, and they didn’t even have to pay taxes. 

So go back to Paul’s analogy. The Philippians lived in Philippi, but their names were written down in Rome. They lived in one place, but their citizenship was in another. The same is true for Christians. We live here, but our names are written down in heaven (Luke 10:20). We live on earth, but we have the full rights of those who already live in heaven. We are just strangers and pilgrims passing through this land on our way to heaven. In the meantime, we can go boldly before the throne of the King of Heaven while our mansion is being prepared just over the hilltop. When we get there, Paul said, we will get to exchange these earthly bodies for ones that match our new heavenly residence. 

I am proud to be an American, and am thankful for the ones who died to give these rights to me. But I am ecstatic that I am a Christian, and am thankful for the one who died—my Lord Jesus Christ—to make my salvation possible. Where is your citizenship? Is your name written down in heaven? 

Before and After Sin

I had wanted to visit the Ark Encounter since it opened in 2016, and we finally had the opportunity to go. The life-sized recreation of Noah’s ark is located in Williamstown, Kentucky, with its sister attraction, the Creation Museum, just down the road in nearby Petersburg. We bought combo passes and went to both places in one day. 

To drive home the idea of how the world was in its infancy, both places had beautiful gardens as part of the attractions. Visitors get a Garden of Eden feel as they meander through parks, and they are constantly reminded of how things were before sin. In the Bible’s first book it tells us that sin led to the fall, and ultimately to the flood recorded in Genesis 6-8. The landscaping was breathtaking, and as someone who wishes his thumb were greener, I enjoyed the detail in each square foot. After a little bit of enjoying, however, I began to sneeze. Then my eyes began to water. Then my nose was running. Soon my face broke out and I was a mess, forced to buy Claritin before my trip was ruined. 

That experience hit me in more ways than one. I was struck by a powerful object lesson. There I was trying to picture the world before sin, and ultimately what it will look like after sin, but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because of my allergies. The wonderful irony is that allergies are a result of sin and the curse, so I couldn’t enjoy those thoughts for long before I was brought back to the reality of this fallen world. Every thing that ever goes wrong has sin as it root. We have not God to blame, but Adam. But hallelujah, we have the Last Adam, Christ Jesus, to thank for giving us victory over sin, and in the future victory over its full effect! 

Instead of trying to think back to how nice it would have been before sin, we can look forward to how nice it will be after sin. In the Bible’s last book it gives us a glimpse of this anticipated state: heaven comes to earth, Jesus sits on the throne, and we live with Him in bliss for eternity. Whenever things don’t go your way, just remind yourself of what you have to look forward to if you belong to the Lord.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has in store for those who love Him.”

I Corinthians 2:9

The Great Exchange

I just turned 32 a few weeks ago, and recently I have become keenly aware of the difference between being in my twenties and my thirties. Any athletic activity takes a heavy toll on me, and checkers is the only game I can play without getting winded. Many of you are older than I am, and you are looking forward to receiving your glorified body—one that doesn’t creak and crack when you stand up, and that has no artificial parts. We have this promise to look forward to:

“He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body…(Philippians 3:21)”

Let that thought sink in. The same kind of body that will be good enough for Jesus for all eternity will also be what we receive. Jesus will take these old, vile bodies, and exchange them for a glorious body like His. That truly is a great exchange, but it is only possible because of an even better exchange that already took place.

Jesus is the one who knew no sin, yet became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are the ones who “have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” And yet, if we choose to put our full trust in the work of Jesus on the cross, God is willing to clothe us in the righteousness of Jesus.

Jesus, who is righteous, took off His righteousness and put on our sin. We, who are unrighteous, can take off our sin and put on the righteousness of Jesus (Romans 13:14). When I die I will go to heaven, not because of anything righteous I have done, because that is just filthy rags in God’s sight. When God looks at me He sees Jesus’ righteousness, because when He looked at Jesus on the cross He saw my sin.

If you want to exchange your vile body for a glorious one, you must first exchange your sin for Jesus’ righteousness.

Getting Older

I recently turned 30 years old, and while that thought never bothered me, it seems that I noticed an immediate difference.

A week after my birthday I left for a mission trip to Haiti. While there I got to play football with some American Division I athletes, and basketball with Haiti’s Olympic Junior National (U19) Team. Whether getting burned for deep touchdown passes or being the last person down the court on a “fast” break, it was occurring to me that I am not in college any more. It didn’t help that I found myself about 65 lbs. over my college weight.

(me playing in Haiti)

Getting older doesn’t bother me, but some of the aches and pains associated with it does (for the record, I’m now 15 lbs. under my Haiti weight). I realize that 30 is still young, and eventually the aches and pains will be more frequent and won’t be associated with pretending I can still keep up with college kids.  

Paul encouraged the Philippian believers by letting them know that their physical bodies would soon be replaced with something far better. He said Jesus, “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself (3:21).”

There is only so much I can do to help myself. And let’s face it, ice cream still holds more appeal than getting in shape does. But when my time on earth is finished, Jesus Christ will transform my body into one like His post-resurrection body. That is something all believers can look forward to.

Bad News

Does anyone like bad news?

And yet that is the majority of the news we hear. Pick up a newspaper or turn on the nightly newscast and it is car wrecks, murders, missing persons, and political scandals. If there is a little good news, it is usually the last story or on the last page.

We don’t like to hear bad news, and we certainly don’t like to receive bad news about our own lives, but when we hear so much bad news we can have a tendency to become fearful of it.

But in Psalm 112, speaking about the man who fears the Lord, the Bible says that “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord (v.7).”

How is it possible to not fear bad news? As a believer (whose heart is firm, trusting in the Lord) I know that no matter what happens to me in this life, God either authored it or allowed it. Whatever happens to me happens under God’s sovereignty, so there is nothing I can do about it anyway; why worry about that which I cannot control?

I also should not worry because if some bad news does befall me, even to the point of death, I am reminded that heaven is my final destination. Leaving this world, for a Christian, is a good thing.

According to this verse we will fear something, either bad news or the Lord. To fear the Lord means to have a holy respect for Him (more about this here).

Are you afraid of bad news, or is your heart firm in the Lord?  

Imagine

I have a wild imagination. I can be watching a basketball game on TV, and without realizing it, I will begin to daydream about being on the court. Sometimes I even daydream while people are talking to me. Someone can be in my office telling me something very important, and in my mind I am riding a mule through the Grand Canyon.

But even with an imagination that can sometimes dream up big things, I cannot imagine what heaven will be like. And it is not from a lack of trying. I have read the verses in Scripture about streets of gold, the throne room, and the angelic beings, but I have trouble wrapping my mind around the concept. I think the best Bible verse to describe heaven is the one that doesn’t try to describe it at all.

I Corinthians 2:9 says, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

One commentator paraphrased this verse by saying that “no one can imagine what heaven will be like.” God loves us so much that He is preparing the most outstanding place for us.

In John 14:3 Jesus says that He is preparing this place for us so that we can be with Him. I love this idea. Heaven is not about a beautiful home with a lot of square feet; it is about closeness with Jesus. The Creator of the universe wants to live with me forever.

Now that is hard to imagine.