Belonging Elsewhere

"...but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself." Philippians 3:20-21 HCSB

(Back to blogging and back to study. My husband is home and doing well, and I am rested from begin away from home so many days. So now I am back to our time. Thank you for praying for us as you read. The Lord is so very faithful).

The apostle Paul has just explained the characteristic of what we would call "worldly Christians." They hold on to the name of Christ, but do not have a life-style of discipline in His Spirit. Their bodies demand their adoration. Their spirit is not taking instructions from the Holy Spirit inside, so they are trapped in the prison of very worldly thoughts and living. This is solved in our lives by a willingness to allow Him to transform our thinking by learning to think with Him in and through His Word.

Now Paul turns to what he calls "spiritual people" in 1 Corinthians 3:1. "But our citizenship is in heaven..." Most translations use "citizenship" in this passage. However, it can also be translated "a state," or "a commonwealth." It defines a form of government. So the sense is that as Christians we are under an entirely different form of government than the world.

If I were to travel to another country, I would need to learn the customs, language and the social norms of that country. In the language of Colossians 1:13-14

"He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

So we have a different belonging place - hence "citizenship." We do not belong here on earth, this is not our home. Now I think every believer would agree with that, however, there is a calling for us to recognize this on a deeper level and begin to re-arrange our thoughts and our behaviors in ways to enable the glory of Jesus to be seen through our persons. Our heart is given to One who has placed us in His very self, from the point of reigning on the right hand of the Father. We have much in this country to learn and to embrace; another language, another food, another identity, etc....

Thank you Lord for allowing us to see the un-see-able, feel the un-feel-able and to know the un-knowable in your heart and from your point of view. What glory! What vision! May we be willing to see and willing to embrace.