Being A Citizen of the Kingdom of Christ.

Philippians 1:27 “Let your manner of citizenship be worthy of the Gospel.”

We have a permanent citizenship in heaven through Christ. This is a citizenship that means we are not passing through or allowed to stay—we are not immigrants. We, right now, have all the benefits and protections in Christ our King and every blessing that comes under the power of God in that kingdom as those who have been given the right to be sons and daughters of God. There is a homeland—it is our homeland now, and not yet. We eagerly await the day of consummation.

The kingdom is established in the cross of Christ where victory was gained over every power of evil and death in the whole of creation. We use the thoughts of our heavenly citizenship to remind us that we are not of this world, that there is an eternity, that we are currently exiled in a foreign land, that one day the fullness of the kingdom will be realized, that one day we will only dwell in all perfection with true citizens of the heavenly kingdom. We use the thoughts of our heavenly citizenship to realize that it is the only citizenship of true hope and destiny, and we desire greatly for others to leave the scaffolding of this world and enter the real building, the great city of God, the everlasting people of God.

We remind ourselves of the qualities of the kingdom that we are to enjoy and represent. Eternality, power, beauty, righteousness, victory, grace, mercy, justice, holiness, love, joy, peace—the very character of the King of the kingdom. We remind ourselves that even though we are born with a citizenship certificate (our national birth certificates) in this world, that our entry into heavenly citizenship is also by birth—we must be born again. This is the message we seek to take into this world that our fellow humans might be born into a new hope in Christ.