Philippians – Citizenship

Hi sweet friends! Sorry I’m late with our study today. My life has been a whirlwind and I haven’t had time to post. I know, as women, ya’ll can relate, but I’m still sorry I didn’t have today’s lesson in yesterday’s inbox!

We’re talking about citizenship today! We seldom think about the fact that we’re citizens of a specific country. We just are, because we we’re born that way.

When we lived in Costa Rica, we unsuccessfully tried several times to get citizenship there. Too much red tape and too many hoops to jump through. Every time we gathered most of the required paperwork together, the one or two things we were waiting for took too long and all the other documents would expire. It was a vicious circle that cost a lot of money and we were never able to get it all together at the same time.

So, we lived there under a Tourist Visa – which meant every three months, we had to leave the country for three days and then we could return. When we stayed beyond the three months (which we did a lot!), we always worried that we would be deported out of the country permanently.

When you’re not a citizen, you have no right to stay.

“But we are citizens of the state (commonwealth, homeland) which is in heaven, and from it also we earnestly and patiently await [the coming of] the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [as] Savior, Who will transform and fashion anew the body of our humiliation to conform to and be like the body of His glory and majesty, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself.” Philippians 3:20-21 AMP

Our citizenship in heaven is eternal. We were born into it when we were born again by the Living God. No paper work required!

1. Look up the word “citizenship” in Wikipedia or in an old fashioned encyclopedia and write out what it means.

2. A citizen has both rights and responsibilities. List some of both.

3. According to our text today (Philippians 3:20-21), what are we waiting for?

4. What is it that Jesus will do to us (the citizens of heaven) when He comes?

It’s funny how when we lived in Costa Rica, we couldn’t wait to get home! We loved living there. We knew what we were called to and we were so thankful for the sweet Costa Rican people!

But we knew it wasn’t home. We weren’t citizens there!

This world is not our home. We have a heavenly citizenship. No red tape, just red blood! The blood of Jesus Christ stamps our citizenship papers, “Approved.” Not because anything we’ve done, but because Jesus did everything necessary to make us citizens of heaven.

Sweet friends, life is tough! This world is getting more chaotic by the minute! But we aren’t citizens of this world. We’re citizens of heaven.

Today, I just want to encourage you with a word from the Word…

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) Romans 8:19-25 NLT

In a world that seems to be unravelling at the seams, how does this truth encourage your heart today?

I’d love to share part of my week with you. Click here to get your Bible study in your inbox. Or you can click the Google Feeder or the Networkedblogs link on the right hand side of my site.

© Stephanie Shott, 2011