Dual Citizens

Image credit

NOTE: This is Day Four of the devotional guide (Volume 1, Issue 2) of our church, Filinvest Community Christian Fellowship, for the message last Sunday, March 8, on “Know How Much You Are Worth Part 1” (“Significance” series, a verse-by-verse study of the book of Ephesians). Erratum: I have posted Day Five before Day Four. My apologies for the confusion.

Here in the Philippines, we have what we call “dual citizenship.” (Once we reach 60 years old, we get a senior citizen’s ID. We become what people jokingly refer to as “dual citizens.” But that is not the dual citizenship we are talking about here.) Dual citizens are those “natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Filipino citizenship through naturalization in a foreign country, [who are given] the opportunity to retain or re-acquire their Filipino citizenship.” (From the Commission on Filipinos Overseas website)

Image credit

But there is another dual citizenship that the Bible talks about. The apostle Paul wrote, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20. Emphasis added) Believers are both citizens in their respective countries and our fellow citizens in heaven. 

Image credit

According to Ephesians 2:19, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (emphasis added). 
As citizens of God’s heavenly dominion, Christians hold all the rights and privileges that citizenship grants, even while they are living in the “foreign” and sometimes hostile land of earth. Our true life is in the supernatural, in the heavenly places. [1]
Also, note where Paul said our spiritual blessings are located: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3. Emphasis added.) Its location is interesting “because Ephesus was considered the bank of Asia… the great temple of Diana, was in Ephesus, and was not only a center for idolatrous worship, but also a depository for wealth.” [2] Ancient people put their wealth in temples so that thieves would not rob it for fear of the gods. 

An artist's conception of the Temple of Artemis. Image credit

In contrast, our spiritual treasures are eternally secure because it’s with the Lord in His heavenly domain. No one can take it away from us! These blessings are not temporal but we possess them not only here but also in eternity. Thus, we are commanded, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1) For example, if we are employers, we should treat our employees right because, “They have the same Master in heaven that you do, and he doesn’t have any favorites.” (Ephesians 6:9c, CEV) We are to conduct our lives here on earth with heaven in our minds. 

Image credit

Significant Step
We are not mere citizens of heaven. According to 2 Corinthians 5:20, “we are ambassadors for Christ”. As His ambassadors, how can we represent the Lord to the world through our works and words? To you, what does it mean “to live on earth with heaven in mind”?

[1] John F. MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Ephesians (IL: Moody Bible Institute, 1986. Reprinted in the Philippines by CGM, 1989), 9, Emphasis added.

[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Expository Commentary (IL: Victor Books, 1999). Electronic Edition. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Ubus-ubos Biyaya, Bukas Nakatunganga”

Image
That’s what my mother always told us when we were still kids. (Translation: “You spend everything today, you will have nothing tomorrow.” ) Image source: So, What's New ? Dionie did just that. Last April 2008, he won PHP14,125,032 in the Lotto 6/42 draw. Excitedly, he “lived the life of a millionaire, something he had been longing to experience. He lived in a P4-million house in a posh subdivision, drove around in a sports utility vehicle [which he bought the very same day he claimed his prize] , and gave goodwill money, ranging P1,000 to P 850,000, to relatives and friends. He also gambled daily, womanized, and went on regular drinking sprees.” (Source: Manila Bulletin ) He estimated that he squandered a minimum of P100,000 almost every day. He also lent money even to people he did not really know. “I just gave them and told them not to pay me back.” (Ibid) His bank had to issue him a special card so he can withdraw huge amounts of money quickly from the automated teller m
Read more

God Knows Judas Not Pay

In the National Geographic Magazine (May 2006 issue), in its cover story, The Judas Gospel , Professor Eliane Pagels of Princeton University claimed that the so-called gospel of Judas “ changes the history of early Christianity. ” Even UP Professor Randy David took notice of the Judas Gospel: “Strictly from a sociological standpoint, I think the discovery of the Gospel of Judas makes Christianity a far more interesting religion than what centuries of metaphysical theology has made of it.” (A Gospel for the Postmodern, Phil. Daily Inquirer, April 16, 2006) That’s why I spoke in our Young Pro Fellowship a few days ago on God Knows Judas Not Pay (A Biblical Response on the Judas Gospel). I believe opportunities like this hype on the Judas Gospel or the Da Vinci Code opens a door for us to share the true Gospel. For those who did not attend last Thursday, let me share briefly why we reject the Judas gospel. I came up with the acronym J-U-D-A-S. J udas was portrayed as a traitor in the Bibl
Read more

“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!”

Image
Forty years ago, this expression became known as a description of blind obedience.   Source: Los Angeles Times On November 18, 1978, members of Peoples Temple, a cult group in Guyana, drank Kool-Aid drink laced with cyanide to commit a mass suicide “at the behest of their charismatic but paranoid leader, Jim Jones”. [1] According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica , “The death toll exceeded 900, including some 300 age 17 and under, making the incident one of the largest mass deaths in American history. ”  [2]  What made those people submit to such atrocity? According to Stella Morabito, a senior contributor to The Federalist online magazine, Peoples Temple is “Exhibit A… [of]  the dangers of the cult mindset or how vulnerable all people are to cult tactics.”  [3] She pointed out that, Coercive persuasion has immense power to shape and twist the human mind.  …[Jones’] utopian preaching of a humane world in which all lived happily in harmony resonated with the
Read more