If You Could Live Anywhere in the World…
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? For me, I am living where I want to be. I love Texas! I love everything from its rich history to its delicious BBQ. I have never lived anywhere else, but I know if life ever moved me away, Texas is where my heart will always be. You could take the me out of Texas but you could never take Texas out of me!
Luckily, I am a citizen of Texas and of the United States of America, but according to Philippians 3:20 I am also a citizen of heaven. What does it mean that I am a citizen of heaven? This does not mean simply that we get to go to heaven after we die. Rather, it means that we are to live on this earth according to the values of heaven. We are committed to the agenda of the one who is sovereign in heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords. In all we do, we are to seek God’s justice and mercy, for God’s purposes and glory.
For the longest time I understood heaven as mainly a place we experience after death. I have no doubt that this is part of what it means to be a citizen of heaven. But, from a biblical perspective, heavenly citizenship is not just about the afterlife. It’s also about how we live on this earth in our cities and countries, companies and churches. As citizens of heaven we do not only look towards a day where we live in paradise but we strive to make that paradise a reality here on earth. It is in the Lord’s prayer that we pray every Sunday here at Lake Cities, “may you kingdom here on Earth as it is in heaven.”
So as citizens of heaven we have a responsibility to commit ourselves to seek God’s justice and mercy here in this world because it is what we expect in the afterlife. Think about it this way, if you truly desired to live somewhere but couldn’t, wouldn’t do whatever was in your ability to make that happen where you are at now? So lets get to work of making heaven on earth a reality! Join us this Sunday as we conclude our worship series, “Who Am I?” and discover that we are citizens of heaven!
In God’s grip,
Pastor Chuck Church
