Resident Aliens

June 1, 2016

Resident Aliens

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

Philippians 3:20

In the closing verses of Chapter 3, Paul again refers to his vision of the future which kept Paul fighting the good fight: the victorious return of Christ Jesus the King. This vision was particularly conspicuous in Philippi which was a Roman colony and where citizenship in Rome was their paramount cultural value. In the first two chapters, Paul modeled how his allegiance to Christ Jesus called him to value the ways of Christ over and above his Roman citizenship. Paul powerfully asserts his point: “we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control” (Philippians 3:20-21).

When Paul says we are citizens of heaven, he is not saying heaven is our home. He is saying our churches are colonies of our King, Christ Jesus. As we are taught to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, the mission of our colonies is to build for the Kingdom of God so that God’s will is fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven. As resident aliens we are laboring for our Master here until he comes in Final Victory to fully establish his reign on earth.

Many Christians, when reciting the Apostles’ Creed, are unsure of the meaning of the phrase, “I believe in the resurrection of the body,” and assume it must be referring to the resurrection of Jesus. Paul’s assertion in Philippians 3:21 should clear up any confusion: “He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.” Paul firmly believed that all of the followers of Jesus who have died will be resurrected and receive glorious bodies like Jesus’ own when our Savior returns in glory. Since we have been promised such a glorious future, let us follow Paul’s example and be co-laborers for Christ, working for our Master here until he comes in Final Victory to fully establish his reign on earth.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.