Citizenship in Heaven
Philippians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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text: Philippians 3:20-21
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
PRAY
Introduction: Where is home for you? Where do you really belong?
Illustration: Traveling to other countries
Maybe that’s not something you think about very often. But my guess is that it’s on your mind at least a little bit when you travel.
How many of you have traveled to another country? How about another state?
If you’re going to another country, you need a passport to show what country you belong to - where your homeland is. Even if you’re just going to another state, at least if you’re driving, you need some identification that says what state you belong to, where home is.
I’ve had a decent amount of opportunities to travel outside of the U.S., and I’ve noted that there’s a difference between a short trip to another country and an extended visit.
When you’re going on a short trip, it’s easier to remember your homeland. If you’re only going to the other country (or state) for a week or two, you tend to keep in mind that this is not where you belong, and you’ll be back home soon.
But when you spend a long time and settle down in a different place, it’s easier to forget where you really belong. The other country or state starts to feel like home.
For example, when I took a trip to Israel with my Dad several years back, we were there for less than 2 weeks.
During that trip we had lots of amazing experiences, saw many biblical sites, and it was an amazing time. But it wasn’t home. Sarah wasn’t with me, and I knew I was just visiting and would be back home soon. The same thing was true of my trips to Peru, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and other trips I’ve taken.
But then Sarah and I raised support and went to Mexico as missionaries. We expected to spend the rest of our lives there (God had other plans!), so we settled down and as much as possible we made ourselves at home there. Mexico began to feel like home to us.
But it was not our real homeland. We still had U.S. Passports, and most of our friends and family were still back here. Other little details here and there would come up sometimes and remind us, Mexico is not our homeland.
Our Christian life is a little like that. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have a heavenly homeland. Our real home is in heaven, and that is the country to which we belong. This world is just a temporary home, a place we are visiting or traveling through on our way to our real home.
But sometimes we try to live like dual citizens. Dual citizenship means that you have a passport from 2 countries. Two separate countries that you belong to, where you have the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship.
Our oldest two were born in Mexico, and they have dual citizenship. They’re citizens of both Mexico and the U.S. As long as they maintain dual citizenship, they can move back and forth freely whenever they want - they belong to both countries.
Sometimes we act like we belong here, to this world, even though we know that heaven is our real home. We want to settle down here and enjoy the rights and privileges of belonging to this world, while also enjoying the benefits of belonging to heaven.
Paul is telling us here, that is not the right way to think and act. If we belong to Jesus Christ, then this world is not our home - heaven is.
We must live with this truth in mind. And this truth of our heavenly citizenship keeps our focus on our heavenly King and the hope of eternal life with Him.
Background:
The word translated “citizenship” in v. 20 means commonwealth or state; we could translate that phrase, Heaven is our homeland. Heaven is the land that we belong to.
This language was especially appropriate for the believers at Philippi, because Philippi was a Roman colony, and its inhabitants enjoyed Roman citizenship, which was a prized privilege in those days. Paul also had Roman citizenship.
This was something they could all relate to. But Paul wants them to know that as great as their Roman citizenship is, it pales in comparison with the value of their real citizenship, which is in heaven. Grant Osborne says in his commentary,
Philippians: Verse by Verse Citizenship in Heaven (3:20a)
Heaven is not merely a future reality we will someday enjoy; it is a present kingdom, and we have already received our citizenship there.
The Identity of the Heavenly Citizens
The Identity of the Heavenly Citizens
Who has citizenship in heaven?
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
To whom does “our” refer?
not everyone
referred to as “brothers” (v. 1, 17)
not those who oppose Christ (v. 18)
Those who pursue Christ (v. 12-16)
Those who have received Christ’s righteousness by faith (v. 9)
true believers in Jesus Christ; everyone who truly belongs to Jesus Christ is a citizen of heaven
Consider an example from Hebrews of some of those heavenly citizens even from the Old Testament:
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.
12 And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own.
15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
The Mindset of the Heavenly Citizens
The Mindset of the Heavenly Citizens
How do heavenly citizens think?
The contrast from v. 19:
18 For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
This is the way that the people who belong to this world live and act. They wholeheartedly pursue the pleasures and possessions of this life, and all of their thinking and affections are set on this earth and what it has to offer.
This is the way that leads to destruction.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
In contrast, Paul says, our citizenship is in heaven. Unlike those who belong to this world, we belong to heaven. Heaven is our real homeland.
When you’re away from home, how often do you think about home? Even if you’re having a good time in the place you’re visiting, there’s something in you that longs to be back home, where everything is familiar, where you can sleep in your own bed, be back in your routine, etc.
That’s how we need to think about heaven. Even if we’re enjoying God’s blessings here on earth and life is going well, our mind should go often to our heavenly homeland.
This is what Paul says in Colossians:
1 Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
How often do you think about heaven?
How frequently do you remember your true homeland?
When was the last time you spent significant time thinking about the life to come?
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
The King of the Heavenly Citizens
The King of the Heavenly Citizens
The Identity of the King of Heaven - 4 terms or names:
Savior - our Rescuer and Redeemer who gave His life for us
Lord - Yahweh, the self-existent, independent, eternal God, the Master of all
Jesus - a real person, human like us, but unlike us also God
Christ - Messiah, the King from David’s line, the rightful heir to David’s throne, the eternal King
How do we feel about our King, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Our Affection for the King - “we eagerly await”
Are you excited for Jesus to come back?
Or would you prefer He waited awhile longer?
Are you enjoying this world too much, or do you long for your King to come back?
And then v. 21 tells us about His power:
21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
The Power of the King - “the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself”
What kind of power and authority does our King Jesus have?
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” - Matthew 28:18
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
He is seated at God’s “right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church” - Ephesians 1:20-22
20 which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
He is the Supreme Authority, and He has both the power and authority to command all things to obey Him.
He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and everyone and everything owes allegiance and obedience to Him.
21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
He has the power and authority to subject all things to Himself, to cause all things to submit to Him and obey His will.
- So consider this question: why does He not subject all things to Himself in an instant, right now? Why does He not choose right now to cause all things to submit to Him and obey Him?
If He has the power and authority to do so, why doesn’t He?
Why doesn’t He just say the word and make sin stop? Why doesn’t He just command all evil and sickness and death and sorrow to cease?
Why doesn’t He just say today, “No more cancer, no more heart attacks, no more hurricanes, no more tornadoes, no more war”?
Why does He not make every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord right now?
He could if He wanted to. And He says someday He will. Why doesn’t He do it now?
Why does He allow sickness and broken relationships and catastrophes and death and pain and sorrow to go on?
Why does He allow people to continue to reject Him and blaspheme His name and curse Him and rebel against Him?
Well God doesn’t owe us an answer for why He does what He does, nor does He always give us an answer.
But we know He is working for His glory and our good. We have His promise. (Romans 8:28)
The Scriptures repeatedly affirm that the Lord does what He wants to do. He has a plan, and everything is going according to His plan, no matter how much it might not seem like it to us.
God is more glorified by the process of our growth individually and as the worldwide body of the Church than He would be by simply whisking us away the moment we believe. He is more honored as His people learn to trust Him and rely on Him in the midst of suffering than He would be if He removed all suffering and struggling now.
Though it doesn’t seem like it to us, it is better for us to learn patience and endurance by continuing to trust Him in the midst of our struggle, and He receives greater glory from us in the process.
So why does Christ not subject all things to Himself right now?
Because He knows that’s not what will bring Him the greatest glory, and so it’s not what will bring His people the greatest good. His glory is revealed in a greater way through the gradual growth of the Church and the ongoing struggle and pursuit of Christlikeness in our lives individually.
The Present Tense of His Power
One other important thing to notice about His power is that it is not only a future reality that He will someday subject all things to Himself. Notice the present tense here.
“The power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself.” (Or your translation may say something like “the power by which He is able to subject all things...”)
It’s present tense. He has the power now. And He is exercising His power now. Gradually.
Someday He will fully exercise His power so that all things are fully in submission to Him. But even now He is gradually bringing all things in subjection to Himself.
Consider how things started: Christ’s kingdom started with 11 pretty wimpy disciples locked in an upper room because they were scared. 50 days later, the Spirit descended, Peter preached, and thousands of people came to Christ. The Gospel of the Kingdom began to spread throughout Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and all over the known world. And where are things at today? How far has the Gospel gone? Dozens of generations of Christians have come and gone, and the Gospel has spread to almost the entire world. 2000 years have come and gone since the death and resurrection of Christ. The growth has been slow by our perception, but consider how many millions or billions of people have submitted themselves to Christ and become part of His kingdom, the Church, over the last 2000 years?
Yes, there’s more work to be done. In our own country things seem to be moving backwards right now.
But make no mistake. Jesus meant it when He said, I will build my Church. The gates of Hell will not be able to stand against it.
Jesus is on the throne even now, reigning in Heaven, and someday He will reign here on earth.
And He is working even now to bring all things into subjection to Himself.
Paul is probably referencing Psalm 8:6 here.
6 You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet:
Although this is true of the first Adam in creation, 3 New Testament passages tell us that this verse is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the second Adam.
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
(This combines Psalm 8 with another Messianic Psalm, Psalm 110, which speaks of the reign of the Messiah)
We already read Eph 1:22 which states that in some sense this has already happened:
22 And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
In some sense, God has already placed all things under Christ’s feet, in subjection to Him. Yet, as the author of Hebrews notes in 2:7-8, we do not yet see this reality present:
7 You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor
8 and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
Peter also tells us in 1 Peter 3:22 that Jesus has gone into heaven, sat down on His throne, and is already reigning as King.
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
This is not only a future reality, it is the present reality, though we do not see it yet fully played out in our experience.
This is the mystery of the “already/not yet”
Jesus is already Lord of all, and all things are in some sense already subject to Him. That is His right, His power, His authority. He has all authority.
But we do not yet see Him exercising that full authority as we someday will. The spiritual reality has not yet fully become the physical reality.
Right now He is reigning, His kingdom is growing, more and more people are submitting to His authority, and when the time is right, He will bring the end when every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
For some, that will be a joyful moment as we gladly bow in worship and joyfully confess Him as our Lord.
For others, that will be a moment of sheer terror, as they fall in dread before the majesty of Jesus Christ and honor the Judge of all the earth who does what is right, knowing that eternal punishment awaits them.
And that day is coming soon. Are you ready? Have you already submitted yourself to King Jesus?
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
The Hope of the Heavenly Citizens
The Hope of the Heavenly Citizens
Jesus is coming!
Jesus is in heaven right now, reigning from His throne, and interceding on our behalf before the Father. But He’s not staying there forever. He’s coming back here. We have the great hope that Jesus is coming back for us someday.
For some of us, it may be while we’re still alive. There will be some believers still alive when He returns.
Or we may be among those who have died in Christ whom He will bring back with Him when He comes to reign on earth.
Either way, if we trust Him, we will be with Him forever in the new heavens and new earth.
And here’s an important truth for us to understand:
Jesus will bring heaven to earth
We will not live with Him in the sky, floating around on clouds or in the air forever. Jesus is bringing His kingdom to earth. He is bringing heaven to earth, the new earth, the renewed earth.
As we read the end of the story in Revelation 21-22, John describes an eternity with Christ on the new earth, which is in some sense like a return the the Garden of Eden, only 10,000 times better - because the world will be full of worshippers of Christ, His glory will be displayed in a way that we cannot begin to imagine, and sin will be completely banished and unable to intrude in God’s new creation forever.
And the end of the story in the Bible is only the beginning, because as the old hymn says,
When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
100 lifetimes here on this earth is a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. It will never end. We will be with Him forever.
21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
Jesus will transform us to be like Him
And to go along with the new creation, Paul tells us here, believers will get new bodies. The kind of body appropriate for heaven on earth.
Our bodies right now are humble, lowly bodies. They will wear out and die. These bodies will not last forever, and we wouldn’t want them to.
But someday Jesus will transform us to be conformed completely to His image, both in our essential being, our character, as well as our bodies. We will have glorified bodies like the one He has now.
What will that be like?
No more sickness
No more pain
All the things that are wrong with our bodies now will be set right.
And notice the connection with the power of Christ that we already talked about: “by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.”
The power and authority that Jesus Christ is exercising even now is the basis for our hope of having transformed bodies. Or in other words,
The present reign of Christ is the guarantee of our future resurrection.
Application:
If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a citizen of heaven. Are you living like it? Are you submitting every area of your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Do you long for His return?
If you haven’t yet trusted in Christ, come to Him today. There is still time for you to bow the knee to Christ willingly and confess Him as your Lord and Savior. Come before it is too late.
Someday the door of the ark will close, and all those outside will perish. Get in the ark while the door is still open. Trust Christ and be saved and be part of His Kingdom forever.
Quote from Philo of Alexandria:
Philo, Volumes I–X Chapter XVII
To them the heavenly region, where their citizenship lies, is their native land; the earthly region in which they became sojourners is a foreign country. For surely, when men found a colony, the land which receives them becomes their native land instead of the mother city, but to the traveller abroad the land which sent him forth is still the mother to whom also he yearns to return.
