Citizens of Heaven

"Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20

We are really pilgrims and strangers in this world. As citizens of heaven, we have the rights and privileges that go with that citizenship.This includes the right of protection. So we can sing, A Mighty Fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing...

We also have the right of education. We now have the Bible to teach us, but ultimately we will be taught by God!

The English language does not fully express the original when it says, "we eagerly await a Savior from there." The original adds the words "out" and "away" to the verb wait. So we are to "out and away" long for Jesus to come back. This hope for Christ's return adds fuel to our willingness to forget the things that are behind us.

When He comes back, "the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, the earth and everything in it will be burned up." In comparison, the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan will only be like a candle in a blast furnace. Yet all of this is under the control of our friend, Jesus.

His agenda when he comes back is to "transform our lowly bodies so they will be like his glorious body." Yes, we will be changed! We will never get sick again. No more crying. No more pain. No more funerals. Every one of our five senses will sharpened and adapted to our new home! "When we see him, we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (I John 3:2)

Plan on getting a new body. If you are handicapped, you will no longer suffer from it. If you are weak, you will be strong. If you are aged, you will be full of youthful exuberance! God loves beautiful bodies and you will have one. So death is an advance. It is great gain. Keep looking to Jesus. Rev. Ken Koeman wrote in The Banner on April 30, 1990 that Jesus "is already living in the prototype body."