What does Paul mean when he calls us a “Citizen of Heaven”? Is that truly something special or just a label we live by? If it is something special, what does it mean for me and my life?
Citizens Have Rights
As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul says to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?” When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, says, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” The commander came and says to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he says. The commander replies, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul says. So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.
This passage takes place when Paul faces the mob in Jerusalem. Because the mob was rioting against Paul and what he had said, the Roman commander brought Paul into the barracks to whip him with the scourge. Scourging was a common method for Romans to interrogate rioters.
The Roman commander expressed surprise when he learned Paul was a Roman citizen by birth. Only around 10% of the Romans were actually citizens. As a citizen, Paul had certain rights.
Among the rights of a Roman citizen were freedom from beatings without trial, the right to be tried before the emperor rather than in a local court of law, and the right to not be executed by crucifixion. It is Paul’s demands of his rights that cause him to be transported from Jerusalem to Rome and eventually to trial before Nero.
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Citizen Of Earth and of Heaven
Everyone of us is a citizen of a country. As a citizen of that country, we have certain rights given to us as a citizen. As a citizen of that country, we can boldly and confidently walk in those rights.
But each of us is a citizen of another realm besides a specific country here on earth. This citizenship truly defines who we are and what we do. We have dual citizenship. We are both citizens of earth and citizens of heaven.
Paul said to the Church in Philippi:
Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things, Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Paul wrote to the church in Philippi about their being a citizen of heaven, they understood what that meant. In the Roman Empire, there were two types of cities, with the majority being subject cities, that were conquered cities. Jerusalem was a subject city. The other type of city in the Roman Empire were colony cities. Philippi was a colony city.
In a colony like Philippi, one would find Roman customs, Roman architecture, Roman dress, and the prevailing language was Latin. It was, in a word, a fragment of Rome. If you were to walk into the city, you would have the feeling of entering an Italian suburb of Rome, even though it was nearly a thousand miles distant.
The residents of Philippi were citizens of their local city and citizens of their imperial capital, Rome. Therefore, the people of Philippi understood dual citizenship. The Roman government granted blessings to the Philippians because of their special class of citizenship, and they expected them to live in a distinctly Roman way.
They were an outpost of Roman power, law, and society in northern Greece. The fact they were citizens of Rome did not mean they should move to the capital city. The Roman government expected them to stay in Philippi to further the Roman agenda in that region.
Citizen of Heaven
So, it is with those who are a citizen of heaven. Our loyalty to heaven and to heaven’s Lord is something we live out right now, each day, in real, earthly time. In everything we do, we seek to honor God and advance his kingdom agenda on earth.
Remember what Jesus taught in Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. While this is a part of the Lord’s prayer, it goes far beyond just a prayer. It is to be our heart’s cry from a desire to see the Lord’s will be done here on earth.
“Without God man cannot, without man God will not.”
As crazy as it may sound, God chooses to do His work on earth with and through people. God’s will being done on earth will happen through those on earth that are citizens of heaven, whose allegiance is to King Jesus. That’s right. As citizens of heaven, we live out our heavenly citizenship here and now on earth, and in doing so, we fulfill His will on the earth.
The Benefits of Being a Citizen of Heaven
Just as we have significant benefits as citizens of a particular country, there are also benefits of being a citizen of heaven. We find some of these benefits listed in Psalm 103:
- Forgiveness of all our sins
- Healing of all diseases
- Life redeemed from destruction
- Crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies
- Our mouth is satisfied with good things
- The Lord executes righteousness and justice for us
- Righteousness is extended to our children’s children
And these are just seven of our benefits as a citizen of heaven. Every promise God gives us in His Word is a benefit we have as a citizen of heaven.
Being a citizen of heaven isn’t talking about our future life in heaven. In fact, God didn’t create heaven to be our ultimate goal. The ultimate goal for God and us is a new heaven and new earth, where God will bring His throne to the new earth to rule.
As a citizen of heaven, it isn’t about life after earth; it is all about life here on earth now. Paul made it clear in his second letter to the Church at Corinth what a believer’s primary job is here on earth.
Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
What Is an Ambassador?
An ambassador is a country’s highest-ranking representative to a specific nation or international organization abroad. The primary duty of an ambassador is to maintain diplomatic relations and promote foreign policy strategies.
Being a citizen of heaven means we are always on Jesus’ diplomatic mission to the people of this land, where we share the good news that He is King and has rescued us from our sin. We actively share with others that Christ has already reconciled them to God. God isn’t mad at them. God loves them.
Citizens of heaven are the salt and light of the world, and as such, we show the character of God to the unbelieving world through our words and actions. Our loving and caring reveal a loving and caring Father in heaven. When we fail to love rightly, we fail to image God correctly.
It is not only our job but also our duty to show foreigners to the Kingdom of God how much superior it is compared to any other kingdom. We must reveal to these aliens there exist only two eternal kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light.
Because there are only two kingdoms, there are also only two lords to serve: the Lord Jesus Christ or satan, the god of this world. Whichever one we are serving on earth at the time of our death is the one we will serve for eternity. We get the same eternal reward our Lord gets.
That is our message to the unbeliever.
The Home Country is Our Supplier
An ambassador is not dependent upon the country where he or she lives. Their supplier is their home country. If the country they are an ambassador to suffers economic depression, it doesn’t affect them. They are under the economic conditions of their home country.
If the country where the ambassador is serving suffers famine, the ambassador is dependent only upon their home country for food.
Their home country’s abilities and supplies meet every need an ambassador has. It doesn’t matter what the conditions are for the country they are living in. What matters is the condition of their home country.
Therefore, as ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not dependent upon earth’s supply. We depend upon heaven’s inexhaustible supply.
It doesn’t matter what economy we are living in here on earth. As a citizen of heaven, we are living in heaven’s economy. Our home country, the Kingdom of God, will supply all our needs.
Paul wrote to the church in Philippi:
And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Just how rich is His glory in Christ Jesus?
Our Responsibility as a Citizen of Heaven
This means there is a great responsibility for us as citizens of heaven here on earth. Our every word and action have eternal consequences for those around us. As a foreigner on earth, we are being examined by those around us.
They want to know if what we tell them is a pipe dream or is it reality? Is God’s system truly better than the world’s system? Is life truly better when serving Jesus as King?
We answer their questions by the lifestyle we lead.
Answer these five questions about yourself:
- Are you at peace when the world is in chaos around you?
- Do you show others tangible evidence of your trust in God?
- Is worrying a part of your lifestyle?
- Are your actions towards others motivated by the love of God?
- Are you moved with compassion towards others?
Even though I could ask many more, I list these five questions as a motivator for you to examine your life in the light of God’s Word. The overriding question we can all ask ourselves is, “As Jesus’ ambassador, am I showing this world God’s love in everything I say or do?”
How to Live as a Citizen of Heaven
This is what the prophet Micah prophesied concerning our time:
Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.
As an agent of change!
These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too.
First century Christians were ambassadors that as a witness changed the world around them. They differed from other Romans by serving the One True God instead of a plethora of gods.
As witnesses, they had the power to change the surrounding culture.
A Citizen of Heaven Has the Power to Create Change
What did Paul say in 1 Corinthians chapter five? That we are to be ambassadors for Christ. We’ve got power to be a witness and be an ambassador. So how do we do this?
At the same time, Jesus said they would receive power. He also told them how to use that power.
Then he says to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
We are to preach the Gospel and the Lord will work with us with signs confirming the Word preached. That is how this is all designed.
“And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.”
As we preach, the Lord will confirm the Word with signs. What we preach is the Gospel, the Good News.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.”
The Gospel is all about power and change.
Prayer to be a Better Citizen of Heaven
Father, I come to you as not only Your child that is deeply loved but also as a humble servant and Your ambassador. I believe every word you have spoken and had Your Holy Spirit record in my Bible.
I ask that You show me how I can be a better ambassador for my King, Christ Jesus. It is my deepest desire to show Your great love to all I come in contact with.
Reveal anything in me that is not of You or Your Spirit and I will immediately repent and change. Through the baptism of Your Holy Spirit, I have the power to change me and those around me.
Now lead me to those that need to learn of Your great love. Guide me and give me the words I need to speak. Help me to be a conduit of Your love to all around me.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
