Dual Citizenship

There is "much ado" these days about legal citizenship in my Earth country, the United States of America.  At the beginning of my life, the requirements for entering this country were quite strict. People who were not natural-born citizens of the USA, yet who sought legal citizenship, had to go through a lengthy, difficult process.  It was ingrained in the process that the legal immigrant would assimilate him-or-herself into the culture, laws and moral fabric that distinguished this nation for its first 150 years.  Over the past 75 years, or so, that process has severely eroded, bringing about much civil unrest in this formerly gleaming nation.

Google defines "citizenship" as follows:  "the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country".1  To have dual citizenship, then, means that a person possesses citizenship in two countries. Now, generally speaking, since a person can only be in one place at any given time, the person resides most of the time in one of those two countries, perhaps visiting the other country on occasion. In most cases, the person had one citizenship conferred at birth, but went on later to earn a second citizenship from a different country.

In some cases, the two countries involved have many similarities.  The citizens of each may speak the same language.  The forms of government may be similar.  In other cases, the similarities may be few. Often, people of Earth escape from one country of citizenship to seek asylum/refuge in another.  They do this because of persecution, famine or other adverse living conditions in the "home country".

All living Christians have dual citizenship.  Their first "country" is planet Earth; their second, and more true, citizenship is in a "country" they have yet to visit: Heaven.  Although Christians possess citizenship in Heaven, they walk by faith to embrace it while dwelling physically in a realm that walks by sight.  Heaven is a place the Christian eagerly anticipates, even longs for, because he/she believes what the Bible declares about it.

The other day I was reading a blog by a college classmate of mine who has for decades taught Bible in a Christian school.  He was describing the most precious and wonderful moment of his teaching career.  The lesson was about Heaven and that most splendid moment was the one where, without prompt, his students got so psyched about their heavenly country they began to cheer boisterously. You'll be blessed to read about it later.2 

The writer of Hebrews uses the concept of "sanctuary" to illustrate the Christian's dual citizenship. He does this because God did it first.  Warren Wiersbe did a masterful job of describing these beautiful parallels; so, be advised I will be borrowing heavily from his commentary in my meditations here and in posts to follow on this topic.2

The heavenly sanctuary, aka the throne room of God, and the various meeting places of the Hebrew people are two powerful evidences of the Christian's dual citizenship.  When God gave the "specs" for creating the earthly places of worship, He mimicked his own heavenly sanctuary.  Let's look at some of those specs today, and we'll continue with our investigation of these "buildings" tomorrow, lest I get too long-winded here.

1.  Inferiority vs. Superiority
The old covenant "sanctuaries" were (as has been mentioned in this blog) first a series of fancy, portable tents (Tabernacles), and then later Temple buildings in the city of Jerusalem.  When the Hebrews were nomadic and for a time after they settled into the Promised Land, a Tabernacle was erected by the Levitical priests (or under their direction).  See Exodus 35-40. Years later, King Solomon was approved by God to direct the construction of the first Temple in Jerusalem, according to plans God gave to his father, King David.  That Temple was destroyed when Babylon conquered the Hebrew people around 586 B.C.  Nehemiah, Ezra and their contemporaries began to rebuild that structure around 515 B.C., and it stood until the time of the Herods, when that structure was significantly remodeled, greatly enhancing its splendor.  This grandiose temple stood for less than 100 years, because it was razed when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
Ok, history lesson over.  The point is that these structures were inferior because, although they were copies of God's heavenly sanctuary, they were made by humans (Heb. 8:2, 9:11).  At times, the glory of God filled the earthly structures.  But, He did not make them His permanent residence.  These physical structures were limited by time and space, neither of which limits our limitless God.
Still.....type.  Here is a graphic of the major components of the earthly Tabernacle and Temple:3

The earthly structures were "types", representations of the heavenly. We are told this in Hebrews 8:5 and 9:23-24.  Each of the furnishings in the picture above was specified by God, and imbued with its own special meanings. The heavenly temple is clearly referred to several times in the book of Revelation.  For instance, in Revelation 8:3, we see the golden altar of incense and also God's throne.  In Revelation 11:19, the apostle John refers to God's ark of the covenant within His heavenly temple.  I won't digress and go into more of these Revelation ... er, revelations, at this point.

We'll examine the various components of the sanctuaries in the next post.


Sources:

1    https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=define:+citizenship

2    https://zockollkids.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/probably-my-favorite-memory-in-the-ministry/

3    http://www.jesuswalk.com/moses/images/tabernacle-flow-of-worship-2293x1251x300.jpg

The Various Forms of "Me"

So, today, I have to go to a doctor's appointment, which gives me a tiny sense of dread.  It's just a small kernel, lingering back there in my subconscious.  I'd rather go get a doughnut or a facial, ok?  But, there it is....doctor's appointment. 

Most of us people spend an inordinate amount of time caring for (attending to) our bodies.  (Even if we overindulge them, that is a form of "attention" or "care".)  It is sort of built into us by our Creator God to want to stay alive in this crazy world for as long as possible...for some reason.  Sociologists call that "the survival instinct", I guess.

Our text today is Philippians 3:20-21 (NET) - -

20  But our citizenship is in heaven – and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21  who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.

These days when I look into the mirror I see the likeness of somewhat of a stranger.  When you get to be about 21 or so, you feel like you actually look like "yourself", fully "grown".  And then, from that point on, you start to look stranger and stranger, even while feeling like the same "girl" or "boy" you used to be, in some respects.  Believe me, young readers, it's weird.  So, we devote an inordinate amount of time grooming this perishable body, this body which will one day lie on a morgue's or mortician's table, cold and dead.

Another large portion of our day is devoted to training our minds (souls)....with "mindless" (pardon the pun) entertainment, or school work, or job training, or conversation with others, etc.  Training the mind toward godliness is a more noble pursuit, because mind (soul) and spirit are so intertwined.  "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...." (Philippians 2:5)

And, consequently, because there are only 24 hours in the day, we neglect the deepest, most true part of ourselves, the part which will live forever...somewhere: the spirit.  These days, I am in the phase of caring for my body and soul so that I can continue to nurture my spirit, by submitting it more and more to Jesus Christ.  Despite the challenges of my body aging, this is a very good phase of life in which to be.  In the time I have remaining, I want to use my resources (body and soul) to grow closer to Him and to advance His kingdom here on earth.  As Paul proclaimed in Acts 20:24 - - -

But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace.

The thing about these two verses (Philippians 3:20-21) I love the most is not the part about our bodies being raised from the dead and transformed some day.  When I die, my soul and spirit will go immediately to be with my Lord and Savior (Ecclesiastes 12:7; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23). My body is "immaterial" (Lord, I am just full of puns this morning...); in other words, it will remain "sleeping", decaying in the grave or wherever my descendants put it.  I will slough off this flesh and will never return to it in its earthly form.  My soul and spirit will one day (maybe hundreds of years from now or maybe next week) be reunited with a likeness of my earthly body; but, more importantly, on that great day, my new body will be in the likeness of Jesus' "glorified" body.  He will then unite my soul and spirit with my "glorified, heavenly" body.  No one knows when Jesus will return to earth to do this; only Father God knows that day and hour.  But, on that day, my reunited (NEW! body)-soul-spirit will be my possession for all eternity here in the "new heaven and new earth", described in Revelation 21-22.1

Here's the best part of Philippians 3:21.  Paul declares Jesus' "Godness": that Jesus is definitely God, one of the co-equal parts of the Holy Trinity.  Paul declares Him Savior, yes, but also calls Him "Kyrion" (Greek for "Lord").  Jesus used this same word to refer to God the Father, in the gospel accounts.  It will be God Jesus Himself who raises the bodies of His Bride from the dead on "that glorious day" (see song link below).  As He raises them - - - from cremation urn, from ocean floor, from moldering casket, from the dust of the earth - - - He will transform them with the same power He used to create the world, the same power Father God used to raise His Son from the dead and transform His earthly body into its glorifed, heavenly form.

Paul makes allusion to Jesus as Creator in Colossians 1:15-20, which we will study in a couple of weeks.  John referred to Jesus as "the Logos", the Word, in the beginning of his gospel.  It is indisputable that Jesus Christ is God, and that through Him all things were created, all things "consist", that is, "are held together".  He's "got the whole world in His hands", literally.  (Gives you a new twist on that little children's song, doesn't it?  Now you know it points to Colossians 1 and John 1 and Philippians 3!  :)  )

https://youtu.be/VXp6xcY5IqU

Good morning, Lord Jesus!  Thank you for another day in which to "live and move and have my being" - - - in You.  (Acts 17:28) What incomprehensible power!  That will be a glorious day, but not nearly so glorious as that day in which my spirit unites with You fully, for the first time, in Heaven.  I can only begin to imagine... May I worship You today, in Spirit and in truth.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

1
http://www.gotquestions.org/what-happens-death.html 

The Default Setting and the New iOS

I had no idea that Romans 5 was such a wonderful chapter!  Really.  It tells God's Story from beginning to end, in one chapter.  So, today we are going to finish it up, by focusing on the last two
"-ion" words:  sanctification and glorification.

Sanctification
When I was in college I got to sing my first classic choral masterwork, a mass.  Not having been raised Catholic, I had no idea what a mass was, other than I knew it was the Catholic church service. A choral mass is a large work, comprised of 5 major sections:  Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Benedictus, Agnus Dei.  Latin is a dead language, they say.  But, it lives on in the masterworks of Bach, Beethoven, Verdi, Mozart and others.  And, in those masterworks, Latin is gorgeous.  It "sings"!  A little early for puns, you say?  I agree.... moving on!
So, you may have noticed that one of the sections of the mass is called "sanctus", a word that basically means "holy".  It is the same root that gives us the English word, "sanctification" - - being set apart to become more like Jesus, more "holy".
Here's how God designed it: we can't "holify" ourselves by our own good works.  After becoming Christ's, however, His Holy Spirit within us sanctifies us, through supernatural power.   Sounds wonderful, right?  Look at verses 3-4 (NET).

3Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

When we identify with, align our hearts with Jesus Christ, sufferings, trials, tribulations inevitably result.  This is because we have then put ourselves in opposition with the majority of people in this world, standing against their philosophies, practices and beliefs.  Satan immediately puts us on his radar.  (As long as we were not Christ's, we were no threat to him, you see.)  Even if we do not fully realize it, when we become a Christian by experiencing that forever-change-of-heart, we become utterly powerful to tear down the strongholds Satan has erected in this world.  This conquering power is from Christ Himself, through His Holy Spirit (Philippians 4:13).
If we "sink deep" into Jesus, drawing on the supernatural power He gives us, He transforms us from being righteous in Him to being a warrior for Him.  That is what it means when Paul says that our problems produce endurance, character and hope.
Now what about that last bit: hope?
Remember: hope as defined in the Bible has a different connotation from our customary use of the word in modern English.  The Greek word "elpis" (ἐλπίς) means "an expectation of what is certain."
Mothers will understand this.  We call a pregnant woman an "expectant mother".  She is "expecting". Now, without getting overly graphic, let's just say that what is inside her is going to come out, one way or the other.  Right?  There's no "Perhaps the baby will come out".  It's coming.  No doubt.

Think about a successful job, perhaps the first one you got as a young person.  You were probably scared to death at first.  But, each success on the job gave you more confidence, didn't it?  The harder you worked, the better you got.  Well, it is sort of like that with sanctification.  When you yield to the Spirit, He produces spiritual "fruit" (successes) in your own spirit.  This is what Paul means by "character".  And, the more He is allowed (through your surrender) to sanctify you, the more confident of "who you are, in Christ".  This state of ever-becoming more like Jesus is what Paul calls "reigning in life" (vs. 17), resplendent daughters and sons!  Hallelujah!
When you experience justification, the last "-ion" word we talked about yesterday, you KNOW that you have been changed forever.  You KNOW that your eventual destination is Heaven.  But, through sanctification, you become even more confident and excited about "that blessed hope", the certainty of Heaven.  It's like a runner running a race: you see the finish line in the distance.  The closer it gets, the clearer you can see it and the more excited you are to reach it!

Glorification
Sanctification and glorification cannot be separated.  They go together, inseparably.  Romans 8:30 tells us that if you belong to Christ (justification), you will not be sinless; rather, you will be becoming more and more like Christ in some way.  You will not be a "fruitless fig tree" (Luke 6:30). It is impossible.  Oh, you may go through "phases" where you are temporarily walking in disobedience; but, you will be miserable the whole time, deep down in your soul.  Sanctification is the "default setting" for each believer.
This is the beginning of glorification!  One flows into the other.  The final transition is made when physical death comes to the believer, the Christ-follower.  But, there is no fear in death for the believer!  Our Savior has conquered it for us.  Physical death is merely stepping from sanctification into full-on glorification, the "new operating system"!  When we were dead (spiritually) in our sins, death reigned in us.  When we were made alive (spiritually) in Christ Jesus, grace reigned and will reign in us forever.

so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:21

Eternal life - - ultimate glorification.  Psalm 16:1l sums up the marriage of justification-sanctification-glorification beautifully.  In closing, think about that as you ponder this verse:

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

NASB

Father, eternity is now.  We need to grasp that truth and apply it to our lives.  Physical death is merely a mile marker on the road to glory.  And, every step we take brings us closer to you! We are so very, very cherished and loved.  Do your supernatural conversion in each of us.  Thank you, Lord! In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

http://biblehub.com/greek/1680.htm

Big House, Little House...

Good morning,

In an little while I have to take my car in for routine maintenance.  Like all things temporal it wears out over time.  The same is true of our bodies.  Paul must have intended 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 for younger folks, because we older folks experience the truth of them every day of our lives, often from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning!

For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. 4 For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.  

NET

By trade, Paul was a tentmaker.  So, it is natural he would choose the tent as one of his analogies. Much of his daily life, the way he "made a living", was to construct these temporary dwellings.  Yet, his avocation, his true calling, was to construct Believers (by the power of the Holy Spirit).  His primary focus was on that eternal work of sharing the gospel so that people might hear the Truth and gain access to a "heavenly dwelling" (Rom. 10:17).  Although it is called "heavenly dwelling" in the NET translation, this refers not to a location or structure, but rather to the imperishable, immortal body that Believers will receive after physical death, as a result of their having accepted Jesus as Savior.

It is quite clear from this passage that, in both cases, neither the earthly body nor the heavenly body IS the person.  So often in this life we let our bodies define us, control us.  People who meet us are either captivated by our beautiful bodies .... or not.  Such a distraction!  We are not our bodies.  They are merely a "tent".  Anyone who has ever witnessed a person dying or seen a dead body knows the truth of this.  The "shell" is left; the soul has departed.

Paul is not referring to a "mansion in glory" in this passage either.  In fact, this idea of beautiful mansions where each believer will dwell has no support in Scripture. We find several references to actual features of Heaven (the throne room of God, the River of Life, the Tree of Life {with fruit}, streets of gold and precious stones all over the place.  But, actual dwellings?  No.  This misleading teaching comes from an overblown translation of the actual words of Jesus in John 13:33-37 and 14:2-3, where He states that in His father's house are many "rooms" and, in the latter passage, He goes to prepare a "place" for us.

The Greek word translated in some versions "rooms" (and in others, including the KJV, "mansions") literally means "an abode, a place of dwelling".  So, when you get to Heaven, if your immortal body is assigned one of those "little houses" which are so popular with the "millennial generation" these days...will you be disappointed?  :)

It appears from Scripture that the emphasis will be on us "dwelling" in our immortal bodies, in the presence of God.  In this sense, Believers will not be "found naked" after death, because they have an eternal destiny, complete with an immortal body, waiting for them "in the heavens" (vs. 1).  Any further "tent" or "place of abode" will be, if you'll pardon the pun, "immaterial" or "irrelevant".  Our focus will be, not on the size of a mansion, but rather on the beauty of our King Jesus.  We will not only continue to abide in Him (John 15), but we will abide WITH Him forever!  Beyond that, so much of Heaven is a mystery.  It is not useful to "pick nits" over its "physical" features.

The most beautiful gem in this  2 Cor. 5 passage comes in verse 5, where Paul assures Believers that the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts when we decided to follow Jesus, at the moment of our conversion. When we make that "spiritual transaction", God puts His Holy Spirit in us, just like we put a downpayment on a home when we ink the mortgage.  Other translations present this Greek word as "deposit" (NIV) or "guarantee" (ESV).  We'll look more deeply at that tomorrow.  It's off to the car dealer now!

Dear Father, I just want to dwell in Your presence forever, worshipping my Triune God, thanking my Jesus for all He has done for me.  The psalmist expresses my longings beautifully in Psalm 84:10 and Psalm 73:25-26.  "Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere!" And, Father, if a little singing could be thrown in there too?  To praise You in heavenly song?  Ah....Heaven!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Fly, Firefly, Fly!

Good morning,

Right in the middle of "life" this week, one of my best high school friends "moved on up".  The last time I saw her was about five years ago.  Although we were close in high school we lost touch after graduation, except for infrequent high school reunions.  She went on to serve God faithfully for more than 40 years, as a wife, mother, school teacher.  Her testimony was to God's grace in her life.

What I remember most about her was her calm and gentle spirit.  She was naturally quiet and reserved.  While we were in high school, she lost her mother to sudden illness.  Her mother had been a beautiful, precious, vivacious soul.  We all grieved over this loss.  But, her mother would have been proud of the godly life my friend lived.

It is my loss that we did not remain close over these 40 years.  I guess that such parting-of-the-ways is a result of going out to fulfill one's calling.  However, there is a "tie that binds", as the song goes ... the Holy Spirit of God who lived in her and also in me. Later today, I will be traveling with my best childhood friend to pay my respects and to rejoice with her loved ones. We are secure in the knowledge of where her soul now resides.

I heard a conversation yesterday between someone I dearly love and a second person I greatly respect. They agreed together that neither one of them "is religious".  With great difficulty, I kept my mouth shut, because it was "neither the time nor the place", if you know what I mean.  Do you see, though, that they most certainly ARE religious?  They are merely worshipping something or someone else other than the One who created them.

The god of this world, Satan, has blinded so many to the Truth.

Even if you read this and scoff at that statement, let me ask you this.  What if you are right and I am wrong?  Well, I will have lived a life of peace and joy, even in the middle of various trials along the way, and when I die....nothing.  I will have lost nothing except, you may argue, a few years of temporary, earthly pleasures.  But, what if you are the one who is mistaken...about the meaning and purpose of life, about there being an eternity of either Heaven or Hell?  Are you really willing to gamble your eternal soul, based on what someone else has told you, without doing a thorough investigation of the matter?

C.S. Lewis was a tremendously intelligent man, a professor of English at Oxford University, London. He reached that point of saying, "I've got to check this Jesus stuff out, to see if it is true."  He wrote a book about his journey of discovery.  It is entitled, Mere Christianity.  Here is some of what he wrote:
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” 

In so many ways, we are like a lightning bug trapped in a jar.  Did you ever do that, as a kid?  Trap a firefly (we call them "lightning bugs" here in the South) in a jar, with holes in the lid?  The bug knows it does not belong in the jar.  There is something within its very DNA that cries out to that fact.  It is in a hostile environment.  Its entire existence is spent trying to get to that world where it belongs, and it won't find any true satisfaction until it does.

We are not mere flesh and blood and bone.  One of the unbelievers I mentioned above said yesterday, "We really have very little understanding of how the human brain works.  It is a miracle."  Yeah.  A divinely created miracle.
There is a soul within each of our bodies, and that soul is the "real us", and it will live somewhere forever. 

As a Christ-follower, I know where my eternal home will be.  I know this, beyond all doubt.   It's not because I'm "good".  It is because Jesus Christ was and is and ever will be perfect.  As His child, His righteousness has been conferred to me, forever.
 Again, C.S. Lewis - - 
“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” 
That taste of Heaven, like the light in the firefly is, thanks to Jesus, already inside me.  The Holy Spirit cries out, "Daddy! Father!" to God. 

So my friend, who is newly arrived to Heaven, got there the same "one and only way" I will.  There IS but one way there, and His name is Jesus.  Don't be deceived.  There is a place.  She is there with others I have known here and whom I'll see again, when it comes my turn to "fly, firefly, fly!"

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.

Acts 20:24

7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r2Hn8fBYbA

Father, I thank you for the privilege of being Your child.  Thank you for possessing me and transforming me by fusing my spirit with Yours forever.  Being in this present world, I have Your downpayment of eternity within me.  That light of life, Your Spirit, will never be extinguished.  And, when it is my time to "move on up", to "fly away", Your Spirit will take me to my forever home.  I thank You and praise You, because You have done this marvelous thing...something I could never achieve or do.  To You is due all the honor and glory and eternal praise.  In Jesus' name, amen.


Source:
1  https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/801500-mere-christianity