I am an American and as a result I live with “certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” However, I am also a citizen of the Kingdom of God and that means that I live by a certain set of morals, standards and laws that are established by God. I am grateful that God has given me the blessing of living in a nation in which I can participate in government and have a voice in the day-to-day affairs that affect my life. I am grateful that I live in a land where “all men are created equal” and I have rights guaranteed to me by the Constitution of the United States. As a citizen of the United States I have a great deal to be thankful for. As an Ambassador of the Kingdom of God I have even more for which I am thankful.
First, Paul writes in the book of Colossians that “. . . He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Col.1:13). When God rescues an individual from the dominion of darkness, he doesn’t just leave them to wonder about aimlessly without direction or to return to their old ways, but he places them in the Kingdom of His Son so that they have a home, are cared for and are loved. Let me illustrate this with an example: When someone rescues a dog from an animal shelter they do not just turn around an put the dog back on the streets to be collected again and returned to the shelter. No people go to the shelters to select a dog that they will remove from the shelter and the consequences of the shelter to take home where they will be cared for and loved. Like unadopted dogs left in the domain of the shelter, those who are left in the domain of darkness face certain death, but like the dog rescued from the shelter, those placed in the Kingdom of God have a home where they are loved and cared for by the King Himself.
Second, Paul also wrote that we were rescued from the domain of darkness “. . . Although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind and engaged in evil deeds” (Col. 1:21). Again, using the example of a dog in a shelter, what Paul is saying is that, I (we), was (were) not the cute and cuddly puppy that everyone wants to take home from the shelter- but that I (we) was (were) the mean, snarling, snapping dog who held my (our) rescuer at bay unaware that it was just such behaviors that kept me locked in the domain of the shelter and destined to be put to sleep. If you read verse 22, you will see that Paul tells us that Christ “. . . has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” My citizenship in heaven is not secured by my ability to be a good person but by the actions of Jesus Christ in my place.
Finally, as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, when I break the laws of the Kingdom, I have an advocate who intercedes on my behalf (1 John 2:1, 2). That means when I am acting like a citizen of the domain of darkness and repent of my behavior, I know that Christ is there, interceding on my behalf, proclaiming my righteousness through His blood. I am grateful of God’s continued demonstration of His grace and mercy toward me through Christ Jesus.
As a citizen of Heaven I have a lot to be thankful for. As an American I have a lot to be thankful for. Yet, there are times when my dual citizenship clashes and I must decide- am I an American first or a citizen of Heaven first. More on that issue next time.
Gather and Go
Pastor Dale