Let us read from Philippians 3:20, 21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” We are only aliens in this world. We are called to be citizens of heaven and our blessed hope is that as we eagerly wait for the savior, He will come and transform us into conformity with the body of His glory. In John 14:2,3, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” On Easter, as the whole world remembers the death of Jesus, we need to remember that our Jesus rose again and will one day come back to take us home. In verse 6 we read that Jesus tells us that He is the only way to the Father. Jesus is coming back to take with him those who are eagerly waiting for Him. In Philippians we read that when He comes, he will transform us from this earthly bodies.
In Mathew 7:13 we read, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.” There are very few who enter through the narrow gate. If we need to enter through the narrow way it is a life of constant deliverance of our self life .Taking up the cross daily and following Jesus. We have to strive for it; it is not an easy way. We can reach our eternal destiny only through this narrow way.
In 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” We may not be sure of what we will be like but we all can have this hope that we will be like Jesus when we see Him. What a blessed hope we have! We will be able to see Jesus just as He is. In verse 3 we read that since we have our hope fixed on Jesus, we will purify ourselves just as He is pure. When we are sure of our citizenship, that it is in heaven, we will live each day purifying ourselves. Our desire will be to be as Jesus. Our thoughts will be gaining more knowledge of Christ and we will be pressing onto perfection.
In 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” The same light that God separated from darkness, God has given to us to see the glory of God. Let us see the beauty of God in the face of Christ. Like earthen vessels slowly loose the water stored in it; we too will lose the filling of the Holy Spirit and so need to come to Jesus each day to be refilled. We need to come to Jesus daily to see the glory of God. In verse 16 we read, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” Every day we need to be renewed. We may face difficulties and persecutions – these are only momentary, but our confidence is that our inner man is being renewed. At the end of this, Paul says in 2 Cor 5, we have a building from God where we will be clothed with our dwelling of heaven. Whatever we may face on this earth, we have a hope that this is not our permanent home, we have a home waiting for us in heaven. As long as we are on this earth, we should have a groaning in our hearts to be clothed with the cloth of heaven. V3. In as much as we having put it on will not be found in naked.
In Revelations 3 we read the message to the church in Laodicea. “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” May this be our cry daily – Lord give me the white garment so that I will not be found naked. In 2 Corinthians 5:5 we read that God has given us the Holy Spirit as a pledge so that we can die to our will, so that we can purify ourselves just as He is pure, and so that Jesus’ life can be manifested in us. Ephesians 1:13 & 14 also we read that the Holy Spirit has been given us as a pledge of our inheritance. Our inheritance is to have the nature of Jesus every day.
It is God’s mercy that we have been born again. We read in 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” We shouldn’t shrink back. We have problems in this world but this is our hope. Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly wait for our savior. In our daily struggles, we can overcome by calling upon the name of the savior. Let us press on daily to perfection. Our time on this earth is temporary, and as Paul says in Philippians 3: 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. My citizenship is in heaven, and we live with our eyes set on heaven, waiting eagerly for our savior and overcoming struggles in this world through His name and the power of the Holy Spirit.
