Citizens of Heaven
What She Said - Part 7
Barbaranne Kelly, Guest Writer
Today’s Treasure
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
Revelation 1:7
Some glad morning when this life is o'er,
I'll fly away;
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).
What a joy it is to contemplate and sing about the day we will join our Lord in heaven. This rollicking hymn and others like it are a balm to my weary soul, especially when singing it with my covenant family in worship. It reminds me of the glorious truth that God promises to whisk me straight away into His presence the moment I die, and I will see Him face to face. Oh, glory—hallelujah!
It is no small comfort to Christians that we can know for certain that some glad morning when this life is over, we will be welcomed to our home on God’s celestial shore—that land where joy shall never end. But there’s something else which the Scriptures assure us that we can joyfully anticipate with godly fear and trembling. Paul has already referred to it several times in his letter to the Philippian church, and in 3:20–21 he tells us clearly what is still to come:
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:20–21
Here Paul looks forward not to our going to heaven, but Christ’s promised return from heaven—The Day of the Lord—when our risen and victorious Lord returns not as a Lamb but as a Lion. He mentions it almost casually, without explanation. In other letters he’s written, Paul gives in-depth teaching on the Lord’s return. Here it seems there’s no need to teach it as a new doctrine, it’s as if he’s referring to a doctrine with which the Philippian believers were familiar and already accepted without argument.
He’s dropped several mentions of this day into his letter, and looking at them may be instructive:
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6
This most comforting of promises gives us a sure guarantee that those who have been born again by God’s gracious gift of faith in His Son will not be abandoned by Him but will persevere to the end of this life and inherit all the promises in Christ Jesus. And those promises go beyond our being disembodied souls in the heavenly realm—they reach even farther to the day when we are reunited with our resurrected bodies and all things in heaven and earth are made new.
Paul’s prayer in chapter one ends with this perseverance in view, together with the striving for holiness which we explored in yesterday’s devotion. The goal of our prayed-for abounding love, knowledge, and discernment is that we “may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:10).
God’s plan from eternity has been that on that day, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11). But every tongue confessing doesn’t mean a joyful confession, because not all have trusted Him for salvation.
On that day, perfect justice will be meted out at last for all the evils done in the world. For though the return of Jesus will be an occasion of unparalleled joy for believers, it will be an occasion of grief and judgement for unbelievers. This is, in fact, the immediate context of our passage in Philippians. Our heavenly citizenship and the promise of our Savior’s return is to be an encouragement for believers in light of our grief over those who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, those whose “end is destruction,” because “their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (Philippians 3:18–19). Even now, as we grieve for the pain and injustice of living in this fallen world, we take comfort in knowing that none of God’s elect will slip through His fingers (John 10:28–29) and that His justice will prevail.
I won’t get into the weeds speculating about what our glorious bodies will be like, because even the apostles weren’t certain, (1 John 3:2). But we do know that we can rest in this promise because our mighty Savior will accomplish it “by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:21).
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
In Philippians 3:20, Paul reminds his friends once again that they are citizens of heaven. This parallels his command in Philippians 1:27 that they are to live as citizens of heaven, with a manner of life worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether he returns to them or remains absent he may hear that they are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.
Paul didn’t know if he would return to Philippi. But here he is assuring the Philippians—and us—that our mighty Lord Jesus Christ will return one day. Until then we are to stand united with other believers in a single-minded striving for our faith, building one another up in truth and love, not neglecting to meet together, and encouraging one another as the day draws near (Heb. 10:25).
PRAYER
Father, God of peace, would You sanctify me completely, and would You keep my whole spirit and soul and body blameless at the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ. I trust that You—having called me—are faithful; You will surely do it. Amen (based on 1 Thess. 5:23–24)
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Sharon W. Betters is author of Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, co-author of Treasures of Faith. and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture. She is Director of Resource Development and co-founder of MARKINC.org, a non-profit organization that offers help and hope to hurting people. Sharon enjoys quality time with her husband, children, fourteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.