One of the great blessing bestowed upon believers is our citizenship in heaven. Just like being a citizen of a country, having citizenship in heaven comes with certain rights and privileges.
—Philippians 3:20 NKJV “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”
We gained our citizenship to heaven through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. By His death and resurrection, the wall that separated us from Christ has been demolished.
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
In Ephesians 2:13, Paul, uses his “but now” to make a great comparison of our access to God before and after the shedding of Christ’s blood.
Before Our Citizenship:
Gentiles were separated from God. We had no claim on God. We were not included in the covenant of promises given to Israel. Without God we had no hope of a redemption. All we had to look forward to was an eternity of misery. Gentiles were alienated from God with no rights.
Sin kept the Gentiles from have a relationship with God. Because God is Holy, His righteousness and justice required sin to be dealt with. For the Gentiles to have fellowship with God, their sin had to be paid for. This debt was paid by God in their behalf with the shedding of Christ’s blood.
Through the blood of Christ our citizenship was going to change. A new union in Christ of Jews and Gentiles was being formed by the blood of Christ.
After Our Citizenship in Heaven:
The “but now” here is a strong sign of change. The huge chasm that separated us from God has been removed by the blood of Christ. Through Christ, we have obtained eternal redemption. Now as members of the body of Christ both Jews and Gentiles have access to God. He has made peace between Jew and Gentile tearing down the wall of separation.
Through the revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle Paul we being to learn all these amazing secrets about the body of Christ. God kept these well hidden until He was ready to reveal His great plan of salvation for all mankind.
Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
God is offering us citizenship in heaven. If you are still a stranger to God, won’t you trust in the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross for your sins and join the union of believers in Christ. Take up your citizenship today and enjoy eternal life with Christ.
Ephesians 2:11-13 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
We did a 10-part series examining the “but now” of the Apostle Paul. Here is a list of the other articles in the series:
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