CITIZENS OF ANOTHER KINGDOM

By: Pastor Flávio Macieira - 2025

Day 3 of the "The Anchor of Hope: Navigating Uncertain Times with an Eternal Certainty" series.

Imagine living as an expatriate in a foreign country. You work there, you obey the laws, you interact with the culture, and you build friendships. But you never forget your true homeland. Your passport is from somewhere else. Your ultimate allegiance, your deepest identity, and the culture that truly shapes your values belong to your home country. This awareness affects everything: how you spend your money, where you invest your time, and where your heart longs to return. This is the very picture the Bible paints of the Christian in this world.

In the last two days, we have anchored our hope in the resurrection (Day 1) and found purpose in the pressure (Day 2). Today, we discover a truth that reorients our entire way of life: our address may be temporarily on earth, but our citizenship is permanently in heaven.

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. Philippians 3:20-21 (NLT)

This statement is one of the most politically radical and personally liberating in the entire Bible. To the Philippians, who lived in a Roman colony and took pride in their earthly citizenship, Paul says, "Your most important passport is not from Rome." To us, he says the same: "Your ultimate identity is not your nationality, your profession, or your social status. Your citizenship is in heaven."

Understanding this radically changes three things:

1. Our Values: We stop investing all our energy in the temporary currency of this world (power, possessions, popularity) and start investing in the eternal currency of the Kingdom (love, justice, mercy, souls).

2. Our Perspective on Suffering: The hardships and injustices of life, though painful, are seen as "troubles in a foreign land." They do not have the power to shake our hope, because we know we are not at our final destination.

3. Our Hope: Our hope is not just an escape from here, but the eager expectation of our King's arrival to here. We await the Savior who will not just rescue us away, but will transform and redeem all things, including our bodies, to conform to the glorious reality of our true home.

Living as a citizen of heaven is not about alienating ourselves from the world; it's about engaging with the world differently, with a different set of values, pointing to a different King.

Your Next Step of Faith: Today's step of faith is a "citizenship audit." Look at one area of your life—your calendar, your budget, your relationships. Ask yourself: "Where am I investing my best resources? In the values of the kingdom of this world, or in the values of the Kingdom of Heaven?" Choose one small decision you will make today (how you spend your time or money) that deliberately reflects your heavenly citizenship.

The Soul Mirror:

1. In practice, do your daily decisions reflect a citizen of heaven or someone whose greatest treasure is on earth?

2. How does the hope that Christ will "change our weak mortal bodies" impact the way you deal with aging, illness, or physical limitations?

3. Do you live with an "eager expectation" for the Savior, or is Christ's return a distant and abstract concept for you?

Let's declare our allegiance to our true King.

Lord Jesus, my Savior and King, I declare today that my citizenship is not here. This world is not my final home. My allegiance, my identity, and my hope belong to You and Your Kingdom. Forgive me for all the times I invest my heart in treasures that moth and rust destroy. Help me to live today as a faithful ambassador of heaven, eagerly awaiting the day You will return to make all things new. Amen.

We do not live to retire on earth. We live to reign with Christ in heaven.

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