The Bible in a Year
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 3:20 (NIV).
Have you ever recognized where someone grew up by the way they said a single word? A person can live far from home for years, and then one familiar expression gives them away. I think about that when I read Paul’s letter to the Philippians. What might someone notice about me after spending an ordinary afternoon in my company? If they heard the way I spoke to someone who disappointed me, or watched what I did when keeping my word became inconvenient, would they catch any hint of where I belong?
Luke tells us in Acts 16:12 that Philippi was a Roman colony in Macedonia. Paul’s readers understood how belonging to a place could shape daily life even at a distance. The Greek word politeuma, translated “citizenship” in Philippians 3:20, brings that sense of belonging into view. Paul tells the believers that they already belong to heaven and that they are waiting for Jesus to come from there. As Truth For Life puts it in its introduction to Alistair Begg’s sermon on the passage, “our behavior becomes the evidence that we belong.” The people around us can glimpse something of Christ’s kingdom in the way we live among them.
Just before Paul speaks of citizenship, he writes with tears about people who live as enemies of the cross. I’m grateful he lets us hear the grief in his voice. It changes how I read his warning about those whose appetites have come to rule them. I can ask where my own desires are leading me. What happens to my patience when my comfort is disturbed? How readily do I bend the truth when my reputation is at stake? And when someone I love seems indifferent to Christ, do I still make time to listen and pray for them? Paul’s tears show that we can take the danger of turning away from Christ seriously and still speak with tenderness about the people we long to see come home.
Paul’s hope is wonderfully concrete. Jesus will return and transform our frail bodies to be like His glorious body. I think of someone who once walked miles without giving it a thought and now plans a day around the distance from the car to the front door. I think of those who need help getting dressed or who wake up tired after a night of pain. Christ’s promise reaches into that very part of their lives. The body that has carried them through years of work, worship, and trouble is included in His saving work. The Savior we are waiting for has a future for these bodies we live in today.
Where could that hope become visible in your day? You may have a chance to give someone credit for work that would otherwise go unnoticed. You may need to make room beside you for someone who has been left out. You may be able to sit with a person who has heard difficult news and give them time to say what they fear. If someone asks what gives you hope, you can tell them in your own words about the Savior you are waiting for. Peter calls believers to give that answer with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
In Philippians 3:18–21, heavenly citizenship is a present belonging with a future promise. Christians live under Christ’s lordship now while awaiting His return and the resurrection of the body. As you read the passage again, linger over Paul’s tears in verse 18 and his eagerness in verse 20. Both can shape the way you pray for the people you will see today.
As you pray today, would you remember the ministry of Intentional Faith? Ask the Lord to help readers in their own homes and communities find hope in His Word and share that hope gently with someone who needs it.
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