"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." Philippians 3:20-21
Every truly born again believer, who has engaged the inevitable struggles and conflicts of the new nature vs the old, entertains a great longing for the ultimate victory of the Spirit over the flesh. The heart longs, yea, yearns for the day when "faith shall be sight," and the last vestiges of "the old man" will finally disappear. In a word, we long for the day when the war will be over, and we can retire in the glory of His presence, freed at last from the residue of sin in our mortal bodies.
In the meantime, we have the word of God to sustain our hope, even when we have lost a skirmish with the adversary here and there. Passages like the one before us today are immense comfort and encouragement in the rough and tumble of this present evil world, in our "vile bodies."
One if the great encouragements the scripture affords the us is the divine perspective that regards the believer as having already ended his earthly career at the cross through union with Christ. Here, for example, we are taught that we have an altogether new political orientation; "our citizenship is in heaven." (That is a better rendering for today's reader, certainly, than "conversation.") In the mind of God we have moved out from under the vagaries of human government and become citizens of the kingdom of heaven, under the benevolent government of the "King of kings and Lord of lords." (With that in mind, incidentally, it ill behooves the Bible Christian to be incited to enthusiastic support of his earthly commonwealth. Wherever Christians are found, they are ambassadors of Christ, and their first loyalty is to Him. They should respect and obey the government under which God has placed them as His representatives, but must be ever subject to a higher loyalty, and the fact that all human government will ultimately fail.) In addition to a heavenly citizenship, note that God regards the believer as having already died (Col. 3:3) and as already "seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6)."
Citizens of heaven, "hid with Christ in God," and already seated with Christ in the heavens; that is our spiritual situation, and it should define the believers' perspective. As we reflect upon it and affirm it, it will radically change our attitude toward life in the present world.
For now, of course, our bodily presence is in this world, waiting to catch up with our "real life," and so eagerly expecting the return of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. We are "at home in the body, [and] absent from the Lord," and, if we have entered into the reality of our situation in Christ, we will be "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify [us] unto Himself [as] a peculiar people, zealous of good works [Titus 2:13-14]." That is the Christian's expectation, and there is no greater stimulus to hope or holiness than the sustained assurance that Jesus is coming again—and it may be today!
That expectation will eventuate in the full and final transformation every sincere believer longs for—the transformation of our bodies into likeness to the sinless body of our risen Lord. The apostle John sums it up, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is [I John 3:2]." Note that he identifies our divine sonship, like our heavenly citizenship, our true eternal life and our position as seated with Christ in the heavenlies, as a present possession, awaiting only the appearing of Christ for its full manifestation.
Our position, then, is in heaven; our passion is for the return of our victorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and our prospect is that of being changed into His likeness, fully and finally! May God give us the desire and the dynamic to live up to this glorious heritage in "the today of our experience," knowing, however, that it is in His perfection that our hope lies, not in ours!
Yours for an enduring hope,
"Pastor" Frasier
Every truly born again believer, who has engaged the inevitable struggles and conflicts of the new nature vs the old, entertains a great longing for the ultimate victory of the Spirit over the flesh. The heart longs, yea, yearns for the day when "faith shall be sight," and the last vestiges of "the old man" will finally disappear. In a word, we long for the day when the war will be over, and we can retire in the glory of His presence, freed at last from the residue of sin in our mortal bodies.
In the meantime, we have the word of God to sustain our hope, even when we have lost a skirmish with the adversary here and there. Passages like the one before us today are immense comfort and encouragement in the rough and tumble of this present evil world, in our "vile bodies."
One if the great encouragements the scripture affords the us is the divine perspective that regards the believer as having already ended his earthly career at the cross through union with Christ. Here, for example, we are taught that we have an altogether new political orientation; "our citizenship is in heaven." (That is a better rendering for today's reader, certainly, than "conversation.") In the mind of God we have moved out from under the vagaries of human government and become citizens of the kingdom of heaven, under the benevolent government of the "King of kings and Lord of lords." (With that in mind, incidentally, it ill behooves the Bible Christian to be incited to enthusiastic support of his earthly commonwealth. Wherever Christians are found, they are ambassadors of Christ, and their first loyalty is to Him. They should respect and obey the government under which God has placed them as His representatives, but must be ever subject to a higher loyalty, and the fact that all human government will ultimately fail.) In addition to a heavenly citizenship, note that God regards the believer as having already died (Col. 3:3) and as already "seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6)."
Citizens of heaven, "hid with Christ in God," and already seated with Christ in the heavens; that is our spiritual situation, and it should define the believers' perspective. As we reflect upon it and affirm it, it will radically change our attitude toward life in the present world.
For now, of course, our bodily presence is in this world, waiting to catch up with our "real life," and so eagerly expecting the return of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. We are "at home in the body, [and] absent from the Lord," and, if we have entered into the reality of our situation in Christ, we will be "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify [us] unto Himself [as] a peculiar people, zealous of good works [Titus 2:13-14]." That is the Christian's expectation, and there is no greater stimulus to hope or holiness than the sustained assurance that Jesus is coming again—and it may be today!
That expectation will eventuate in the full and final transformation every sincere believer longs for—the transformation of our bodies into likeness to the sinless body of our risen Lord. The apostle John sums it up, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is [I John 3:2]." Note that he identifies our divine sonship, like our heavenly citizenship, our true eternal life and our position as seated with Christ in the heavenlies, as a present possession, awaiting only the appearing of Christ for its full manifestation.
Our position, then, is in heaven; our passion is for the return of our victorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and our prospect is that of being changed into His likeness, fully and finally! May God give us the desire and the dynamic to live up to this glorious heritage in "the today of our experience," knowing, however, that it is in His perfection that our hope lies, not in ours!
Yours for an enduring hope,
"Pastor" Frasier
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