Kingdom dynamics

The concept of heavenly citizenship

Part 1

Abreham G.

Phil 1: 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves (live, walk, behave as citizens) in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. (the one in parenthesis is my literal translation)

3:17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Paul's letter to the Philippians is an emotional, friendly, and encouraging letter. Reading through the entire Epistle brings us closer to Paul's heart and inner feelings about the gospel.

For a moment, imagine yourself traveling in a time machine back to the days of Paul. Passing through a two milenia of world history, all of a sudden you find yourself in the bustling city of Rome crowded with all sorts of people. 

Few miles from the crowded downtown, Paul is sharing a room with a Roman soldier, who was assigned to keep an eye on him. Often times Paul is chained to this fellow. His privacy is terribly eroded, but he never complains. He considers his house arrest as an opportunity to speak about Jesus. And it happens that many of the royal guards are becoming believers.

As usual Paul was having a conversation with his guard, when Epaphroditus, a fellow believer from Philippi, a city eight hundred miles east of Rome, showed up at the door. I can imagine the excitement of Epaphroditus. He loves Paul. And when the elders of his church looked for a volunteer to travel to Rome to help Paul, he did not blink his eyes. He knows that his journey to Rome is not only to deliver the money his church sent to Paul, but to attend to his needs at every capacity. Shortly after, Timothy arrived from town carrying food lasting for a couple of days.

Epaphroditus has brought some good and some bad news. The good news – the Philippians have continued their fellowship with Paul in the work of the gospel. They have proved themselves to be faithful partners, taking the gospel to every corner of their city. They are experiencing hostility from their neighbors for their newly found faith in a Christ, who, according to the popular culture, was a renegade executed by Pilate in Jerusalem. The bad news – they are being troubled by the infighting, notably between Euodia and Syntyche.

Paul knew that the infighting will tamper with the testimony of the church among the gentiles. God's program for the inhabitants of the city will also be endangered. He still remembers the vision he had in Troas that led to his trip to Philippi. In his second missionary journey, while passing through Asia (modern day Turkey), God's Spirit forbade him to preach the gospel there. He later realized that God was preparing him for a new task in Europe. One night in the coastal town of Troas, Paul had a vision. He saw a man standing on the other side of the Aegean sea calling out for help. This was how the good news of Jesus Christ came into the city of Philippi, the first European city where Paul's mission to Europe was officially launched. How can he forget such a dramatic event?

He wished he were in Philippi. But he can't. What about his chains? He is tied up with the soldier. He wanted to send Timothy, but felt that he needs him in Rome because he does not yet know the outcome of his trial. Finally, after much prayer and reflection, he decided to send Epaphroditus back to Philippi with an emotional, friendly and encouraging letter.

This is how we have got the epistle to the Philippians. Can you imagine what was burning in Paul's heart? He was burdened with God's program of salvation for humanity.

My intention in this and subsequent articles is not to comment on the whole epistle. Rather I prefer to discuss it thematically (theologically). In this I mean focusing on the didactic (teaching) contribution of of the letter. We will ask ourselves this question, “how does Paul's letter to the Philippians reveal God to us?” I would leave it for you to find out. But I want to make a minor contribution in your quest for a fuller understanding of God's revelation in the epistle.

The theme I chose for this article is “the concept of heavenly citizenship”. This theme comes from Phil 1:27 and 3:17, two verses where Paul explicitly speaks about heavenly citizenship. Heavenly citizenship is a concept that relates to both our identity and activity as God's people. The two are interrelated. Our identity informs our activity, and our activity reveals our identity.

To be continued . . .