The struggle of living a holy life in a fallen world can be overcome if believers find their identity in Jesus Christ, instead of some cheap substitute.
In an interview about his book Dangerous Calling, Paul David Tripp said, “The normal human struggle is “I look for identity horizontally, when I was hardwired by God to get it vertically.” This is a simple concept, but it is incredibly profound. If a Christian understands that his identity is wrapped up in Christ, then he is mentally equipped to resist the desires of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The apostle Paul understood this. He wrote, “Whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8 ESV) Paul was able to write “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” because his identity was centered upon the person of Jesus Christ. Instead of finding purpose in legalistic religious tradition, Paul was consumed with serving Jesus Christ and bringing glory to his heavenly Father.
This really hit me when I was preparing for our church family’s sermon series on Philippians. I was struck with how much time Paul spent helping his readers understand their identity as followers of Christ. He mentions more than a dozen illustrations that help create a vivid picture of how a Christian is supposed to see themselves.
One of the most powerful illustrations is found in Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Jesus Christ is our king and we are his citizens. This can be difficult for us to grasp because there is no flag for Heaven. God does not have a political embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue.
A day is coming when his spiritual kingdom will be gloriously established as a physical domain here on the earth, but until that day comes we have to live as spiritual citizens of heaven.
This is difficult to do because we are surrounded by a society that constantly distracts us from our spiritual citizenship. As Americans this can be a great struggle because we are taught to ground our identity in our homeland. We are taught to salute our flag and pledge our allegiance to the great ideals that this country was founded on. And I agree that our constitution has a wonderful standard for protecting the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but as Christians we must never forget that those ideals pale in comparison to what awaits us in heaven.
I think one reason I have been so impacted by this is because I have spent almost half of my life outside of the United States. Whenever I have travelled elsewhere as an adult I have understood that I am an American traveling abroad. I am just visiting. I know these other countries are not my home. I am just a passing through. This mindset has helped me grasp what Paul was talking about in Philippians. As a Christian, my citizenship is in heaven. I am just a sojourner on this world. I am grateful for the time God gives me in the United States, but I know it pales in comparison to what God has in store for us when the Eternal State is established on the earth. Revelation 21:23 says, “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
When life is difficult here on the earth I find great comfort knowing this is not my eternal home. I can give up the fleeting pleasures of this world because I know lasting treasure is only found in heaven. I pray this will be an encouragement to you today. Remember as a Christian you are a citizen of heaven and that can give you the peace needed while living on this tumultuous earth.
