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In order to have a background for this post, I encourage you to read my last one titled, "Ambassadors for Christ," but even if you don't, I believe you will be encouraged and challenged by this blog post. II Corinthians 5:20 says we are ambassadors for Christ. I went into detail about this verse in the previous post.
Ambassadors are diplomats sent by a country as its official representatives. They represent the government of that country and its leadership. They normally are living in a country that is not their own. If we are ambassadors for Christ, we are representing Him in a land that is not our home. Yes, we may live in the United States of America, but as a follower of Christ, our true home is heaven with our Father. We are temporarily residing here until He calls us home. While here, we have a job to do - represent the Father and Jesus well.
God has "rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins." (Colossians 1:13 NASB) We are now in His kingdom and we live ultimately under His authority. If there is a disagreement about whether we follow the laws of this land or the laws of heaven, we must obey God and His laws. He is our King. That does not mean we should not respect the authorities over us now. They have their place. But if there is a conflict, "We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
The Bible is clear that our citizenship is not here. Philippians 3:20 says, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." (NASB) As I mentioned earlier, we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into His kingdom. But it wasn't always this way. Ephesians 2:12 says, "In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope." (NLT)
We were living in the kingdom of darkess, with no God and no hope. But thank God He didn't leave us there. The next verse says, "But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13 NLT) Praise God! We are now citizens of the Kingdom of God and of His Son!
Peter explained this transfer of kingdoms in I Peter 2:9, "But you are not like that, for you are chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's own possession." (NLT) Paul, in Ephesians 2:19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household." (NASB)
We belong to the King of Kings and our citizenship is in heaven. It's in the kingdom of God. Jesus said in John 18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world." When Jesus prayed for his disciples near the end of his earthly life, He said, "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one." (John 17:14-15)
As long as we are on this earth, we are going to be in the world, but not of it. As a result of this, we should conduct ourselves as representatives of Christ. Our behavior should not be like the rest of the world. When Peter told the believers in I Peter 2:9 that they were a chosen people and God's own possession, he finished the thought with this, "As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light." (NLT) Then in verse 11 he says, "Dear friends, I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls." (NLT)
It is clear that as ambassadors of Christ - His personal representatives on this earth - and citizens of the Kingdom of God, our behavior should not be like the world. Jesus was clear that the world hated Him so the world will hate us. If the world hates us, it is because we are different. We are not willing to live as the world. We live by a different standard. Romans 12:2 in the Message Bible says, "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out."
This is our temporary home. We are citizens of heaven. Let's represent Jesus well and live above the standards of the world. We should be different. The darker it gets in society, the brighter our light can shine, but we must make choices every day to live differently than the culture we find ourselves in. We are the light of the world. So shine brightly!