KINGDOMCONCEPT (7)
UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM
CONCEPT OF CITIZENSHIP
THE most awesome power and position of national privilege is citizenship. Citizenship is the most valuableasset of a nation and is not easily given because of its power and impact. All governments defend the right of citizenshipwith the same fervor because of its implications. Citizenship is not membership. Religions function on membership, while nations and kingdoms function on citizenship. In recent months immigration has become a hot topic in someparts of the world. For example, there is rising concern
among many Western Europeans that the continuing influx of
Muslim immigrants from the Middle East will soon transform
the entire religious,social, and cultural complexion of Europe.
Recent sectarian riots inFrance over unemployment and in many other European countriesover the publication of “blasphemous” cartoons of Muhammad have revealed that little cultural assimilation among those immigrants has occurred. Of even greater concern, however, is the
spectacle that has beengoing on in the United States over immigration.
For months, debateshave raged over the status of millions of illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico, who live and work in the U.S. Rallies in support of these illegals have drawn thousands out onto the streets. Some legislatorshave proposed granting all illegal aliens currently in the countryimmediate legal status and placing them on a short track toAmerican citizenship.
Others insist that the U.S. government detainand deport as many illegal immigrants as they can find and increasepatrols at the U.S.Mexican border to prevent further would be immigrants from crossing over. There are even some who have seri-ously proposed building a fence along the entire 700-mile length ofthe border.It seems that masses of people from south of the border areclamoring to get into the United States. Why? What draws them torisk life, capture, imprisonment, or deportation just to cross thatborder?
It could be many things: better jobs, higher pay, betterhealth care, greater opportunities, and an all-around better qualityof life than they feel they can get in their home country. For many, itis the lure of even the possibilityof citizenship in the most prosper-ous nation in the world.
I’m not trying to make a case either for or against the advantages or
benefits of being an American citizen. My point here is that citi-zenship
is a powerful draw. People are attracted to a nation thatappears to
promise a better life than the one they are living wherethey are.
Some people even become desperate enough to do any-thing they
have to do to become a part of that nation.So the concept of citizenship
is critical to understanding thenature of the Kingdom of heaven.
As I’ve said before, all govern-ments and kingdoms operate on
governing laws and principles.Citizenship is necessary for the validity
and legitimacy of any nation.Not only that, but citizenship is the
most sacred privilege of a nation.
THE POWER AND PRIVILEGE OF CITIZENSHIP
Citizenship has great power as well as great privileges. That iswhy people are willing to risk their lives and cross borders even tothe point of death to pursue the hope of citizenship. Citizenship isnot only sacred, but sanctified set apart. A citizen is part of anelite, privileged group. People who have
lived as “subjects” of a for-eign government rather than citizens
understand this distinctionmuch better than people who were born citizens. The same is truefor people who have worked very hard to earn the privilege tobecome a naturalized citizen of their chosen country.As a sacred privilege, citizenship is the most precious gift thatany nation can give. That’s why there are laws to protect people fromit and protect it from people.
Apart from native-born citizens, citi-zenship is neither awarded lightly nor obtained easily. And itshouldn’t be. Citizenship is too precious a treasure to hand outindiscriminately like handbills.When it comes to matters of citizenship, the Kingdom of God is no different from any other country.
Remember, the Kingdom ofGod is not a religion. It is a government with a country. Heaven isthat country, and Jesus Christ is its King. Referring to Christ, theancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote:For to us a Child is born,
to us a Son is given, and the gov-ernmentwill be on His shoulders....Of the increase of Hisgovernmentand peace there will be no end. He will reignon David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishingand upholding it with justice and righteousness from thattime on and forever... (Isaiah 9:6-7, emphasis added). Like any other country, the Kingdom of God has the principle ofcitizenship. And, like the example of America above, once peopleknow about the Kingdom, and once they understand what it is andwhat it has to offer, they clamorto get in.
This is what Jesus was referring to when He said: The Law and the
Prophets were proclaimed until John.Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God isbeing preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it(Luke 16:16).“Everyone is forcing his way into it.” Once people learn
about theKingdom of God, they can’t wait to get in! Picture in your mind allthose would-be immigrants desperately clamoring to cross the bor-der,
and then you will see what Jesus meant. Why then, someone might ask,
do we not see people clamoringto get into the churches? Why does the church as a whole seem tohave so little impact on our culture?
The reason is simple and sad.Most pastors don’t understand the Kingdom, so they don’t preach itor teach it. Consequently, most of the people in the churches don’tunderstand the Kingdom either, so they don’t model Kingdom liv-ing. My experience has been that once people know about the
Kingdom and see it modeled, they wantit!Such is the powerof
the lure of citizenship in the Kingdom ofHeaven.
BECOMING A KINGDOM CITIZEN
All nations, including kingdoms, have citizens. And all nations require immigration status. The Kingdom of God is no different. Every Kingdom citizen today is a naturalized citizen. We emigratedfrom a foreign country
a “dominion of darkness” (see Col. 1:13)where we as a race had been “exiled” ever since Adam’s rebellion inthe garden of Eden. At that time,
the human race lost citizenship inheaven. We lost our citizenship
because we lost our Kingdom, andwe lost our Kingdom because
we lost our property our territory.Don’t forget that without territory,
there is no kingdom; and withouta kingdom, there can be no kingdom citizenship.When Jesus Christ began His public ministry,
He announced that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived.
That was the only message He preached.
He brought back to earth the Kingdom we lost at Eden and gave
us access to it again. We enter the Kingdom of heaventhrough the
process that Jesus called being “born again” (see John3:3) changing our mind and turning from our rebellion againstGod, placing our trust in
Jesus for the forgiveness of our rebellion,and acknowledging
Him as Lord (Owner) of our lives. This “newbirth” gets us into the
Kingdom of Heaven.Many believers call this “being saved,” but
I think it is more help-ful here to think of the new birth as the
“naturalization” process bywhich we become Kingdom citizens.
The new birth makes us natu-ralized citizens of the Kingdom.
It also “naturalizes” us in the sensethat it returns us to our original“natural” state of authority anddominion over the earth as God intended from the start. When webecome citizens of God’s Kingdom, it means that we voluntarily align ourselves with a new government and a new country, embrac-ing its language, its ideals, and its values.The Kingdom constitution is explicit regarding our citizenship:Consequently, you are no longer foreigners
and aliens, butfellow citizenswith God’s people and members of God’shousehold (Ephesians 2:19, emphasis added).
But our citizenshipis in heaven.And we eagerly await a Savior
from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by thepower that enables
Him to bring everything under Hiscontrol, will transform our
lowly bodies so that they willbe like His glorious
body (Philippians 3:20, emphasisadded).
Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the in heritance of the saints in the kingdom oflight. For He has rescued us from
the dominion of dark-ness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves (Colossians 1:12-13, emphasis added). Not only does the new birth
make us citizens of Heaven, but our citizenship begins immediately.
We are Kingdom citizens right now.Our citizenship is a present reality.
We “are...fellow citizens withGod’s people.” “Our citizenship is in Heaven.” God “hasbrought usinto the kingdom of the Son.”Why is this so important? Here’s why: Religion postpones citizen-ship to the future.
Religious leaders tell their people, “You willbe acitizen...someday.
You willbe in the Kingdom...you will have joylater...you willbe a full citizen.
But not today. Not yet. The Kingdomhas not yet come.”They are wrong.
The Kingdom hascome. Kingdom citizenshipis never postponed.
The Kingdom of God is present and functionalon the earth right now.
If you have been “born again,” then you havebeen naturalized and are a Kingdom citizen right now. And thatmeans that all the rights, benefits,
and privileges of Kingdom citi-zenship are yours right now. You can enjoy your citizenship rightnow. You don’t have to wait until some indefinite time
in the future. You can never appropriate what you postpone.
That’s what youcall “locking up the Kingdom of God” to those
who want to get in. Itis for this reason that I am convinced that
the greatest enemy of theKingdom is religion. Religion keeps
pushing the Kingdom awayfrom people: “You can’t get in now;
you can’t experience it now; youcan’t benefit from it now;
wait until later.”And so the people suffer.That is why so many
religious people live defeated, destitute, andfrustrated lives.
They believe they have to wait for their “reward.”
DUAL CITIZENSHIP
Kingdom governments exercise jurisdiction over their citizens no matter where they are. One of the main purposes that nations maintain embassies in other countries is to provide assistance totheir citizens who are living or traveling away from home. Once, inAfrica, I had a problem and had to fly to London, England. The Bahamian embassy sent a chauffeured car to pick
me up at the air-port and put me up in a house.A dear American friend of mine who was a missionary in Mozambique years ago spent the better
part of a year in prison afterthe Communists took over the country.
Upon his release, the American embassy paid for his plane ticket home, gave him $300cash, and said, “Your wife will be waiting for you.”
If you were to visit the Bahamas and happened to lose all your money or face some other crisis, all you would have to do is turn toyour country’s embassy and they would help you. That’s what theyare there for.
One of the responsibilities of any government is to takecare of its citizens, whether at home or abroad.In a very real sense, that’s what the church is
(or what it is sup-posed to be): an embassy! The church is not a religious place. WhenJesus established His ecclesia, He did not have a religious institutionin mind. His purpose was to set up an embassy of
His Kingdom aplace where Kingdom citizens (new and old)
could receive aid, betrained in the ways, laws, language,
and customs of the Kingdom,and be equipped with the
Kingdom resources they need for effectivelife in the
Kingdom colony on earth.All Kingdom citizens carry dual citizenship.
Most governmentson earth allow dual citizenship, where citizens of one country may hold simultaneously legal citizenship in another. If you are an American or Canadian or German citizen, for example, you couldbecome
an official, legal citizen of the Bahamas without being required to give up your prior citizenship. Children born to citizensof one country who are
living in another country generally becomecitizens of both countries.
It is no different with the Kingdom of Heaven. All Kingdom cit-izens are simultaneously citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven as wellas citizens of the earthly nation of their birth or their naturaliza-tion.
We don’t give up our earthly citizenship when we become
cit-izens of the Kingdom.
And in the same way, we don’t have to be Heaven to benefit from heavenly jurisdiction. Our citizenship isconstant, and the Kingdom government exercises jurisdiction overus wherever we are.The Kingdom constitution
says that we are inthe world but notofthe world. Even though we are in a foreign territory actually, ourgovernment’s colony our registration is not here. When it says ourcitizenship is in Heaven, it means that our registration,
our officialdocumentation, is not on earth. When we are born again,
our names are written in Heaven’s “official registry” as valid confirmation thatwe are now citizens of Heaven, even though we still live in thecolony.
So even though we are physically away from the Kingdom“country,”
we are still citizens of the Kingdom. When Jesus stood before Pilate,
the Roman governor of Judea,Pilate asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (John 18:33b), towhich Jesus answered:My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place (John 18:36).
It is important to note here both what Jesus said as well as what
He did not say. He said, “My kingdom is not ofthis world”; He did notsay,
“My kingdom is not inthis world.” He said, “My kingdom is fromanother place”; He did not say, “My kingdom is not in thisplace.”
Asthe official representative of the emperor, Pilate possessed
kingly authority in Judea. Speaking as one king to another,
Jesus acknowl-edged His kingship. In fact, He stated plainly to Pilate:
You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reasonI was born,
and for this I came into the world, to testify tothe truth” (John 18:37b).
And what was that truth? The truth that the Kingdom of Heavenhad
arrived the only message Jesus preached. So Christ’s Kingdom was
in the world but not ofthe world. It was fromanother place butalso resident here on earth. It was here now, but it was not fromhere. So all
Kingdom citizens possess dual citizenship in heaven andon earth.
That status will continue until the day when the present heaven and earth pass away and the King re-creates them both.
Then there will be no more separation because the time will have come when:...the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.
They will be His people, and God himself will bewith them and be their
God (Revelation 21:3).On that day the government of heaven will exercise full domin-ion over the new earth under the co-regency of all kingdom citizens.INVISIBLE CITIZENSHIPSomeone may ask, “If the Kingdom of heaven is here now, whycan’t we see it? Why isn’t there more evidence
of it all around us?”The answer is very simple: We cannot see the
Kingdom of Heavenbecause it is invisible. And so are its citizens.
In fact, all colonial gov-ernments and citizens are invisible.
I grew up and have spent most of my life in the Bahamas.
I am aBahamian citizen who was born while the Bahamas was still part
ofthe British Commonwealth. While I was growing up, I never visitedEngland. I never visited Parliament or saw the queen. But like therest of my countrymen, I knew they were there. After all, we sangtheir songs, wore their clothes, observed their laws, learned theirhistory; but we never saw them.
So the government wasinvisible...but it was real. Just look at us today:
We speak English, wedrive on the left side of the street, and carry on
many customs andtraditions that are the legacy of our years as part of the BritishEmpire. In the Bahamas, the British government was invisible
but also influential. In the same way, the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is invisi-ble does not mean that it has no impact.
Jesus taught this truthabout the Kingdom more than once. On one occasion He illustratedit this way:What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a largeamount of flour until it worked all through the dough(Luke 13:20-21).That’s how yeast works slowly but inexorably until all thedough feels its influence. Once mixed with the dough, the yeast isinvisible, but if you think that means no impact, just try baking bread without it!People have been debating the nature and timing of the coming of the Kingdom of heaven for centuries.
It was no different in Jesus’day. One day He spoke of the
invisibility of the Kingdom in response
to a question from some of the religious leaders:
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when
theKingdom of God would come, Jesus replied,
“The kingdomof God does not come with your careful observation, norwill people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because theKingdom of God is
within you” (Luke 17:20-21).The Kingdom of God is invisible.
We cannot detect it simply byobservation. And if the Kingdom of
God resides withinits citizens,this means that all Kingdom citizens are invisible also. We bear nophysical or outward signs that broadcast to the world, “I’m aKingdom citizen!” Our citizenship must become known in otherways.One day in Ohio I shared an elevator with a lady who asked politely, “How are you?”“Fine,” I replied, and we began to talk.
“Where are you from?” she asked.“Why do you ask?” I answered.
“Because you have an accent.”She knew nothing about me until I spoke. There was no way forher to tell just by looking at me that I was Bahamian. My citizenshipwas invisible. It was my speech that clued her in to the fact that I wasnot from her “neck of the woods.” Citizenship is invisible.
The onlyway you can actually know someone is from a particular
place is bylistening to them and observing their behavior over time.
The same is true with us as Kingdom citizens. There is no wayfor
people to tell by looking at us that we are citizens of theKingdom.
Our language and our behavior should make that knownto them.
In other words, they should recognize us by our distinctculture.
Culture is a product of the language, ideals, and values of a people
or a nation. Even though people cannot recognize us as Kingdomcitizens
by our outward appearance, our distinctive language, ideals,
and values should give us away. Our culture should reflect
andreveal our citizenship as being herebut not from here,
as being intheworld but not of the world.
UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM
CONCEPT OF CITIZENSHIP
THE most awesome power and position of national privilege is citizenship. Citizenship is the most valuableasset of a nation and is not easily given because of its power and impact. All governments defend the right of citizenshipwith the same fervor because of its implications. Citizenship is not membership. Religions function on membership, while nations and kingdoms function on citizenship. In recent months immigration has become a hot topic in someparts of the world. For example, there is rising concern
among many Western Europeans that the continuing influx of
Muslim immigrants from the Middle East will soon transform
the entire religious,social, and cultural complexion of Europe.
Recent sectarian riots inFrance over unemployment and in many other European countriesover the publication of “blasphemous” cartoons of Muhammad have revealed that little cultural assimilation among those immigrants has occurred. Of even greater concern, however, is the
spectacle that has beengoing on in the United States over immigration.
For months, debateshave raged over the status of millions of illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico, who live and work in the U.S. Rallies in support of these illegals have drawn thousands out onto the streets. Some legislatorshave proposed granting all illegal aliens currently in the countryimmediate legal status and placing them on a short track toAmerican citizenship.
Others insist that the U.S. government detainand deport as many illegal immigrants as they can find and increasepatrols at the U.S.Mexican border to prevent further would be immigrants from crossing over. There are even some who have seri-ously proposed building a fence along the entire 700-mile length ofthe border.It seems that masses of people from south of the border areclamoring to get into the United States. Why? What draws them torisk life, capture, imprisonment, or deportation just to cross thatborder?
It could be many things: better jobs, higher pay, betterhealth care, greater opportunities, and an all-around better qualityof life than they feel they can get in their home country. For many, itis the lure of even the possibilityof citizenship in the most prosper-ous nation in the world.
I’m not trying to make a case either for or against the advantages or
benefits of being an American citizen. My point here is that citi-zenship
is a powerful draw. People are attracted to a nation thatappears to
promise a better life than the one they are living wherethey are.
Some people even become desperate enough to do any-thing they
have to do to become a part of that nation.So the concept of citizenship
is critical to understanding thenature of the Kingdom of heaven.
As I’ve said before, all govern-ments and kingdoms operate on
governing laws and principles.Citizenship is necessary for the validity
and legitimacy of any nation.Not only that, but citizenship is the
most sacred privilege of a nation.
THE POWER AND PRIVILEGE OF CITIZENSHIP
Citizenship has great power as well as great privileges. That iswhy people are willing to risk their lives and cross borders even tothe point of death to pursue the hope of citizenship. Citizenship isnot only sacred, but sanctified set apart. A citizen is part of anelite, privileged group. People who have
lived as “subjects” of a for-eign government rather than citizens
understand this distinctionmuch better than people who were born citizens. The same is truefor people who have worked very hard to earn the privilege tobecome a naturalized citizen of their chosen country.As a sacred privilege, citizenship is the most precious gift thatany nation can give. That’s why there are laws to protect people fromit and protect it from people.
Apart from native-born citizens, citi-zenship is neither awarded lightly nor obtained easily. And itshouldn’t be. Citizenship is too precious a treasure to hand outindiscriminately like handbills.When it comes to matters of citizenship, the Kingdom of God is no different from any other country.
Remember, the Kingdom ofGod is not a religion. It is a government with a country. Heaven isthat country, and Jesus Christ is its King. Referring to Christ, theancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote:For to us a Child is born,
to us a Son is given, and the gov-ernmentwill be on His shoulders....Of the increase of Hisgovernmentand peace there will be no end. He will reignon David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishingand upholding it with justice and righteousness from thattime on and forever... (Isaiah 9:6-7, emphasis added). Like any other country, the Kingdom of God has the principle ofcitizenship. And, like the example of America above, once peopleknow about the Kingdom, and once they understand what it is andwhat it has to offer, they clamorto get in.
This is what Jesus was referring to when He said: The Law and the
Prophets were proclaimed until John.Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God isbeing preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it(Luke 16:16).“Everyone is forcing his way into it.” Once people learn
about theKingdom of God, they can’t wait to get in! Picture in your mind allthose would-be immigrants desperately clamoring to cross the bor-der,
and then you will see what Jesus meant. Why then, someone might ask,
do we not see people clamoringto get into the churches? Why does the church as a whole seem tohave so little impact on our culture?
The reason is simple and sad.Most pastors don’t understand the Kingdom, so they don’t preach itor teach it. Consequently, most of the people in the churches don’tunderstand the Kingdom either, so they don’t model Kingdom liv-ing. My experience has been that once people know about the
Kingdom and see it modeled, they wantit!Such is the powerof
the lure of citizenship in the Kingdom ofHeaven.
BECOMING A KINGDOM CITIZEN
All nations, including kingdoms, have citizens. And all nations require immigration status. The Kingdom of God is no different. Every Kingdom citizen today is a naturalized citizen. We emigratedfrom a foreign country
a “dominion of darkness” (see Col. 1:13)where we as a race had been “exiled” ever since Adam’s rebellion inthe garden of Eden. At that time,
the human race lost citizenship inheaven. We lost our citizenship
because we lost our Kingdom, andwe lost our Kingdom because
we lost our property our territory.Don’t forget that without territory,
there is no kingdom; and withouta kingdom, there can be no kingdom citizenship.When Jesus Christ began His public ministry,
He announced that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived.
That was the only message He preached.
He brought back to earth the Kingdom we lost at Eden and gave
us access to it again. We enter the Kingdom of heaventhrough the
process that Jesus called being “born again” (see John3:3) changing our mind and turning from our rebellion againstGod, placing our trust in
Jesus for the forgiveness of our rebellion,and acknowledging
Him as Lord (Owner) of our lives. This “newbirth” gets us into the
Kingdom of Heaven.Many believers call this “being saved,” but
I think it is more help-ful here to think of the new birth as the
“naturalization” process bywhich we become Kingdom citizens.
The new birth makes us natu-ralized citizens of the Kingdom.
It also “naturalizes” us in the sensethat it returns us to our original“natural” state of authority anddominion over the earth as God intended from the start. When webecome citizens of God’s Kingdom, it means that we voluntarily align ourselves with a new government and a new country, embrac-ing its language, its ideals, and its values.The Kingdom constitution is explicit regarding our citizenship:Consequently, you are no longer foreigners
and aliens, butfellow citizenswith God’s people and members of God’shousehold (Ephesians 2:19, emphasis added).
But our citizenshipis in heaven.And we eagerly await a Savior
from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by thepower that enables
Him to bring everything under Hiscontrol, will transform our
lowly bodies so that they willbe like His glorious
body (Philippians 3:20, emphasisadded).
Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the in heritance of the saints in the kingdom oflight. For He has rescued us from
the dominion of dark-ness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves (Colossians 1:12-13, emphasis added). Not only does the new birth
make us citizens of Heaven, but our citizenship begins immediately.
We are Kingdom citizens right now.Our citizenship is a present reality.
We “are...fellow citizens withGod’s people.” “Our citizenship is in Heaven.” God “hasbrought usinto the kingdom of the Son.”Why is this so important? Here’s why: Religion postpones citizen-ship to the future.
Religious leaders tell their people, “You willbe acitizen...someday.
You willbe in the Kingdom...you will have joylater...you willbe a full citizen.
But not today. Not yet. The Kingdomhas not yet come.”They are wrong.
The Kingdom hascome. Kingdom citizenshipis never postponed.
The Kingdom of God is present and functionalon the earth right now.
If you have been “born again,” then you havebeen naturalized and are a Kingdom citizen right now. And thatmeans that all the rights, benefits,
and privileges of Kingdom citi-zenship are yours right now. You can enjoy your citizenship rightnow. You don’t have to wait until some indefinite time
in the future. You can never appropriate what you postpone.
That’s what youcall “locking up the Kingdom of God” to those
who want to get in. Itis for this reason that I am convinced that
the greatest enemy of theKingdom is religion. Religion keeps
pushing the Kingdom awayfrom people: “You can’t get in now;
you can’t experience it now; youcan’t benefit from it now;
wait until later.”And so the people suffer.That is why so many
religious people live defeated, destitute, andfrustrated lives.
They believe they have to wait for their “reward.”
DUAL CITIZENSHIP
Kingdom governments exercise jurisdiction over their citizens no matter where they are. One of the main purposes that nations maintain embassies in other countries is to provide assistance totheir citizens who are living or traveling away from home. Once, inAfrica, I had a problem and had to fly to London, England. The Bahamian embassy sent a chauffeured car to pick
me up at the air-port and put me up in a house.A dear American friend of mine who was a missionary in Mozambique years ago spent the better
part of a year in prison afterthe Communists took over the country.
Upon his release, the American embassy paid for his plane ticket home, gave him $300cash, and said, “Your wife will be waiting for you.”
If you were to visit the Bahamas and happened to lose all your money or face some other crisis, all you would have to do is turn toyour country’s embassy and they would help you. That’s what theyare there for.
One of the responsibilities of any government is to takecare of its citizens, whether at home or abroad.In a very real sense, that’s what the church is
(or what it is sup-posed to be): an embassy! The church is not a religious place. WhenJesus established His ecclesia, He did not have a religious institutionin mind. His purpose was to set up an embassy of
His Kingdom aplace where Kingdom citizens (new and old)
could receive aid, betrained in the ways, laws, language,
and customs of the Kingdom,and be equipped with the
Kingdom resources they need for effectivelife in the
Kingdom colony on earth.All Kingdom citizens carry dual citizenship.
Most governmentson earth allow dual citizenship, where citizens of one country may hold simultaneously legal citizenship in another. If you are an American or Canadian or German citizen, for example, you couldbecome
an official, legal citizen of the Bahamas without being required to give up your prior citizenship. Children born to citizensof one country who are
living in another country generally becomecitizens of both countries.
It is no different with the Kingdom of Heaven. All Kingdom cit-izens are simultaneously citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven as wellas citizens of the earthly nation of their birth or their naturaliza-tion.
We don’t give up our earthly citizenship when we become
cit-izens of the Kingdom.
And in the same way, we don’t have to be Heaven to benefit from heavenly jurisdiction. Our citizenship isconstant, and the Kingdom government exercises jurisdiction overus wherever we are.The Kingdom constitution
says that we are inthe world but notofthe world. Even though we are in a foreign territory actually, ourgovernment’s colony our registration is not here. When it says ourcitizenship is in Heaven, it means that our registration,
our officialdocumentation, is not on earth. When we are born again,
our names are written in Heaven’s “official registry” as valid confirmation thatwe are now citizens of Heaven, even though we still live in thecolony.
So even though we are physically away from the Kingdom“country,”
we are still citizens of the Kingdom. When Jesus stood before Pilate,
the Roman governor of Judea,Pilate asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (John 18:33b), towhich Jesus answered:My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place (John 18:36).
It is important to note here both what Jesus said as well as what
He did not say. He said, “My kingdom is not ofthis world”; He did notsay,
“My kingdom is not inthis world.” He said, “My kingdom is fromanother place”; He did not say, “My kingdom is not in thisplace.”
Asthe official representative of the emperor, Pilate possessed
kingly authority in Judea. Speaking as one king to another,
Jesus acknowl-edged His kingship. In fact, He stated plainly to Pilate:
You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reasonI was born,
and for this I came into the world, to testify tothe truth” (John 18:37b).
And what was that truth? The truth that the Kingdom of Heavenhad
arrived the only message Jesus preached. So Christ’s Kingdom was
in the world but not ofthe world. It was fromanother place butalso resident here on earth. It was here now, but it was not fromhere. So all
Kingdom citizens possess dual citizenship in heaven andon earth.
That status will continue until the day when the present heaven and earth pass away and the King re-creates them both.
Then there will be no more separation because the time will have come when:...the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.
They will be His people, and God himself will bewith them and be their
God (Revelation 21:3).On that day the government of heaven will exercise full domin-ion over the new earth under the co-regency of all kingdom citizens.INVISIBLE CITIZENSHIPSomeone may ask, “If the Kingdom of heaven is here now, whycan’t we see it? Why isn’t there more evidence
of it all around us?”The answer is very simple: We cannot see the
Kingdom of Heavenbecause it is invisible. And so are its citizens.
In fact, all colonial gov-ernments and citizens are invisible.
I grew up and have spent most of my life in the Bahamas.
I am aBahamian citizen who was born while the Bahamas was still part
ofthe British Commonwealth. While I was growing up, I never visitedEngland. I never visited Parliament or saw the queen. But like therest of my countrymen, I knew they were there. After all, we sangtheir songs, wore their clothes, observed their laws, learned theirhistory; but we never saw them.
So the government wasinvisible...but it was real. Just look at us today:
We speak English, wedrive on the left side of the street, and carry on
many customs andtraditions that are the legacy of our years as part of the BritishEmpire. In the Bahamas, the British government was invisible
but also influential. In the same way, the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is invisi-ble does not mean that it has no impact.
Jesus taught this truthabout the Kingdom more than once. On one occasion He illustratedit this way:What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a largeamount of flour until it worked all through the dough(Luke 13:20-21).That’s how yeast works slowly but inexorably until all thedough feels its influence. Once mixed with the dough, the yeast isinvisible, but if you think that means no impact, just try baking bread without it!People have been debating the nature and timing of the coming of the Kingdom of heaven for centuries.
It was no different in Jesus’day. One day He spoke of the
invisibility of the Kingdom in response
to a question from some of the religious leaders:
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when
theKingdom of God would come, Jesus replied,
“The kingdomof God does not come with your careful observation, norwill people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because theKingdom of God is
within you” (Luke 17:20-21).The Kingdom of God is invisible.
We cannot detect it simply byobservation. And if the Kingdom of
God resides withinits citizens,this means that all Kingdom citizens are invisible also. We bear nophysical or outward signs that broadcast to the world, “I’m aKingdom citizen!” Our citizenship must become known in otherways.One day in Ohio I shared an elevator with a lady who asked politely, “How are you?”“Fine,” I replied, and we began to talk.
“Where are you from?” she asked.“Why do you ask?” I answered.
“Because you have an accent.”She knew nothing about me until I spoke. There was no way forher to tell just by looking at me that I was Bahamian. My citizenshipwas invisible. It was my speech that clued her in to the fact that I wasnot from her “neck of the woods.” Citizenship is invisible.
The onlyway you can actually know someone is from a particular
place is bylistening to them and observing their behavior over time.
The same is true with us as Kingdom citizens. There is no wayfor
people to tell by looking at us that we are citizens of theKingdom.
Our language and our behavior should make that knownto them.
In other words, they should recognize us by our distinctculture.
Culture is a product of the language, ideals, and values of a people
or a nation. Even though people cannot recognize us as Kingdomcitizens
by our outward appearance, our distinctive language, ideals,
and values should give us away. Our culture should reflect
andreveal our citizenship as being herebut not from here,
as being intheworld but not of the world.
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