May 11 – Philippians 3:20-4:1
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 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. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!”
We continue to read and hear that we are aliens in an alien culture. Our citizenship – our home is in heaven, while we simply reside here on earth. Those folks from yesterday who are only mindful of earthly things face destruction while we will be safe in the New Jerusalem.
Paul says that we eagerly await a Savior from there. The words ‘eagerly await’ are translated from a Greek word that gives us the image of standing on tiptoe with anticipation. This is as exciting as waking up on Christmas morning and peering into a room filled with a brightly lit tree and presents overflowing underneath. We can hardly stand it, we are so filled with anticipation.
The Savior will return. He has the power to bring everything under his control and one day will transform the bodies that we have grown used to, though they bring us pain and limit our freedoms, into something like his glorious body.
Even the most athletic person can anticipate the freedom that comes with this transformation. No more pain, no more limitation … movement is no longer limited, thought processes are no longer limited by the slowness of the brain’s synapses. We can barely contemplate the differences, in fact there really is no way to comprehend this, but Paul tells us that THIS is how we should stand firm in the Lord.
When the world tells us that we can’t be who want to be, or do what we want to do and when the world drags us down into the muck and mire of sin, pain and loss; we are reminded of this tiptoe, breathless anticipation that we feel as we wait for the Savior to return to take us into heaven. The day is coming, the time is at hand … the Savior will return!
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 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. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!”
We continue to read and hear that we are aliens in an alien culture. Our citizenship – our home is in heaven, while we simply reside here on earth. Those folks from yesterday who are only mindful of earthly things face destruction while we will be safe in the New Jerusalem.
Paul says that we eagerly await a Savior from there. The words ‘eagerly await’ are translated from a Greek word that gives us the image of standing on tiptoe with anticipation. This is as exciting as waking up on Christmas morning and peering into a room filled with a brightly lit tree and presents overflowing underneath. We can hardly stand it, we are so filled with anticipation.
The Savior will return. He has the power to bring everything under his control and one day will transform the bodies that we have grown used to, though they bring us pain and limit our freedoms, into something like his glorious body.
Even the most athletic person can anticipate the freedom that comes with this transformation. No more pain, no more limitation … movement is no longer limited, thought processes are no longer limited by the slowness of the brain’s synapses. We can barely contemplate the differences, in fact there really is no way to comprehend this, but Paul tells us that THIS is how we should stand firm in the Lord.
When the world tells us that we can’t be who want to be, or do what we want to do and when the world drags us down into the muck and mire of sin, pain and loss; we are reminded of this tiptoe, breathless anticipation that we feel as we wait for the Savior to return to take us into heaven. The day is coming, the time is at hand … the Savior will return!
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