What does it mean to be a Citizen of Heaven?
citizen
/ˈsɪtɪz(ə)n/
noun
Ephesians 2:19
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household”
Have you ever been on a holiday, far away from home, or maybe you’ve left home to go to university, and in the middle of you living your best life, you suddenly get this unsettled feeling of longing? Like something is missing? Yup – you’re homesick. It’s a natural response to being away from home for a longer period of time, and believe it or not, we sometimes feel this way about our Heavenly home as well.
There are often times that we as Christians long to be home, in our Heavenly home, with God. Not in the morbid, death wish type of way, but rather in the sense of knowing and longing for completeness and fullness in God. In Ephesians, Paul talks about our citizenship in Heaven saying “so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household”. While life on earth is all we have ever known, it is not our home.
Our life on earth is much like a camping trip – uncomfortable, dirty and temporary – but ultimately, our home is with God in Heaven. This fact should change our perspective entirely.
One of the beauties of being a kingdom citizen is that all the rights and privileges stolen by the devil is restored in its fullness at salvation.
The thing is, much like we represent our family when we are away from them, we represent God here on Earth, while we are away from Him. So in it’s own simplicity, that’s what it means to be citizens of Heaven – to represent God here on Earth until we return to Heaven.