Citizens of Heaven
by Bob Gaudi
One of my best friends, Bob F., is a retired Navy Chaplain. He’s quite knowledgeable and an avid historian. Bob writes a devotional each weekday and sends it to a growing list of people who enjoy his mix of historical fact and Biblical wisdom. He shared this devotional on April 28 of this year and I am using it with his permission. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If you would like to read more of Bob’s musings, e-mail me and I’ll send you a link where you can sign up. It’s free.
Citizens of Heaven
“For 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.” —Philippians 3:20-21
One of the hot button issues facing us today in the United States is the rush to get a Real ID. That is a government-issued card which shows that you are indeed a citizen of the United States. Unfortunately, something as simple as an ID has, like everything else, become politicized for one reason or another. With this ID, it gives the authority to let people fly legally on airplane trips within the United States and proves that the person using it is indeed who he or she says they are. This is not anything new because the ancient Romans had problems with the same thing. For anyone who has had their identity stolen, this was and still is a serious thing.
At the time of Nero (AD 54-68), even though his picture was on coins and statues all over the Roman empire, there were three people who pretended to be him. It caused quite a stir and a couple of rebellions were put down because of it. For a common Roman citizen however, there were a couple of ways to prove who they said they were in case of mistaken identity. Each child whose parents were citizens was automatically free born and a citizen. The parents within 30 days of birth had to go to the local authorities at a village or city and had to have 7 witnesses with them to verify the identity of the child. Once proven, the city made a record of the date and the name of the child. A local copy was kept in the city archives while a copy went to the tabularium (a building for record-keeping) in Rome. Another way was when an emperor made a freedom decree for an individual or a group for citizenship, and this decree with the names of those who were freed was recorded and kept in the archives of the capital of the province.
Time and space prevent us from telling of other ways Romans proved their citizenship, but the important thing to note is the importance of having citizenship. It was something sought out and considered precious which granted certain privileges and rights from the State. In Phil 3:20-21, the Apostle Paul uses this illustration of being a citizen with that of a Christian who has put their faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person does that, they become an automatic citizen of Heaven by their new birth, just like a free born Roman child did. Not only that, but our name is also then written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in Heaven. No one can ever contest that pedigree. One of the privileges of being a Christian is that a person belongs now to the Lord and the Lord will take care of the person for the rest of eternity. Not only in eternity, but with a glorified body just like Christ. Not a bad deal! So folks, hurry out and get your truly REAL ID in the Lord today!! It’s worth the time to get it!
[See Mt 6:33, Jn 18:36, and Eph 2:18-19 for a bit more regarding the Kingdom of which we are citizens.]
Heavenly Father, thank You for making us citizens of Your Kingdom through our faith in Jesus Christ. Through Your Holy Spirit, enable us to faithfully serve as Your subjects, worshiping and praising You now and for eternity. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.