Our meditation notes this week: ' Citizenship '
PHILIPPIANS 3:17-21
Join with
others in following my
example, brothers, and take note of
those who live according to the
pattern we gave
you. For, as I have often told you before
and now say again even with
tears, many live as enemies
of the cross of
Christ.
Their
destiny is destruction, their
god is their stomach, and their glory
is in their shame.
Their mind is on
earthly things.
But our
citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Saviour
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.
How do we define citizenship? It has to do with certain distinctive features that makes an individual or group of individuals different from others. Here Paul describes the Christian life in terms of citizenship.
He refers to a fraternity marked by a 'pattern'. This 'pattern' is related to a central and focal denominator. By contrast there are those who have a 'pattern' which is different. They are ignorant of or opposed to the central and focal denominator....they are enemies. This of course is an 'anti' citizen term.
The 'pattern' of one is driven from below. The 'pattern' of the other is driven from above. There is a 'bias'; a 'magnetic field'; and 'ethos' which characterizes.
Let's unpack the issues of the fraternity 'pattern' motivated by the cross of Christ.
|
|
life / birth | loyalty / love | protectorate / sovereignty | hope / aspiration. |
|
Christian
|
Heavenly | Lord Jesus Christ | His power | Like Him |
|
Non Christian
|
Earthly | Stomach | Shame | Destruction |
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