What comes to mind when you think of “citizenship”? I think of our country and the freedoms that we have. How blessed we are to be American. The song that comes to mind is Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” and the line that says “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.” We are free. Free to think what we want, say what we want, and do what we want. And as long as we don’t break the laws set up to protect the life and liberties of others, we will never lose our American citizenship and the freedom that comes with it.
Most of us rest in the security of knowing we are citizens of the United States of America. We don’t think about being physically persecuted for our faith or our desire for freedom. We’ve been given the right to exercise both, just by being American citizens.
But not all of us feel that our heavenly citizenship is secure.
Yesterday we talked about getting our Passport to Heaven. Unlike our US citizenship where we’re automatically given citizenship just by being born in America, we aren’t automatically given citizenship in Heaven just by being born into a certain family. We aren’t handed a passport when we accomplish certain things, earn merit badges, or become “good enough”.
Citizenship in Heaven is ours when we’re adopted into God’s family. It’s like an inheritance. We become children of God by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior. We then receive our passport to Heaven and our citizenship is secure.
We can’t lose our citizenship in Heaven.
It’s not something that we have to keep track of. It’s not a small booklet we have to present to God showing the stamps of good things we did. God says that once we enter into a relationship with Jesus, we become citizens of Heaven. “Our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20
Our citizenship in Heaven is secure “by the powerful name of Jesus Christ… There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12 NLT
It’s not because of who we are or what we’ve done that we’re given citizenship in Heaven. It’s because of who Jesus is and what He did for us.
We can never lose our citizenship because we make a mistake, fall back into old patterns, or wander in the dark wilderness of real life. God loves us. And He always will. He wants us to be with Him in Heaven. So once we accept His gift of salvation and become citizens of Heaven, He keeps the proof of our citizenship in Heaven with Him. We can’t lose it.
Don’t ever think you’re not good enough to be accepted by God as His child. Don’t ever think that you could have done something that caused you to lose your heavenly citizenship. God can never love us more, and He can never love us less. He loves us completely. No matter where we’ve been. No matter where we are. No matter what we’ve done. But we have to turn to Him.
If you’re not sure if you’re a citizen of Heaven, ask Jesus into your life today. Start a relationship with Him. Learn about Him in God’s Word. Pray through the Scriptures in today’s blog.
And rest easy tonight knowing you are a citizen of Heaven. If you believe Jesus is your Savior, you will never lose that inheritance. No matter what.
“… into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade––kept in Heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:4
May I pray?
Jesus, we don’t often think about our citizenship because we take it for granted. But Lord, when it comes to our citizenship in Heaven, sometimes we’re not sure what to believe. Help us to understand the truth of Your gift to us. That by coming to You and accepting Jesus as our Savior, we are automatically given citizenship in Heaven. And we can never lose it. For those who aren’t sure if they have inherited heavenly citizenship, please draw them close to You today and open up the truth in Your Word. For those who know their citizenship is secure, may they not take their citizenship for granted but instead offer their lives as living testimonies to Your forgiveness and grace. Amen.
Q4U: What comes to mind when you think of citizenship?