Citizens of the Kingdom Part 2

My previous article introduced the biblical concept that the gospel is about the Kingdom of God. I summarized some of Jesus’ stories or parables describing His Kingdom. We saw that the Kingdom is here but also coming when Jesus returns to earth. I stated that I would attempt to discuss the practicalities of our citizenship in this article. What do I mean about practicalities? They would include how being citizens impacts our daily lives as saints.

Why is it crucial or even beneficial that we understand that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God? This question may be one you had after reading the first article. I believe it is a necessary question to answer because it represents our understanding of the gospel message of Jesus and who we are as His saints.

I sometimes hear that Jesus turned the world upside down through his earthly ministry. It is more accurate to realize that He turned the world right side up for those who enter His Kingdom. Also, my experience is that the Evangelical church often limits the church’s and individual Christians’ purpose to some type of mission, such as evangelism or social justice. However, we see a much larger picture of our lives when we view the gospel of Jesus coming as the long-awaited King and bringing His Kingdom.

There are many ways that our citizenship affects our daily lives. The approach I will take is to look at one of Jesus’ parables in more detail. All the stories provide a high-level picture of the Kingdom and intertwine to explain life with Christ as King. Nevertheless, I will focus on one of the stories and refer to supporting Scriptures. Because I typically write to people who are already saints, I would like to look at the parable of the wheat and the tares.[1]

The story tells of a man who sows good wheat seeds in his field. Then an enemy sows bad seeds for a plant called darnel or tares. The servants come to their master and ask if they should collect the harmful plants. The master says, “don’t collect the bad plants because you may uproot the wheat along with the darnel.” An important consideration about darnel is that it closely resembles wheat until both plants mature. The darnel becomes evident when the good seeds sprout and show their grain. The master says to wait until the harvest when the darnel will be separated from the wheat and burned while the wheat will be gathered into his barn.

The first thing to consider is the identity of the person who sowed the good seed. Often in the parables, the protagonist is God. So, in this story, God has planted good seeds representing His people. However, an enemy, in this case, Satan, has sowed bad seeds; these are the people under his power. The interesting thing about this parable is that the plants from both seeds appear similar until they mature. People who belong to God and those under the devil’s power can seem similar. They are both human, so they are similar in many ways. However, there is a significant difference between the two. So, when the time is appropriate, likely at the final judgment, the good and the bad will be separated. One group will be burned (whether literally or figuratively, I’m not sure), and the other gathered into God’s possession.

What are the practicalities of this message for our lives in the Kingdom? First, we who are in Christ are God’s people. But, the people of the world, who are under the power of the evil one, surround us.[2] This observation may seem obvious, but when we look at the idea of being similar but separate, it tells a lot about who we are. This reality is the concept of sanctification and holiness. Both words are translated from the same Greek root word in the New Testament, hagios. To sanctify is to make holy, which means to purify and to separate for God and from impure or common things.

Shortly before being crucified, Jesus prayed for His apostles and those who believed in Him through them. He affirmed that they were not of the world as He was not of the world. Jesus said that He sanctified Himself for their sakes that they may be sanctified in truth. [3] This separation from the world also applies to us as saints. We are set apart as holy; it is something that happened when we were born from above.[4]

Often we are told or believe that sanctification means sinlessness. An aspect of sanctification certainly relates to sin, but being holy is so much more than not sinning. It is beneficial to look at our sanctification in two ways, how we are different and our purpose. You will likely see a theme in this article and my other writing that the church tends to limit our identity and purpose to something less than God’s description in the Scriptures. Stated concisely, we are new creations, and our purpose is to glorify God.[5] But because we want to look at the practicalities of how we live as citizens of Christ’s Kingdom, we need to get more specific.

We live differently from the world because we are different. Again, this statement may seem obvious. However, in my experience, the saints often fail to realize the extent of our difference from the world. We may even believe that to be different, we must first act differently. This way of thinking of our holiness is backward. We are a new creation created for good works.[6] We are children of God and siblings with Jesus.[7] We have been freed from sin.[8] These are just a few aspects of our sanctification.

When we understand our sanctification in light of our rebirth as entirely new people, we will approach how we live differently. Instead of placing burdens or obligations on ourselves to behave in specific ways, we discover that we desire to live right because Christ has given us new hearts prone to righteousness.[9] When we approach our behavior from this positive perspective, we are more inclined to behave in line with our true identity in Christ. For example, we want to treat others with respect and love. We are willing to confront each other with the truth because we have the best interest of each other. We also view day-to-day events differently.

We look at our activities in light of who we are in Christ. We realize the actions of the world may or may not be in our best interest. God gives us good things to enjoy along with the rest of humanity. Like others, whether Christians or not, we have work, recreation, food, drink, friends, etc. The difference is that the saints approach these gifts for our benefit, the benefit of others, and to glorify God. There is a balance, of course. Overindulgence or overemphasis, even on God’s good gifts, is detrimental and may even be idolatrous. In addition, while we have the freedom to enjoy life’s pleasures, we are careful not to negatively impact the conscience of our brothers or sisters in Christ.[10]

Of course, there are certain activities that we don’t participate in because they are inherently damaging. The apostle Peter lists such activities in one of his letters. [11] The world will expect us to join in because that is what we used to do. They will be surprised when we don’t indulge with them anymore and will “heap abuse on us.” Our lack of participation in these worthless activities is not a sacrifice for us. On the contrary, the desire for these activities is not part of our new nature and will suck the life out of us. We avoid harmful practices to experience life as it is meant to be. Who we are and how we live are inextricably linked to our purpose.

When we consider our purpose, as stated earlier, we often limit it to one aspect of what God has for us. I have often heard leaders in the church speak of being on mission. Typically, they purport the church’s mission, unsurprisingly, as evangelism. Sometimes the mission is social justice, but this is often a pretense to evangelize. But this idea of mission is too narrow for the church. I have written about these ideas in past articles, so I won’t go into detail here.[12] Evangelism is a part of our life, but it is not our mission. To be more specific, personal evangelism is rarely mentioned in the New Testament, and when it is it is connected to how we live.[13] Also, taking care of our neighbor is natural for the saints due to who we are. But our role as citizens of the Kingdom is so much more.

As citizens, our role is to glorify God in everything we do and to reign with Him forever.[14] The apostle Peter tells the saints we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”[15] We proclaim God’s virtues by how we live.[16]

How we live cannot be separated from who we are “in Christ.” He is in us, and we are in Him; we have life in Him.[17] As a holy nation, we live with Christ as King. He is not a king who rules His people haughtily like the world’s kings. He is a servant King, and we are like Him. We serve each other in love. In the beginning, humanity was to rule the world as God’s agents.[18] God has redeemed us to renew this purpose. As stated earlier, we will also reign with Jesus.[19]

We are a royal priesthood. The priests of the Old Covenant were put in place to minister to God and as a go-between for the people and God. Under Mosaic law, these priests had to be from the lineage of Aaron, Moses’ brother. The priests needed to consecrate and purify themselves to perform their function before God. They had to offer sacrifices daily for their sins and the people’s sins. They also performed sacrifices as offerings for peace and thanksgiving. However, the priesthood of Jesus superseded the Aaronic priesthood.

Jesus was not from the priestly line of Aaron but became our High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, a priestly king.[20] Melchizedek was a priest who Abraham honored well before the time of Moses. As High Priest, Jesus entered the holy of holies once and for all as the ultimate offering for sin.[21] Jesus’ sacrifice is how we have been made holy.[22]

Now, as priests ourselves, we no longer make sacrifices for sins. This offering was made once and for all by Jesus. Instead, we offer sacrifices to God by how we live[23] and praise Him.[24] Being a royal priesthood and holy nation encompasses our purpose as citizens of the Kingdom of Christ. We serve God and our fellow saints and glorify God in the world.

I hope and pray this article helps you see your identity and purpose as a citizen of the Kingdom. Next time we will discuss a current and controversial aspect of our life in Christ. We will look at our citizenship by how we deal with worldly government. God bless you as you ponder your citizenship in the Kingdom of God.

[1] Matthew 13:24–30
[2] 1 John 5:18–21
[3] John 17
[4] 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, Romans 15:14–16, Acts 26:12–18
[5] Romans 15, 1 Corinthians 6:12–20, 1 Corinthians 10:23–33, 2 Corinthians 15
[6] Galatians 6:12–16, Ephesians 2
[7] John 1, 1 John 3, Mark 3, Romans 8
[8] Romans 6
[9] Romans 6, Titus 2:11–14
[10] 1 Corinthians 8, 10
[11] 1 Peter 4
[12] See The Mission of the Church Parts 1 – 3
[13] For example, 1 Peter 3:8–16
[14] Psalm 145, Revelation 22
[15] 1 Peter 2:9, NET
[16] 1 Peter 2
[17] John 17, Romans 8, Galatians 3:23–29
[18] Genesis 1
[19] Revelation 5
[20] Genesis 14, Hebrews 5–7
[21] Hebrews 8–9
[22] Hebrews 10
[23] Romans 12
[24] Hebrews 13:15–16