David Needham, in his book titled “Birthright” says…

“At the moment (you put your faith in Jesus for salvation) a new person came into being who had never existed before.  You are not a repaint job, but a brand new creature.  The old you was crucified on the cross with Christ.  The new you was born of the Holy Spirit and has been raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenlies.  You were dead spiritually; now you are alive spiritually.  For the first time you are alive the way God meant you to be alive.”

I think that David Needham’s quote here is a good summary of one of the things we’ve been trying to get across throughout our summer message series on identity…that the moment you put your faith in Jesus for salvation, you are not just forgiven and going to heaven one day but you become a brand new creation in Christ and have a new identity…a rock solid, foundational identity that cannot be changed by your situations or circumstances…

And so over the last several wks we have talked about this identity we have in Christ and how we are identified as children of God who are not sinners saved by grace but rather completely forgiven saints who sometimes sin. 

And these things are foundational for us to know as Christians because we live out what we believe to be true about us…and many of you have told me over the last several weeks how freeing and life-giving it has been to learn these truths about your identity and the difference it is making in the way you live out your walk with Christ.

And so it’s been really good to grow in our understanding and awareness of our identity in Christ, and I hope that if you have missed any of these messages that you will go back and watch them online so that we can all grow together and be on the same page as we live out our faith together.  And I also hope that if you have never accepted Christ into your life, that you will see more about what it looks like to receive Jesus into your life and to walk by faith and the difference it can make in your life.

And so this morning as we continue to learn more about our identity and who we become the moment we put our faith in Christ for salvation, I want us to focus on what Scripture says about citizenship and our identity as citizens.

We have of course been focusing this morning on it being July 4 and expressing our gratitude to God for our country and those who have fought for the freedoms we have as American citizens. 

And it’s been good, and these are things we can participate in and share in together, but I want us to explore a little bit more about our identity being found in being American citizens versus what Scripture says about citizenship and our identity.

And I want you to see something that the apostle Paul tells the church at Philippi in his letter to them that we have in the New Testament of our bibles…

But before we read it, let me tell you a little bit about the historical situation during this time in Philippi.  See, Philippi was a colony of actual citizens of Rome.  And this is important to know b/c not all people who had been conquered by the Roman Empire during this time lived as actual citizens but the people here did…which meant they got special privileges as actual citizens.   

And so the people were grateful and they showed allegiance to Rome…and they took pride in being citizens of the Roman Empire…you might even say that most of them found their identity in being a Roman citizens.

But look at what the apostle Paul writes to the church there in Philippians 3:20…

20 But our citizenship is in heaven.

He says that their citizenship is not actually in Rome but in heaven! Now, how is that possible?  If heaven is a place people go when they die, then how could Paul say that they were already a citizen of heaven now?

Because Paul was talking about this in a spiritual sense… That they were already spiritually citizens of heaven b/c they are already spiritually seated there with Christ.  He mentions this in several other places…Colossians 3:1…

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Paul says “you have been raised with Christ” already…in other words you are already spiritually seated in heaven.  You are a citizen of heaven.  Paul goes on in Ephesians 2 and says this in verse 6…

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…

And then look at what Paul goes on to say just a few verses later in the same chapter.  He is writing about the work that God did through Jesus to bring the Gentiles into His family and to bring Jews and Gentiles together and he says…

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:14-20)

Again, the language of, “you are citizens of God’s heavenly family.”  And it’s a family of ALL NATIONS…Both Jews and Gentiles from all parts of the world…

Okay, let’s look at a few others…Look at what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9-11

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God…11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners”…

Peter says, “you are no longer primarily identified as citizens of this world, you are temporary residents b/c your citizenship is now in heaven.

And then finally look at what Paul says again in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

We are no longer primary citizens of this world or whatever country we live in, we are ambassadors. 

We live in this world and in the country we live in as a citizen of heaven…representing where we are now from to those who live in that place.

So, I think you are getting the point that Scripture makes over and over again about your identity and citizenship…

IN CHRIST, YOU ARE A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN

Now, you and I may live in the United States of America and we may be a citizen of this country…but it is no longer our primary citizenship…our primary citizenship is found in heaven.

So our identity is not found first and foremost in being American citizens.

We are not “American Christians,” we are “Christians who live in America as ambassadors,” and Jesus is living in us and through us to show His love and mercy and grace that is available to those who have not received it yet.

And so, here is what I want us to think about…when it comes to celebrating our American citizenship and the freedoms we have, we can certainly do that and I think we should do that…

BUT there are also some things that this means we need to be careful about as we do and things we need to think about with our primary citizenship being that of heaven and not as Americans. 

So let me quickly highlight 3 things…

1.      WE WORSHIP CHRIST, NOT AMERICA

If our identity is found in being an American citizen, then we will tend to worship the United States of America.  Because we will be drawing our meaning and purpose from America, we will worship it and need it to matter and be significant b/c we think it is giving us a sense of purpose.

But we are first and foremost citizens of heaven, and the King of the Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus…and so He is who we worship and He is who we draw our meaning and purpose from.

So, let’s be careful in the way we celebrate and talk about America…

We can talk about it and love America and be grateful for where God has placed us as ambassadors, but as we look at the way we are doing it, if it creeps into more of a worship of America over Christ, then that is probably not coming from Jesus but our flesh and the ruler of this world.

Okay, so that’s the first thing…Jesus in us and through us will lead us to worship Him, not the country He placed us in.

Here’s the 2nd thing…

2.      WE HUMBLY CELEBRATE AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP & VALUE/LOVE/SERVE ALL PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Here’s what I mean.  Sometimes it feels like when we celebrate the U.S. that we do so in a prideful way as if to say we are better than the other parts of the world. 

We see ourselves as greater people in some way and look down on other countries and other people.

But again, if our primary identity is found in being an American then we will need to act as if that is true b/c it would be how we find our meaning and purpose…we are better than you and you are the enemy…

But listen, did you know that you have more in common with someone who is Christian and a citizen of China than you have in common with someone is not a Christian and is an American citizen?

B/C again our true identity is found in who we are in Christ…

and if our primary identity is found in being a citizen of heaven, then we can humbly celebrate where we live and still value other parts of the world and still love and serve people all over the world.

Matthew 28 tells us that we are to “go and make disciples of ALL NATIONS.” 

We are to value the people in other places as those created in the image of God and love them and serve them, not lord it over them.

And as we keep our focus on Christ and who we are in Him, then He will lead us to do just that.

So, let’s #1 worship Christ not America, and #2, let’s let Christ work through us to humbly celebrate where He placed us here in America and to love and serve all people from all places around the world.

Finally, here’s the 3rd implication of our primary identity being that of citizens of heaven and not of the U.S.A….

3.      WE GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES, NOT OUR VERSION OF BETTER AMERICAN CITIZENS

Let’s be honest, we all have kind of our version of what it looks like to be the best American citizen we could be.

What political party you should belong to

What you do or don’t do with the flag

What you do or don’t do with the National Anthem

How you support or don’t support certain groups in the country

And on and on and on…and for many of us, even as Christians it seems like the primary goal we have in life is to convince people we are right about the best way to live as an American citizen and to bring them over to our way of thinking and doing things!

And we make comments to other people and we make post after post on social media about all of the wrong ways people are living as American citizens and post after post about the right way to do things as American citizens…

And we spend so much time talking about and posting about how bad of a person so and so is as a part of this political party and the policies they are implementing or want to implement…

And then we gang up with as many people who believe the same way about these kinds of things as we do and we talk about them with pure hatred and as if they are our enemies…

But listen, we said a second ago that you have more in common with someone living in a different country who is a Christian than what you have in common with someone who is not a Christian and lives in America…

Well the same is true along political lines as well…you have more in common with someone who is a Christian and not part of your political party than you do with someone who is not a Christian and a member of your political party.

But that is not how we tend to see it, and we focus so much of our time sometimes on trying to convince people how they could be better American citizens…In other words, we are spending most of our time trying to make disciples of America (our version of it) instead of making disciples of Christ.

And that is a reflection of us not understanding our identity.  That is a misunderstanding that our primary identity is found in being a citizen of the U.S.A instead of understanding that we are a citizen of heaven who is an ambassador in the U.S.A

And when we understand that, then we will begin to see the shift from spending all of our energy trying to convince people about the best way to live as American citizens to spending our time and energy allowing Christ to  work in us and through us to make disciples of Him.

And listen, even if you were right…even if you could justify that this was a better Christian way of living as American citizens and therefore you saw the other side and those who live differently as enemies…

Remember that Jesus taught us to love our enemies and to serve them.  He is at work in your union with Him on teaching you to love people no matter how they live as American citizens and to serve them and share the gospel with them.

So…let’s celebrate July 4…

let’s celebrate the freedoms we have and the people who have given their lives in service to our country to provide the freedoms we do have…

Let’s live being grateful of the place the Lord allows us to live and how He wants us to live as citizens of this country He has placed us in…

Let’s do all of these things…

BUT let’s not worship America over Christ…let’s not live in pride over people in other parts of the world…and let’s look for Jesus to make disciples through us instead of us trying to make better American citizens…

Let’s be about His Kingdom work that He is doing in and through us in our country and place of residence and all throughout the world.