You may know that feeling when you’ve been traveling on a long journey and you open the door to your home and…ahhhhh….there’s that feeling of relief, rest, and contentment. You suddenly remember that there really is no place like home. There’s also a coming-of-age phenomenon many people discover after they go off to college or move out on their own and then they’re back at their childhood “home” in their “hometown,” and yet can’t wait to go back to their new city or home. Home isn’t home anymore.
Sisters and brothers, this is our life as believers in Christ. Our once-home is no longer home and we eagerly await the day we will find true relief as we enter our true home. In Christ, we come to have a new identity, a new way of life, and a new longing.
A New Identity: Citizens of God
We were once “following the course of this world, following the prince of power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). We belonged to this world, and were separated from God, shut out from his Kingdom, and without a share in his promises (Ephesians 2:12). But by the blood of Jesus, we have been brought near to God, given a new identity as a part of his household, and granted a new citizenship in him.
Ephesians 2:19-20 tells us, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” At one time, we were citizens of this world and strangers and aliens to God. But through Jesus Christ – through his grace lavished upon us when we trust in his death and resurrection – we become members of his household, citizens of God.
We relinquish our citizenship on earth for a better citizenship. We join the long list of people of faith who “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth…seeking a homeland…desir[ing] a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:13-16). In Christ, we are no longer strangers to God, but we become strangers and aliens on earth. Our new citizenship changes our identity, our loyalties, our rights, privileges, and our sense of belonging. As citizens of God, our new reality is that our once-home isn’t home anymore.
A New Life: Strangers and Exiles
In light of our new citizenship, what does our life look like? In short, it looks different from the lives of others around us. My husband and I were recently in Paris and enjoyed playing our made-up people-watching game of “Guess who is American.” We would watch the way people interacted and their mannerisms, observe their clothing styles and brands, look at how they handled themselves in the French culture, and guess if they were American or French or some other nationality. If they opened their mouth and spoke, it was usually a dead giveaway. When you are in a country that is not your own, you stand out. You look different from the natives around you. You talk and act differently. You have different attitudes about what’s appropriate or inappropriate. You dress differently. And you feel a little uncomfortable and out of place. As believers in Christ, citizens of a heavenly country, shouldn’t we stand out from the rest of the world? Shouldn’t we talk, dress, think, and act differently than the world? While we were once strangers and exiles to God, in Christ we are now strangers and exiles to this world.
Christian, don’t be scared of this. Don’t fear looking different from the rest of the world. You are not a citizen here. We can’t help but be different because we believe in a life-altering gospel and follow a completely counter-cultural Jesus. The teachings of Jesus go against our flesh and against our culture: righteousness by faith vs. self-righteousness, dependence on God and community vs. individualism, moral absolutism vs. moral relativism, laying down our lives vs. living for ourselves, eternal rewards vs. material gain. Our new citizenship from our relationship with Jesus utterly shifts our values to his values. And sometimes these clash with the values of our culture. We cannot – even if disguised as for the sake of Jesus – compromise the truth of Jesus so we can comfortably fit in.
Jesus told his followers, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19). While we should give no sinful reason for the world to hate us, if we’re following Jesus, it’s certain to happen. He is not of this world and has called us out of this world; he called us to be set apart. We must strive to look more like the citizens of the heavenly country we belong to – namely, Jesus – rather than striving to look more like the citizens of the world to which we no longer belong. As strangers and exiles to this world, our lives should reflect the reality that our once-home isn’t home anymore.
A New Longing: Desiring a Better Country
We don’t belong on earth, but we do belong somewhere. Along with our new citizenship and a new life, we also have a new longing – a longing to be at home. We long for the day when we will find our ultimate rest, relief, and contentment as we walk in through the door of our true home. Hebrews says that the citizens of God desire a “better country, a heavenly one.”
While we still await that home, we get glimpses of it here on earth. Jesus said that “if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). While we look forward to our heavenly home, we also have God making his home in us through the Holy Spirit. We are the temple of God, his dwelling place. We can find our rest, relief, and contentment even now in Jesus because he is our true home and he is with us.
One day our new citizenship in Christ will be fully revealed, and we eagerly anticipate that day. We long to enter into our true home and for the rest, joy, contentment, relief we find in Jesus will be brought to completion – like coming home after a long journey. Our current reality is that we are no longer strangers and exiles to God, but our future reality is that we will no longer be strangers and exiles on earth either.
Jesus: Stranger, Exile, Alien
We rejoice in our new citizenship, our new life, and our true home, but we also know the extent Jesus went through to give us those things. Jesus voluntarily left his heavenly home, where he belonged, to come to earth as a stranger and exile. Jesus left his true home to give us a home. He was separated from God and alienated from God on the cross so that we who were strangers and exiles to God might be made into the citizens and household of God.
Reflection questions:
- Think about what it means to be a citizen of a country. What aspect of citizenship to God do you praise God for?
- Do you live and act like a stranger to this world? What are some areas where you’re tempted to be conformed to the world, rather than to Christ?
- What makes you long (or not long) for our heavenly home? Spend some time praying and looking forward to the day we will be at home with our God.