The first three chapters of Ephesians leans heavily on what we have received and are in Christ, and the last three on how we should live and walk in Christ. 2:19 brings us to a great ending spot for our series of fifteen things we are in Christ, saying that we are “…fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” We are fellow-Christians, and relatives not only of one another but also of Christ Himself and Father God! In part five of this series we covered being adopted into God’s family. Today we look at this from a little different angle, that of becoming a citizen. Here in the United States when a citizen family adopts a child under 18 from a foreign country who is a legal permanent resident when the adoption is completed, that child automatically becomes a citizen of the United States and can immediately apply for a Social Security number and partake of all the benefits of the country! The process of the kingdom of heaven works in the same way; the Bible says “Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners…” Immediately when we are made part of God’s family we are declared saints and citizens giving us access to every benefit of this new kingdom country, even though for some things we have to go through the maturing process before receiving them, just like a child growing up into maturity! At the moment God places the seal of the Holy Spirit upon our “citizenship papers” marked with the blood of Jesus we are guaranteed our future inheritance, as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:22 “who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee”, the Holy Spirit giving us a down payment, a guarantee, a foretaste, of heavenly things yet to come of which we begin to partake now, if and as we “follow on to know the Lord” Hosea 6:3 KJV.
I have a family
By Rose Hill
What a blessing it is to be,
Part of God’s family.
And in His delightful presence to dwell,
Being assured He makes all things well.
Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.