Citizens Of Heaven

As believers in Christ, we are citizens of another country and subjects of our glorious King. Our loyalty does not belong to an earthly kingdom, or tethered to nationalistic obligations. Our loyalty belongs to Jesus Christ, and our citizenship belongs to Heaven. We are simply sojourners, enduring the prelude before the main act, placed on this earth for a brief life-span, to accomplish His objectives and to advance His Kingdom. To be fixated on earthly things that will pass away is a fool's quest and a waste of our true talents. Instead we should fix our hearts on the coming king, longing for Jesus to restore creation to His standards once again. Our relationship with Jesus, and all the gifts that He freely gives us as recipients of His grace is all that matters. 

Our eternal home is a gift from God, but it is only through faith in the sacrificial blood of Jesus that we have a full assurance of our heavenly inheritance. Our heavenly citizenship does not depend on any of our own works, but on His work. The passage to heaven is not an open way to all, but is available to all who place their allegiance, trust, and devotion to Jesus Christ. 

"What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"  (Mark 8:36 NIV)

Imago Dei

Our highest dignity and purpose can only be found in the identity we have received from God, and no other identity formed or edited by us can even come close. Here the formulas of addition and subtraction are flipped and the will of God is seen in its glory. For only when we lose ourselves can we then become the highest and purest creature that God originally intended for us to become. For if we have been made by God, then no shadow or facsimile identity can ever satisfy - yet the core will of man is opposed to the things of God and our flesh must be put to death daily for us to achieve our glorification through the will of God. 

"Image of God" or "Imago Dei", which is the latin translation, has its origins in Genesis 1:27, wherein "God created man in his own image..." This biblical passage does not imply that God is in anyway human, but that humans were created in the image of God in their moral, spiritual, and intellectual essence. Thus, humans reflect God's divine nature in their ability to achieve the unique characteristics with which they have been endowed. These God-given qualities make humans different than all other creatures: free will, rational understanding, creative liberty, the capacity for self-actualization, and the potential for self-transcendence.

C. S. Lewis

When impressed with my own talents and ego, (which admittedly doesn't occur as often as I've gotten older but still happens more frequently than it should), I sometimes think back upon an essay that I wrote in college featuring the creativity of C.S. Lewis. 

In the late seventies I was not only living primarily for myself, I was foolishly apathetic about the presence of God in my life. God, of course, would not allow this choice to proceed unchecked, yet in His mercy He allowed me a rope of some substance, so that when I reached its end the pain would be substantial enough as to generate a recalibration of my passions and priorities. 

Yet what I find interesting is that even during this time of rebellion of The Truth, I found myself drawn to the books of C.S. Lewis, on of the great apologists of our time. My first journey into his creative world was found through his science fiction series, "The Cosmic Trilogy" and then his seven volume series, "The Chronicles of Narnia", followed by "The Great Divorce", "The Screwtape Letters", "Mere Christianity," and finally what I consider one of the pinnacles of his writings, "The Problem of Pain." (My personal favorite among his non-fictional works)

It was still early in my discovery process of his writings that I researched his creative output for the sake of my essay and I remember calculating the sum of his writings that started in 1940 and culminated around the early 1950's. It was later in life that my appreciation for his work grew in proportion as I looked anew at his volume of work during that ten year period. 

"If"

In my teenage years there were several artists that were taboo in my friend circle. That is not to say that they were not awesome talents, I believe it actually speaks more to our limited cultural taste in our developing years. Yet there were artists that we would publicly ridicule and reject and then in the privacy of our bedrooms and stereo units we would then design our "mix tapes" with the songs of those artists being a big part of those mixes. And the king of this hypocritical stance during those years was my love for the group, Bread. 

Now I would love to confess that my appreciation of the music of Bread was a reflection of my growing musical sophistication, but that would run counter to the intent of this blog, which is transparency. So my truthful reason for including Bread songs was that it seemed like every girl I knew loved their music. 

And I mean they really loved Bread songs.