Kingdom Principles

Kingdom Concept #7

THE POWER AND PRIVILEGE OF CITIZENSHIP Citizenship has great power as well as great privileges. That is why people are willing to risk their lives and cross borders even to the point of death to pursue the hope of citizenship. Citizenship is not only sacred, but sanctified—set apart. A citizen is part of an elite, privileged group. People who have lived as “subjects” of a for eign government rather than citizens understand this distinction much better than people who were born citizens. The same is true for people who have worked very hard to earn the privilege to become a naturalized citizen of their chosen country. As a sacred privilege, citizenship is the most precious gift that any nation can give. That’s why there are laws to protect people from it and protect it from people. Apart from native-born citizens, citi zenship is neither awarded lightly nor obtained easily. And it shouldn’t be. Citizenship is too precious a treasure to hand out indiscriminately like handbills. When it comes to matters of citizenship, the Kingdom of God is no different from any other country. Remember, the Kingdom of God is not a religion. It is a government with a country. Heaven is that country, and Jesus Christ is its King. Referring to Christ, the ancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote: For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the gov ernment will be on His shoulders….Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom , establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever… (Isaiah 9:6-7, emphasis added). Like any other country, the Kingdom of God has the principle of citizenship. And, like the example of America above, once people know about the Kingdom, and once they understand what it is and what it has to offer, they clamor to get in. This is what Jesus was referring to when He said:

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