Paul begins this chapter with the same fire and passion the church had grown to know and love him for. Across the region, groups of Christians were becoming nothing more than another religious group - easily identified by ethnicities, doctrines, rules, and regulations. Paul was adamant this would not be the case of the Philippian church. Paul’s fiery attitude in verses 3-6 shows his conviction to ensure the church is open to all, and all are found within the church.
The goal of the church is Christ – the full knowledge and love of the Messiah. Everything Paul wrote to the church at Philippi hinges on this relationship. This chapter focuses on freedom, faithfulness, and the fulfillment of a life lived in love with our Savior. Read V 12-16: Paul, writing from prison, is not looking for his exit strategy or his way out, rather he is saying, and in effect encouraging the Philippians - jump in! This is it. This is all it will ever be about. Heaven is the goal; all that is here on earth will fade in comparison to the completed way of Christ in our lives Eternity beckons us forward, like an athlete nearing the finish line, a composer finishing the last stanza, an author writing their ending, resurrection is the goal. Resurrection is the red ribbon awaiting us at the end, drawing us to the prize. Throughout his letter, Paul has given the Philippian's tools and encouragements to continue to press on, and he sums it up here, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
As Citizens of Heaven, Paul encouraged the Philippians to view Philippi no longer as a colony of the Roman Empire, but as a colony of Heaven: a place they were preparing for it’s true ruler to one day come and reign. In our modern world, “colonizers” have a negative connotation, what Paul was really trying to convey would better fit our modern word, pioneer. A pioneer is someone who is “among the first to research and develop a new area of knowledge or activity”. Through this passage, Paul is challenging the Philippians to not wait for their true home in heaven idly, but to have that pioneer mindset in bringing the culture of heaven to the midst of their Roman town.
Q: Read V 20-21 again thinking of being pioneers or pilgrims of heaven. How can you individually bring heaven to our neighborhoods here and now?
Q: What would it look like for the entire church to live as a colony of heaven?
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