September 13th, 2023 – Wednesday Evening
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” ~Philippians 3:20-21
In this series of devotionals based in Philippians 2 & 3, we have seen many challenges/commands coupled to many realities/truths. For instance, in chapter 2 we were told to let the mind of Christ dwell in us (command), and then the mindset of Christ was explained (reality/truth). In chapter 3, Paul informed us of the reality of the inestimable value and worth of knowing Christ Jesus and the urgency and persistence with which he himself was running towards Him, before challenging/commanding believers to join in following his example.
In our passage today, both the command and the truth are rolled up in one massive reality check: Speaking to those who belong to Christ, Paul states that our citizenship (our community) is in heaven (the dwelling place of God), from which also ‘we eagerly wait’ (assiduously {attentively} and patiently waiting for) a Savior (deliverer, preserver) – the Lord Jesus Christ – who will transform our lowly state into perfect conformity with His glory through His power and authority. The challenge or command is to attentively and patiently wait (denoting our active preparation) for the reality to be fully realized; that reality (or truth) is that Christ IS going to return and those who eagerly await Him ARE going to be transformed because He HAS the final word and action.
The same truth holds true for us today: Jesus has been given all rule and authority (Matthew 28:18) and He is going to subject all things under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:20-28); in addition, we who know and love Him are going to be reconciled to Him with glory eternally and immortally (2 Corinthians 15:50-57, John 14:1-7). Finally, since all of that is true, it must also be true that our lives should reflect the eager expectation that Paul and the Philippians characterized in their attentive and patient waiting for Jesus. Just as Paul diligently and persistently pursued Jesus and the prize of the upward call of God – as he strove to wait well – so must we.
My dearly loved brethren, let us not grow weary in eagerly awaiting our Savior. He is coming and His grace is sufficient for our every need (and His every work in and through us) until He returns. Praise the Lord!