WEEK FIVE
Day Three
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Philippians 3:20
LEADER GUIDE QUESTIONS
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Know: Read Philippians 3:17-21
Note: Read slowly, carefully marking keywords.
example, walk, citizenship, heaven
Observation:
In what way were the Philippians citizens of Heaven?
How were the Philippians to follow Paul’s example?
What: In what way can you bring heaven to your culture?
“Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame--who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” Philippians 3:17-21
As discussed at the beginning of the study, Philippi was a Roman colony. The word ‘colony’ for Americans may sound familiar. As Europeans came to the American colonies, they would establish a microcosm of their homeland. For other parts of the world, a colony was not exactly looked upon as a good thing as it was an advancement of imperialism when Europeans were trying to expand their influence in other countries. Colonies were not always bad as they established improvements such as education, medicine, and cultural advancements in many countries. Local people did not necessarily appreciate the influence of the colonists. They viewed it as their land being taken away by force and their culture being erased.
After the battle between Antony and Octavian, thousands of soldiers were left with nothing to do. It was either too expensive, too much work, or too dangerous to send them back to Rome, so Rome gave them land in and around Philippi, making it a colony of Rome as other veterans joined them.
The local people in Phillipi felt the way I described above. By the time Paul came to Philippi, the town already contained several families that had descended from those original Roman colonists as well as other locals who had benefited from the Roman presence and many other locals who still resented the infiltration of the Roamns elites who had taken over their Greek town.
Philippi was on a main road, eventually leading to the Adriatic Sea, allowing for sailing to Italy and Rome. Rome could easily manage the happenings of this colony. The Roman colonists were proud of being Romans and did their best to live life to match what was being done in Rome. One of the things that was established in Rome and became a quickly enforced innovation was the establishment of the imperial cult. Ceasar, the emperor, was to be worshiped as savior and Lord. To ‘hail Ceasar’ was to acknowledge him as their god.
In light of this understanding, when Paul declares that they are ‘citizens of heaven,’ he does not mean that they must behave so that to get into heaven one day or are living for ‘that day’ when they die and get to escape this world. If a person in that day declared that they were ‘citizens of Rome,’ they would not be declaring that they would live life as if they got to go to Rome someday. It was the other way around. A colonist would live like a Roman to bring Rome’s culture to that town to expand Roman influence. For a Roman, if they encountered trouble, their best hope was for their ‘savior’ to come and rescue them from any invading people. The emperor was sovereign. He established his reign through his people and empowered them to enforce his rulership, but he would also help them if needed.
This is what Paul had in mind in verses 20 and 21. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
With Paul’s understanding of colonization, he used that language to help the Philippians understand what their present position was. They were citizens of heaven with the responsibility to colonize the earth with heavenly influence. They were to establish what was in heaven and make it an earthly reality. Our hope is that our Savior, Jesus, will one day return as He promised and transform the entire world so that it is full of His glory- full of life and beauty. Part of that hope is that He will transform our physical bodies so that they are no longer dying and decaying but ones that reflect His resurrected one.
Instead of giving allegiance to Ceasar, Paul urged the Philippians to give allegiance to Jesus, the true Lord. This is how they could copy Paul’s example. He had laid aside Jewish privilege in order to gain Jesus. Not all the Philippians were Jewish, so they could not copy him exactly. They would face great pressure and persecution as they chose what to do when pressed to hail Ceasar as Lord. For many, rejecting doing so meant certain death. Many Christians, out of fear, gave way to the pressure and adopted the customs of the Romans who worshiped not only Ceasar but the patron gods of the Greek and Roman culture, sacrificing and living lives reflective of the pagan people in order to avoid persecution and death.
What does this mean for us today?
Culture has a way of conditioning us by our senses. Paul warned the church what they would face and urged them to look to Christ. As citizens of heaven, we should be transforming culture. Many times, Christians, out of fear or lack of knowledge, will retreat or become fatalists, believing that they are helpless when evil arises. Our task, until Jesus returns, is to take what heaven is like and bring it into culture. If government is evil, it is because citizens of heaven have retreated instead of bringing the blueprint of heaven into it. This can be said of any establishment. We are to find where the enemy has tried to gain ground and to either establish it or re-establish the freedom and solutions of heaven in that environment.
Paul did not say that the Philippians were to force the Romans to submit to Jesus. They were to, by their love and gentleness and trust in Jesus, bring heaven into the world. We are not to look at the evil in the world and make the evil people submit to Jesus; we are to establish heaven by responding to the evil. Love conquers fear. Forgiveness conquers hate, gentleness conquers anger, etc. Trust in King Jesus will give us the power to bring His light into a dark world.