Jesus prays, “I have revealed you to those whom YOU GAVE ME out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word…I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because THEY ARE NOT OF THE WORLD, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:6, 14)
Paul says, “I press on toward the goal to WIN THE PRIZE for which God has CALLED ME HEAVENWARD in Christ Jesus…For, as I have often told you before…many live as enemies of the cross of Christ…Their mind is set on earthly things. But OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, will TRANSFORM our lowly bodies so that they will be like HIS GLORIOUS BODY.” (Phil. 3:14, 18-21)
This does not mean simply that we get to go to heaven after we die. Rather, it means that we are to live on this earth according to the VALUES OF HEAVEN. We are committed to the agenda of the one who is sovereign in heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords. IN ALL WE DO, we are to SEEK AND LIVE OUT, GOD’S JUSTICE AND MERCY, for God’s purposes and glory. In all we do, as we live out our life here on this earth, we can seek “…what is good; And what does the LORD require of us But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with our God?” (Micah 6:8)
-Bill Stockham