Common Citizenship

1 John 3:14, John 8:51

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Our devotion today is from First John, Chapter three, verse 14. And John writes,

We know we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. (1 John 3:14)

Many years ago, I was a pastor in southern Florida and a woman came to see me all the way from northern Canada. She wasn’t a member of my church, but she was down there for a few months and she explained to me that her congregation was way up in northern Canada and their pastor could only come and see them about every three or four months. And the problem was that her pastor really didn’t believe what the Bible taught anymore, and this was upsetting to her. And she asked if we could sit and do a Bible study together to help strengthen her in her faith because she knew our congregation believed the Bible was God’s Word and she wanted to grow in her faith, in her Savior.

It’s interesting that she had this strong craving to be with fellow Christians, to be with people that love Jesus and love his word. That’s something that’s built into us when we’re given the gift of faith. I presently serve at a Christian college where sometimes students come to us from other countries where their faith is persecuted and they’re so excited to come to a place where there are so many fellow Christians and where they can have that unity together with one another.

Our text says we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. The Holy Spirit often uses pictures or imagery of togetherness when he talks about our faith and our being part of Christ’s Church. He often uses the imagery of sheep being in a flock around Christ, the Good Shepherd. Or maybe stones that are built into a building together, and Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Or the body of Christ, and the various parts and members of a body with Christ, Jesus himself as the head of that body. So all of these pictures have to do with togetherness and unity, and congregating together is a natural part of being a Christian. The Holy Spirit himself is the one who creates that bond inside of us, with our fellow believers. When he brings us to faith in Jesus as our Savior and gives us a longing to go to heaven, all of that now is created by him. And along with that comes this glue or bond that wants to bind us together with fellow Christians.

We know we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. (1 John 3:14)

Think with that saying You and I used to belong to death, spiritual death, and ultimately it would have been eternal death. That was the kingdom we once lived in. But by God’s grace, through the waters of baptism and the wonderful Gospel, He has given us faith in this common Savior. And we now have been transferred into the Kingdom of Light. We have citizenship in a new country. Many years ago I was in Ukraine and I happened to see a man who was wearing an Atlanta Braves baseball cap. And I came up to him and started talking to him. And the fact that we both were from America gave us something to talk about. And there was suddenly an interesting unity there because we both had citizenship in the same country.

Think of that in a much, much grander way for Christians when it comes to the citizenship that we have in heaven. Jesus says,

“I tell you the truth, if a man keeps my word, he will never see death.” (John 8:51)

Because of our baptism and faith in Christ, we now are in the kingdom of life and we now have eternal life waiting for us in heaven. Martin Luther once said, Love of the Brethren is the test by which we may ascertain who are the true believers. And that love for fellow Christians supersedes even family love, quite often. If there’s somebody in the family who’s maybe not a believer, the strength and bond that we have with fellow Christians often is stronger than even our family bonds. And the Holy Spirit gives us this wonderful fellowship and bond with fellow Christians as an outward sign of our love for Christ who is taking us to heaven by His grace. Amen.