I’m a citizen of the United States of America. Unfortunately, it’s something I too often take for granted.  There are benefits to citizenship.  Indeed, the benefits of kingdom citizenship are profound and everlasting.

Here are two of them:

The Benefit of Kingdom Citizenship is Sharing in Delegated Authority

In earthly kingdoms, the status of citizenship is necessary to identify  persons who will be loyal to the king. Citizenship enables the king to know with whom he can share power. In the Roman Empire one had to be a citizen to vote and hold political office. Ancient Greeks had to be a citizen of their city-state to participate in the Assembly, which met to make decisions regarding the affairs of state. In modern democracies one must be a citizen to vote or participate in governing the kingdom. This is not by mere coincidence.  Citizenship helps identify those who are loyal to the king. The king needs to know who is loyal so he can know to whom he can delegate authority.

It’s no different in the kingdom of God.  God reserves citizenship in the kingdom for those who have been born again (John 3:5-8) and have believed and confessed Jesus’ Lordship over their lives. (Rom. 10:9). One who is not born of the Spirit cannot hear the voice of the King who rules from the spirit realm. And one who has not acknowledged Jesus’ Lordship is not likely to obey what King Jesus orders. So, both are necessary. God is not parsimonious about sharing rulership with those who serve Him. See Luke 12:32 (“. . . for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”). However, one must be a citizen to be delegated authority from the King. Such delegation highlights one of the key benefits of kingdom citizenship.

The Benefit of Inheritance Rights

The kingdom of God has both a spiritual and earthly dimension, and God has woven the Kingdom seamlessly into the fabric of reality. When one is born again, one becomes a citizen of the kingdom with full privileges in both realms and can begin to function in both. One who is birthed spiritually gains entrance to the kingdom’s spiritual and earthly domains.  Because the kingdom has a spiritual dimension, when a citizen of the kingdom dies he continues in eternal life. He exists in the spiritual realm of the kingdom known as heaven.  By contrast, those who are not citizens of the kingdom do not inherit the kingdom at their death.  Cf 1 Cor. 6:9 (“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?”).  Although they can live under the covering of the kingdom of God while on earth, at death they do not inherit because God takes them out of the kingdom.  (Matthew 13:30, 49).

Citizenship has its benefits, but for too long too many Christians have only considered their inheritance benefits not realizing that as a citizen of the kingdom of God they can also share in the delegated authority of King Jesus.  GS.