But . . . I was Born a Citizen!
"Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.'" (John 3:5)
Those of you who have never had to struggle with the issue of applying for
permanent residencies, working visas, visitor's visas, and citizenship
into a country where you are not a citizen may not have a total concept of
just what this involves. However, I know from a number of prayer requests
on this issue, that many of you out there have had first hand experience
with dealing with the departments of immigration and naturalization of
various countries, and I'm sure that you will all agree with me: It's no
fun! In fact, it's a real pain! Now, I'm not personally complaining, for
God has His hand in my own immigration to Canada, as well as that of my
husband (but that's another story!), and His miraculous hand was also
quite active in our sponsorships of my mother and my husband's niece (two
even MORE interesting stories!). Nonetheless, how much simpler might it
have been for us to live in the country of our choice, if we had simply
been born Canadian?
I was thinking about all of this as I read two short verses in the book of
Acts this morning. The setting is Jerusalem. Paul has just been accused
of causing a riot at the temple and is being taken as a prisoner by the
Roman soldiers when the following exchange takes place: "The
commander went to Paul and asked, 'Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?' 'Yes,
I am,' he answered. Then the commander said, 'I had to pay a big price
for my citizenship.' 'But I
was born a citizen,' Paul replied." (Acts 22:27-28)
Well, without even digging beneath the
surface of this verse, it is plain to see that the hassles we experience
in modern immigration offices are NOTHING NEW! Even in Roman days, if you
were not born a roman citizen and wanted to become one, you were required
to pay what the Bible records as a "big price"! How much easier for
Paul. He was simply born a citizen!
All surface meaning put aside for the moment,
it would seem to me that these two verses of scripture have some important
parallels to modern Christianity. Jesus tells us that ". . . no one
can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3) You
see, unlike Canada and Rome, there is NO WAY to naturalize to God's
kingdom! You cannot BUY your way to heaven--or EARN it in any other
fashion, for that matter! No, my friends, there is only one way to be a
citizen of God's Kingdom: To be born one! But how can this be, as we
have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory? That's the question
Nicodemeus asked too, and Jesus' answer to him goes for us as well:
"Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.'" (John 3:5-7) Later in the
book of John, Jesus says: "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6-7)
Good news, my friends! We don't have to "do"
the immigration hassles! In fact, they wouldn't work, even if we tried!
We cannot "work" our way into Heaven! We can't get there by keeping the
law! We can't get there by attending some specific church, or even by
paying our tithe! We can only get there by the Grace of God manifested
through the death of His Son at Calvary! When we accept Jesus into our
hearts, our citizenship in Heaven is guaranteed!
Why wait another day, my friend! Why not
"guarantee" your citizenship to Heaven today? Click
here (http://answers2prayer.org/saviours_call.html)
Lyn Chaffart
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org ,