Phil. 3:20-21 - Eagerly Waiting for Heaven

20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Waiting For A Savior

Vs. 20 - “For our citizenship is in heaven” - “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.“ (Col. 1:13, 14). Jesus has rescued us from Satan’s clutches. (Eph. 6:12; Acts 26:18; Rom. 5:10; 8:21) The kingdom of God is not of this world, nor made of men’s imagination, nor in the image of men. (Acts 17:29; John 18:36) Better than being a citizen of the kingdom is being a friend. (John 15:15) Better than being a friend is being a child of the king! (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16, 17; Phil. 2:15; 1 John 3:2, 10; 5:12).

“From which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” - Paul is anticipating Christ’s return. Christ told the disciples He was returning to heaven, and would come back for them so they could be with Him. (John 14:2,3) We, too will join Him and the other faithful believers. No one knows when Christ will return, it may be soon. (Mark 13:28,29; Matt. 24:36; Rev. 1:3; 22:10) We are encouraged to be ready. Jesus gave us a parable, reminding us to be prepared. (Matt. 25:1-13)
The various English translations of this sentence seem a little fractured. We are not waiting from heaven. We are waiting for our Savior to come from heaven.

Vs. 21 - “who will transform the body of our humble state” - John says it clearly in his first letter: “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3:2) Our natural body, the body of sin will die. We will be given a new uncorrupted, incorruptible body when we are resurrected to be with Him. That concept, we will have a new body which will be just like Jesus’ resurrected body, is what Paul means by “conforming with the body of His glory.”

“By the exertion of the power...” - How does He do this? All things have been given to Him, and He has plenary power over all things. (See: Heb. 2:8) Jesus voluntarily gave up the use of His power to do the will of God - to die for our sin, to save the world. He resurrected and ascended to heaven, and placed in power and authority. (See: Acts 2:33,34, 5:31; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 1:3; 1 Pet. 3:22) Think on this: if Jesus had not been resurrected (and witnessed by others) there would be no way to know that His sacrifice was accepted and successful! His resurrection and ascension into heaven indicates that He has the power to do what He said He would do. By His unlimited omnipotent power our old corrupt bodies will be transformed to new bodies which will be glorious like Him! Not our old bodies repaired and fixed up, but new bodies suitable for the new self He gives us!
Can I hear an “Amen!”

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