Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers in this world to abstain from the sensual urges that wage war against the soul. (1 Peter 2:11)
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word “alien,” I think of the movie E.T. along with images of small, green, extraterrestrial creatures with antennae’s coming out of their oversized heads. Back in 1989, theologians Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon authored the book, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony – discussing the nature of the church and its relationship to the surrounding culture. Confirming what the Bible teaches, the authors make the point that as followers of Jesus, we live as “Resident Aliens” in this world.
As followers of Jesus, we are still living in this world, but we are no longer of this world. We have been transferred from one dominion to another. We become “Resident Aliens” in the surrounding culture in which we live. At times we can feel disoriented and displaced while still living in the same place we have lived for years. This is because we are no longer what we once were. We are new creatures in Christ living for a new Master who has given us our marching orders that will, more often than not, have us marching in the opposite direction from the culture in which we live.
In Christ, we have been set free from the bondage to sin, Satan, and death, but we are not yet home. We are living in a land that is not yet ours. We are “aliens and strangers” as the apostle Peter puts it. Now, one day this land will be ours. When Jesus returns, He will establish the New Heavens and the New Earth where we will rule and reign with Him for ever and ever. But until then, we must remember this place is not our home. Yet, as Christians, we are to make an eternal difference in this world by being eternally different from this world. We are to seek both the peace and prosperity of the culture as we cultivate it for the glory of God.
Remember, God so loved the world – not the evil systems of the world – but the beautiful world He created very good. We are to love the world by holding in tension the inherent goodness of the world God created and the corruption Adam and Eve brought into it through their sinful rebellion. We must live as citizens of two kingdoms. When we are living for the glory of the Kingdom of God we will be living for the good of the kingdom of man. May this be the confession of our lives as “Resident Aliens!”
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 