These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:13-16, ESV) “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (Deitrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship)
Thanksgiving is almost here, followed by the season of Advent, when we look forward not only to the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas but also to His second coming in power and judgment. Coming on the heels of Advent, Christmas is a time of joyful gatherings, with family and friends, with exchanging presents, with overeating good food. Sometimes lost in the hustle and bustle of this season, with shopping, food preparation, Christmas parties and fellowship with friends and family, is the true meaning of Christmas, the celebration of our Lord and Savior’s birth to a lowly couple in a manger in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.
That Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the almighty God, became man is mind-staggering. That He did this with the ultimate goal of dying on the cross for our sins is even more incredible. When we consider the vastness of the universe, the complexity of life, the beauty of the creation that He spoke into existence, and then consider the humility of being born as an infant in the lowliest of settings, we can’t begin to truly appreciate this level of sacrifice, of service, of love for miserable sinners like us. Jesus Christ came as a man to die, to give up His life as a sacrifice, as a ransom, for us, for all of us. This is wonderful, almost unbelievable, good news. Jesus became man to die on the cross, to pay for our sins, to offer Himself in our place, to bear the punishment for our transgressions that we truly deserve.
Therefore, this world is not our true home. Our true home is where we will spend eternity, not just the few years of life we have on this planet. Our true home is either in Heaven in peaceful bliss with our Lord and Savior, with the heavenly host, with our fellow believers, or in the fiery pit, where we will spend eternity suffering for our sins, for our rejection of Jesus Christ.
As Christians we are to follow, as best we can, in Christ’s footsteps. Jesus stated that we are to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24), Paul used the phrase “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1), Deitrich Bonhoffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, declared that we are to “come and die”. The Christian life is not meant to be a life of ease, a life free of suffering, a life of prosperity.
Early Christians paid a heavy price for their faith, with many dying in horrible ways in Roman coliseums, in being torn apart, in being burned alive. Throughout history there have been persecutions of Christians, with many becoming martyrs for their faith. In many parts of the world today, being a Christian makes you a target, makes you a likely victim of violence. Even in Western nations, including the United States, there is a growing anti-Christian sentiment and, although to this point in time we have enjoyed a relatively peaceful freedom of worship, there is no guarantee that such will be the case moving forward.
As Christians our lives are no longer our own. Christ has bought us, has purchased us with the price of His blood on the cross. We have been adopted into His family and are now citizens of His kingdom in Heaven. Therefore we, as the song says, are but strangers here. Heaven is our home.