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It Is Written

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven & Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

Eric Flickinger

Clinton Wahlen

01 Persecuted but Not Forsaken

06 Confidence Only in Christ

02 Reasons for Thanksgiving and Prayer

03 Life and Death

04 Unity Through Humility

05 Shining as Lights in the Night

07 A Heavenly Citizenship

John Bradshaw

Great Characters of the Bible: Abraham

08 The Preeminence of Christ

09 Reconciliation and Hope

10 Complete in Christ

11 Living With Christ

12 Living with Each Other

Welcome to Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written.

We are taking a journey through the books of Philippians and Colossians, looking at how Paul helps us to see Christ in both of these books, and how God wants to unite heaven and earth.

God is preparing us for the day when we will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Father, we thank you again for drawing us together, for giving us an opportunity to learn more about Christ and the plan of salvation and the things that you have in store for us.

We ask that you will bless us today and give us a clearer understanding of you and your will and we thank you in Jesus name, amen.

We're also grateful today to have with us the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson, Dr.

He is an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute.

This week, we almost say this with a little bit of sadness.

This week, we are concluding our look at the book of Philippians.

But we're ending this on a high note because we are looking at a heavenly citizenship.

God is making preparations, certainly there, but also here for us to inherit, to inhabit this kingdom of heaven.

And as we get down to the latter part of chapter 3 and we get into chapter 4, he talks about this heavenly citizenship.

Give us a little glimpse, a little peek into what this means.

What does this being a citizen of heaven look like and why should we look forward to something like this?

Well, Eric, Paul mentions in Philippians 3, verse 20, that our citizenship is in heaven.

It suggests that already We belong to the heavenly kingdom.

And that's why Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of heaven is here, it has arrived.

So we should already live as citizens of heaven because as he said, my kingdom is not of this world.

It's a higher citizenship that we belong to.

And I think when we think about it, we are going to make a transition at some point from earth to heaven.

Interestingly, the book of Revelation, Revelation 20, talks about 1000 years in heaven before God recreates the earth and we inhabit the new earth.

And I've often thought about that, 1000 years, it's something like an adjustment period.

There is going to be a mass migration of human beings, saved human beings to heaven.

And we often look at that as, you know, we're looking forward to that with longing desire.

You know, here is this mass migration of human beings to heaven.

And it's going to be a little bit disruptive in some ways, probably.

And it's not only that we need to adjust more to heaven, but they will maybe need some adjustment to us, too.

There's an adjustment period, and that's, I think, what the thousand years is for.

And I'd never thought of it from the perspective of heaven before.

Here they are, having been up in heaven for 6, 000 years, looking down on this earth and seeing the, well quite honestly, the mess that we are down here.

And now they've got to open the pearly gates to invite us to come in.

Now we know there's a work that goes on prior to that certainly, but still that's going to take a little bit of an adjustment period, I think, to these new inhabitants.

Which is why God wants us already to begin adjusting to heaven here on earth.

So this is not something, in some people's belief systems, we kind of, we live our lives here, we accept Jesus as our savior, and then when he comes back or we're raised up, there's this snapping of the fingers and we change, and all of a sudden we're perfect and fit for heaven.

But there should be some semblance of change that goes on here now as we let Jesus live in our hearts and as that change takes place.

And so when we let Jesus into our hearts, we begin to follow Him and live for Him and to be like Him.

And this is a very important way in which we can experience already what heavenly citizenship looks like.

As we begin this section, I wanted to read a couple of verses leading into verse number 20.

In verse 18, Paul says, For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

And then he contrasts that in verse 20 and says, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So there's a clear distinction here between the focus of, if we have a worldly focus versus a heavenly focus.

And Paul does a beautiful job of helping us to see that there.

Yes, and verse 21 goes on to explain that Jesus will transform our lowly bodies that may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able to even subdue all things to himself.

So there will be, as you point out, this transformation in twinkling of an eye, what some have called the finishing touch of immortality.

But it's not like God reprograms our thinking.

I mean, that would bypass our own personality, our own will and choices.

That reprogramming to be like heavenly citizens happens here.

And it happens day by day, moment by moment, as we surrender to God's will and choose his ways.

And Paul actually in chapter 4 begins then to unpack what that means, how we live as citizens of heaven.

We have the gift of the Holy Spirit, the assurance of salvation.

And we belong to a spiritual family that includes people all around the world who believe in Jesus.

And if we believe what Paul is saying, also people in heaven, the angels of heaven are part of our larger family.

So because we will be citizens of heaven, heavenly inhabitants already are part of our larger spiritual family.

So he's preparing us for that transition right now, if we are willing to be prepared.

We have to decide whether we're going to let Him impact, influence our choices, which as Christians, that should be our natural desire.

Although sometimes, you know, it's Christ's desire for us steps on our toes a little bit and there can be some resistance, that's not uncommon.

But the Christian response is to submit our wills to his because we trust and know that his way is better.

So he's working on shaping and molding us here in this life for what is to come.

What is that going to look like when we are transformed, when we, in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when we take that journey up to heaven and enter the pearly gates?

What is our glorified existence in heaven going to look like?

You mentioned that thousand year period in Revelation chapter 20.

Well, Eric, the Bible is very clear that our bodies will be transformed, but our minds are transformed now.

So that physical transformation, you know, if we think about when Jesus was resurrected, You know, the disciples recognized him.

They saw, it was hard to believe, but they recognized who he was.

And they were so overwhelmed, he said, well, we could look at it, Luke 24, verse 39.

Jesus said, behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." So we will have flesh and bones of some kind in our glorified existence.

Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 unpacks it even more specifically.

In verses 42 to 44 he says, so also is the resurrection of the dead.

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Series

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven & Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

07 A Heavenly Citizenship

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Talking Points 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven and Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

06 Confidence Only in Christ

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