Heavenly Citizenship in Christ
Heavenly indeed, and most fittingly, he names the vocation that comes through Christ. For the God of all graciously bestows on those summoned through him not fleeting blessings nor the transient gifts given by the law through Moses to the ancients, but rather the very things that those once called have chosen—namely, eternal life—which he sustains and secures as an irrevocable possession.
We too have been designated heavenly in another way, with Christ taking the lead, and the way and the door having become ours. And truly Paul says, 'Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly' (1 Corinthians 15:49), and again, 'The first man is from the earth, earthly; the second is from heaven' (1 Corinthians 15:47). Such as the earthly one is, such are the earthly people; and such as the heavenly one is, such are the heavenly people. Therefore we have become heavenly, for we are being shaped into Christ through the Spirit, who comes from heaven.
And because of this, even as we walk upon the earth, we hold our citizenship in heaven. We have not approached in equal measure the ancient manifestations of God—those accompanied by blazing fire, darkness, gloom, tempest, trumpet blast, and the voice of words—but we have drawn near rather to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, amidst myriads of angels in festal assembly, the congregation of the firstborn whose names are inscribed in heaven, before the Judge who is God of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect.
Greek
ἀγαθῶν, ἵλεω δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν ἡμῖν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀποφήνῃ Πατέρα. Γέγονε δὲ καὶ πιστὸς κατὰ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας προσαγαγὼν καὶ τὰς πάντων ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίας ἀνενεγκὼν "ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον," καθὰ γέγραπται· βεβοήθηκε γὰρ οὕτω τοῖς πειραζομένοις ἐν ᾧ πέπονθεν αὐτὸς πειρασθεὶς, τῷ γὰρ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. νοείσθω δὴ οὖν ἐν τούτοις τὸ πειρασθεὶς ἀντὶ τοῦ πεπονθὼς ἤτοι πειρασμὸν τὸν ἐκ τῶν σταυρωσάντων ὑπενεγκών· δοὺς γὰρ ὑπὲρ πάντων τὸ ἐν ᾧ πέπονθε σῶμα, 397 πάντας ἡμᾶς ἠλευθέρου καὶ θανάτου καὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ πειρασμῶν. οὐκοῦν βεβοήθηκε τοῖς πειραζομένοις εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀποθανὼν, ὁ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως ἀξιώτερος, "ἵν' οἱ "ζῶντες μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶσιν ἀλλὰ τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀπο"θανόντι καὶ ἐγερθέντι." Ὅτι γὰρ ἁγίους ἡμᾶς ἀποτελῶν σαρκὶ πέπονθεν ὁ Χριστὸς, πληροφορήσει λέγων ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων "Καὶ ὑμᾶς ποτε ὄντας ἀπηλλο"τριωμένους καὶ ἐχθροὺς τῇ διανοίᾳ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς "πονηροῖς, νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκατήλλαξεν ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς σαρ"κὸς αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, παραστῆσαι ὑμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ "ἀμώμους καὶ ἀνεγκλήτους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ, εἴ γε ἐπιμέ"νετε τῇ πίστει τεθεμελιωμένοι καὶ ἑδραῖοι καὶ μὴ μετα"κινούμενοι ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὗ ἠκούσατε." σοφὸν οὖν ἄρα τοῖς κεκλημένοις εἰς ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν καὶ μένουσαν εἰπεῖν Ὅθεν ἀδελφοὶ κλήσεως ἐπουρανίου μέτοχοι κατανοήσατε τὸν ἀπόστολον καὶ ἀρχιερέα τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν πιστὸν ὄντα τῷ ποιήσαντι αὐτὸν καθὰ καὶ Μωυσῆς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ. ἐπουράνιον δὲ καὶ μάλα εἰκότως ὀνομάζει κλῆσιν τὴν διὰ Χριστοῦ· χαριεῖται γὰρ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς τοῖς δι' αὐτοῦ κεκλημένοις, οὐ πρόσκαιρα καὶ εὐμάραντα καὶ ὅσα τοῖς ἀρχαιοτέροις ὁ διὰ Μωυσέως ἐδίδου νόμος, ἀλλ' ὅσα τοῖς ἅπαξ ἠξιωμένοις ἑλεῖν εἰς 15 μακραίωνα βίον συνεκτείνεται καὶ ἀναπόβλητον ἔχει τὴν κτῆσιν. κεχρηματίκαμεν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως ἐπουράνιοι, Χριστοῦ πρωτεύοντος καὶ ὁδοῦ καὶ θύρας ἡμῖν γεγονότος. καὶ γοῦν ὁ Παῦλός φησι "Καὶ καθὼς "ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ φορέσωμεν καὶ τὴν "εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου," καὶ πάλιν "Ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος "ἐκ γῆς χοϊκὸς, ὁ δεύτερος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. οἷος ὁ χοϊκὸς, τοι"οῦτοι καὶ οἱ χοϊκοὶ, καὶ οἷος ὁ ἐπουράνιος, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ "ἐπουράνιοι." γεγόναμεν τοίνυν ἐπουράνιοι, μορφούμεθα γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν διὰ Πνεύματος, ὅς ἐστιν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ· διὰ 398 τοῦτο καὶ περιπατοῦντες ἐπὶ γῆς, ἔχομεν "ἐν οὐρανοῖς τὸ "πολίτευμα." οὐ γὰρ τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἐν ἴσῳ προσεληλύθαμεν ἡμεῖς "ψηλαφωμένῳ πυρὶ καὶ γνόφῳ καὶ ζόφῳ καὶ θυέλλῃ "καὶ σάλπιγγος ἤχῳ καὶ φωνῇ ῥημάτων," προσεληλύθαμεν δὲ μᾶλλον "Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος Ἱερουσαλὴμ "ἐπουρανίῳ καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων πανηγύρει καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ "πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ κριτῇ Θεῷ "πάντων καὶ πνεύμασι δικαίων