The Editors
“Who wrote the United States Declaration of Independence?”
“What are the colors of the Australian Aboriginal flag?”
“When is Korea’s Liberation Day, and why is it celebrated?”
These are questions posed to individuals seeking citizenship in the United States, Australia, or Korea. In many countries, obtaining citizenship requires more than language proficiency or verified identity; applicants must also pass an examination covering the nation’s government, civic duties, and culture. Such knowledge represents the fundamental understanding and qualities expected of a citizen. From the questions alone, one can discern the values that each country holds dear. Yet for those with no connection to the nation, many answers may be difficult to infer. Those aspiring to citizenship therefore study these subjects diligently to cultivate the knowledge and character befitting responsible citizens.
We are citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20–21). Through the new covenant, God has revealed the laws that heavenly citizens must keep, the convictions they should inscribe on their hearts, and the character they must cultivate. Within these laws are the values most cherished in the kingdom of God—love, godliness, patience, sacrifice, humility. To those who are not citizens, the reason for practicing such virtues may be difficult to understand, but for the people of heaven, they are the very standards that guide life.
Until the day we can fully enjoy the rights of our heavenly citizenship, let us uphold, practice, and proclaim the laws of the new covenant with ever greater passion, so that our names, recorded in the Book of Life, may shine all the more brightly.