¹⁴ For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

How ironic, that we who join Christ “outside the camp bearing His reproach” (vs. 13) are really seeking something better than to be accepted back into the old way of life and religion. We are motivated by “the lasting city…which is to come.” Augustine in the 5^th century, wrote “The City of God” picturing the spiritual city (which is understood to be the spiritual realm, the kingdom of God) in contrast to the earthly city. He lived in the time of the decaying Roman Empire, with the imperial city Rome being defeated by the Visigoths in A.D. 410. Christians had enjoyed Roman protection since the time of Constantine in the early 4^th century, but things were changing. He wrote to assure believers that their hope was not in state religion or earthly rule under which they prospered, but rather in the kingdom of God.

In many ways, we face the same kind of situation today. The culture as we know it is in decay, politics move toward increasing liberalism and morality marches in decline. Yet, this world entices the flesh, and the thorny soil entices weeds to ultimately choke out spiritual life. Many Christians fall.

But that is not the prospect of one who finds his rest in the once-for-all-time sacrifice of Christ. Our eyes and minds are not to be on this world and all its allurements. That is not a “lasting city.” The things of this earth come and go, very easily and very quickly. Why build a house in a city that is destined for destruction?

On the other hand, we as believers seek something more permanent, more enduring. This is called in our passage “the city which is to come.” We join Abraham who “was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). We line up with those who “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb 11:16). This is the city of the unashamed! In coming to faith, we have “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels…” (Heb 12:22).

Now that is permanence! That is lasting! That is eternal! Where better than to build our foundation than in the city of God? By virtue of our faith, we have our spiritual real estate already marked out, it has already been deeded to us. It is up to us to believe it and to rest in it.

Lord, thank You for the inheritance I have in Christ. I look forward to that “City of the living God” where I will dwell forever.