Over the weekend, the Biden administration ordered American diplomats in Kabul Afghanistan to destroy vast amounts of documents, computers and other US assets at the embassy there, and to evacuate the compound ahead of the Taliban’s takeover of the capital city.

In what appears to be a total lack of wisdom and leadership, the US has allowed the Taliban to not only create a terrorist stronghold, but to do so with extraordinary amounts of US military equipment that was left behind when US troops were haphazardly pulled out of major military bases there. What a disgrace!

But despite our individual positions on what is happening in Afghanistan and around the world, there are some key Biblical principals we can take away from what is happening.

First, this world is not our home! That may come as a surprise to some, but according to the Bible, the citizenship of Christ followers is in heaven! Read Philippians 3:17-21 very carefully:

¹⁷ Brothers and sisters, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. ¹⁸ For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things. ²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

[Emphasis mine]

Right away, we know who the apostle Paul (writer of Philippians) is addressing: brothers and sisters. Those are fellow believers in Jesus Christ. That is each of us who calls Jesus our Lord and Savior! But notice, Paul weeps for the enemies of the cross of Christ…for non-believers. Why? Because their end is destruction and they have their minds on earthly things.

As believers, we live in this world, but are not of it! (John 17:6-19, especially verses 11 and 16) Like Paul, we see and weep for those whose ways bring destruction and whose minds are on earthly things. Frankly, we’re seeing a world full of that and void of leadership. Destruction is coming!

But Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 3 is sweet! In the midst of it all, we are reminded that our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ! Oh what a day, when He will transform our lowly bodies into those fit for eternity with Him! Our heavenly passports will be stamped and we’ll be out of here!

So, what are we doing here anyway, if heaven is our home? Why doesn’t God take us immediately to live with Him once we come to salvation in Jesus Christ?

Great question! Let’s turn once again to the apostle Paul to answer the question!

²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ…

~2 Corinthians 5:20

Yes! We are ambassadors! But that statement begins with “Therefore,” thus, as a wise Bible teacher once taught me, we need to know what it’s there for! Verses 17-19 expound on the fact that, in Christ, we are new creatures! We live for Him, whereas we once opposed Him! Therefore, we are now His ambassadors!

Now, let’s consider earthly examples of that Biblical principle!

Consider the embassy staff in our US embassies around the world, including the one in Kabul. What are those people called (particularly the head of each embassy)? Ambassadors! They are in a foreign country serving at the command of the President of the United States! In essence, they carry out the plans and directives of the one in charge! They do his bidding! (That’s why new presidents typically select new ambassadors. They want someone loyal to their plans and agenda.)

If we are ambassadors of Christ whose citizenship is not on this earth but in heaven, whose plans and directives do we carry out in this “foreign land?” If we are not “doing the bidding” of Jesus Christ, we are failing our mission as ambassadors to a fallen world! I want to be a faithful ambassador, don’t you!?!

Here is another interesting fact. Did you know embassy compounds are sovereign land of the nation whose embassy sits there? Yes, if you are inside the compound of any US embassy in the world, you are on American soil! So, though heaven is our home, what “compound” do we occupy in this world as ambassadors of Jesus Christ? The Bible teaches us that Christ lives within us, and that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Thus, our bodies are “sovereign territory” of our Lord! Do we preserve them as that?

Now, a very key lesson learned from what we have witnessed at the embassy in Kabul. What happened there over the weekend? Our diplomats were evacuated.

As disturbing as that is, it carries great Biblical significance because, regardless of how it got to that point, and despite lack of leadership that led to last weekend’s events, our ambassadors were called home!

Fellow believers in Christ, the world in which we reside is approaching imminent danger, and before it all happens, the One we serve, Jesus Christ, will call us home! The Bible tells us God has not destined us to wrath (1 Corinthians 5:9-11), though wrath does come to those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). Those who suppress truth do not allow the truth of God to bring them to salvation. Thus, unrighteousness is “normal” for them.

The wrath to come, says the Bible, is the tribulation. It is a time when the world will be in utter chaos and a leader will rise up, promising the peace which everyone will crave at that point. He will fool people everywhere by his charm and charisma, and he will confirm a 7-year covenant with the Jewish people. (Those 7 years will be the tribulation.) But midway through, he will demand to be worshipped and the world will face even greater devastation in the second half than in the first half of those terrible 7 years.

The Bible reveals that man: the Antichrist.

But, according to 2 Thessalonians 2, he cannot be revealed until the Restrainer is removed, and that Restrainer is the Holy Spirit living within every believer! (Take time to read 2 Thessalonians 2.) Friends, God is about to call His ambassadors home! At that point, the Restrainer who lives in us will be removed and the Antichrist will come upon the scene!

If you are reading this and you do not have a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ, you will not be taken out of this world, but will experience devastation and destruction the world has never known. You will also experience eternity in a place reserved for Satan and his demons. That place is hell and Satan wants to take you there.

The Bible says today is the day of salvation! (2 Corinthians 6:2) There is only one way to salvation, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m praying you will meet Jesus today!

Soon, and very soon, ambassadors of Jesus Christ will be called home! What a glorious day!