"LIVING FOR ETERNITY"

(NO RESTROOMS/PDA/AIRPODS)

(RECAP: Last week was the reality of Hell.)

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (ESV)

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:6–10 (ESV)

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

>>>There are 24 verbs.

*past: 1x

*future:2-3x

*present: 20-21x

ETERNITY IS NOW.

>>>Right now eternity is happening. If you were to lose your life right now, you would right now be in somewhere in eternity.

>>>Right now, Jesus is reigning in Heaven.

>>>Right now, people are getting saved.

>>>Right now, angels and demons are battling over souls.

>>>To live for eternity, we must understand eternity is now.

===============================================================

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (ESV)

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

>>>Paul says that he has hope amidst his trials, because he is focused on eternity.

>>>(v.16) Paul contrasts earthly bodies and souls. While believers’ earthly bodies (“outer self”) are breaking down/decomposing, their souls are being renewed each day.

*“renewed” means “improved”

*The souls of believers are daily being improved and reestablished into what God wants them to be.

>>>(v.17-18) Paul calls the trials of believers “light momentary affliction”, saying that it is preparing them to experience an eternal weight (gravity) of glory.

*(Illust.) Wave pool at Disney-forcefully hitting us.

*Trials like a shower/glory like a wave pool.

>>>Paul reminds the believers that they are looking towards things that have yet to come instead of what is already seen on earth. What is unseen is what is eternal/worth pursuing.

*“looking” means “looking w/expectation”/ “responding accordingly”

*Waiting for eternity is actively expecting it.

>>>Paul wanted them to have an eternal mindset.

LIVING FOR ETERNITY REQUIRES HAVING AN ETERNAL MINDSET.

>>>(from first week) If you are a believer, this world-with all its hardships, wars, diseases-is the closest to Hell you will get. The weight of our eternity overwhelms the present trials we face.

>>>Without this focus on eternity, we can never truly live for it.

>>>As we wait for Heaven, we should live with and expectation for it.

*God does not want us to sit around just saying we’re saved. He wants us to be doing something.

===============================================================

>>>Enter in Chapter 5, the first five verses talk about the longing for the spiritual body, and the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of one day receiving it.

2 Corinthians 5:6–9 (ESV)

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

>>>(vss. 6-8) To be here on earth is to not be with the Lord, which is why the Christian life requires walking by faith.

*The “good courage” stems from the hope believers have in their eternity-gives confidence to walk by faith.

>>>Paul prefers to be at home with Christ but does not dismiss the confidence he has in Him on earth. The promise of eternity is the motivation of his life.

>>>(v.9) Either way, the goal of Paul’s life is to please Him.

LIVING FOR ETERNITY IS LIVING IN A WAY THAT PLEASES GOD.

>>>Paul said it is is the “aim” of a believer to please God.

*This means to have ambition/make it a goal.

*Paul’s desire and ultimate goal in life was to please God.

>>>Do we live a life aimed at pleasing God? Is pleasing God more important to us than anything else in the world?

*Grounded in God’s Word/Guided by the Spirit/Growing to Maturity/Gospel-Centered

>>>Pleasing God as a goal comes with its challenges, but pleasing God as a goal should be also be what overcomes those challenges.

Philippians 3:12–14 (ESV)

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

>>>Paul was not perfect is His aim to please God, yet he pressed on.

>>>Move beyond the mistakes of the past and continue to pursue Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1–2 (ESV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

>>>Hebrew 11 talks about all the saints who overcame the sin and struggles of their own lives and calls us to do the same.

>>>The call of the Word of God is to not be in bondage to things that keep us from following Jesus but to lay them aside and run our races with Jesus as the focus.

*Whatever is holding you down-sins/struggles/strongholds (spiritual warfare)-don’t let it stop you from fulfilling the call of God on your life, the call to please Him.

>>>Even Jesus considered it joy to go to the cross, because the shame of the cross was no match for His exaltation by the Father-the reward for His obedience.

*Don’t let the challenges of this life hinder you from pursuing Christ with all you have.

>>>Pleasing God can be difficult but don’t let that stop you.

===============================================================

>>>What is the reason to be sure to live with the goal of pleasing God?

2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

>>>Christians will not receive the judgment of condemnation from God (eternal separation from God) but will, however, give an account to God for how they lived as Christians.

>>>Believers must keep this in mind as they wait for eternity with Jesus. Paul wanted the church of Corinth to remember this as a reason to live pleasing God.

LIVING FOR ETERNITY KEEPS THE END IN MIND.

>>>If Jesus came back today, we would all answer for 1.) Did we accept Him as Lord/Savior? 2.) Did we live as Christians in obedience to Him?

*I will give an account of how I pastored. The question would be, “Did I please Jesus with my life?”

*This same question will be asked to you.

===============================================================

2 Timothy 4:7–8 (ESV)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

>>>Paul finished the life God called Him to live and received His reward. He said the same goes for all who long to see Jesus, having lived for Him on earth.

LIVE A LIFE THAT COUNTS.

>>>HBC High School group-good relationship/much time together/spiritual conversations

*Popular kids/stopped at what cost/threatened popularity.

*One had spiritual convos followed by foul mouth/pursued world/consumed with girls.

>>>Justin-only student who would talk about lesson

*Wasn’t popular/athletic but took walk seriously

*God put him in front of youth group-now studying for ministry. Left impact on CCA.

*Proof you can be a teenager and live for eternity.

>>>You can live a life that counts or be like everyone else.

===============================================================

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS:

1.) What are some things that resonated with you coming out of the message?

2.) Main Point: LIVE A LIFE THAT COUNTS.

*What thing(s) in your life keep(s) you from living a life that counts/living for eternity?

*How specifically is God wanting you to live for Him?

*How often do you think about what God wants for your life?

*Have a student close in prayer.