Coming Home
Notes
Transcript
Coming Home 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
Coming Home 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
No matter what we go through, even death can be used by God to minister to us and those we share the gospel with.
13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
the same spirit of faith. we all go through it.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
We don’t give up our walk with Christ because of what we experience. Because our walk is in Him, we are already walking in Glory. The we read the rest of this Spiritual Walk in 1-10 of chapter 5.
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Today we will look at for sure vv1-5, and if time, vv6-8 as well.
Lets begin taking it apart a little at a time.
2 Corinthians 5:1 (NKJV)
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed (torn down), we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
there are two houses here, one described as a temporary tent.
i personally am not a fan of “camping” i’m definitely on the glamping side of things. I love cabins in the woods with hi-speed wifi.
even then, its not home. its a place we are when we travel, something to shelter for a time. its not able to stand against many tests of nature.
Job 4:19 “How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before a moth?” Jesus said that he was going to prepare a place for us, (Jn 14:2)
these meatsuits are from dust. 1 Corinthians 15:47 “The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.” Jesus is the one that makes it without heaven.
But even in these temporary dwellings we have the Spirit of God living in us and that leads to the promise. 2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”
The other is permanent, not made with human interaction, but eternal made by the king of heaven. It is literally a building from God. What we are “now” is not what we will be. This is our resurrection body.
we see in Hebrews 9:11 “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;”
this existence is just as real, even more so. incorruptible, everlasting and one that we can trust in. 2 Cor 4:14 “14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.” Ro 8:11 “11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” What will you be living for? If you will truly live forever, what is there to fear?
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Resurrection, Believers’
John G. Paton, a nineteenth-century missionary to the South Seas, met opposition to leaving his home in Scotland and going to preach to the cannibalistic peoples of the New Hebrides Islands. A well-meaning church member moaned to him, “The cannibals, the cannibals! You will be eaten by the cannibals!”
Without hesitation, Paton replied, “I confess to you that if I can live and die serving my Lord Jesus Christ, it makes no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; for in that Great Day of Resurrection, my body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer!”
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.
we cant stop sighing or groaning like we read earlier, stenazomen. its a deep longing sigh. its a longing toward something that is beyond where we are.
clothed here is the same as in Ephesians 4:20–24 “But you have not so learned Christ, 21if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” but here, we are not have that choice.
If we are found in Christ, we are more than just disembodied Spirits when we die, we are in Him, in salvation. It also means we will have bodies, this isn't just a spiritual thing.
Resurrection meant bodies. We cannot emphasize this too strongly, not least because much modern writing continues, most misleadingly, to use the word ‘resurrection’ as a virtual synonym for ‘life after death’ in the popular sense.
N. T. Wright
4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
we don't want to die. we want to enter into that eternal life. That which is true and forever. but it does involve taking on off to put the other on.
Romans 8:23 “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (if you turn here hold your place)
1 Corinthians 15:53 “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” mortality must put on immortality.
so we shouldn’t long to die, we should long for eternity. and we cry out to God for it.
The best prayers have often more groans than words, and those words that it has are but a lean and shallow representation of the heart, life, and spirit of that prayer.
John Bunyan
Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
2 Corinthians 5:5 (NKJV)
5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
Gonna spend some time on this one, as it give us the completion of what we see going on here.
Who prepared us for this? He saves us! He does these things. Listen I know beyond doubt that I entered into eternity at the very moment of my salvation because i had the Spirit as a down-payment. That guarantee is arrabon, the first installment. Before we earned only death. In Christs death and resurrection, we have earn and will own life.
some teach this guarantee as being a corporate thing, with the gifts of the spirit confirming the Work christ was doing in the church. but its not. this is personal. You have a guarantee, an engagement ring, a down payment.
Turn to Ro 8:20-25 “20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” how this resembles chapter 5
2co 1:20-22 “20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
Eph 1:13-14 “13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
The resurrection is the eternal promise, the essential core of our faith. Christianity isn’t do, its done in our resurrected Christ Jesus. If any of you would like to receive this guarantee today, then repent of your sin, turn your heart to jesus and die to this world. Give yourself to him as a living sacrifice!