“Death is Promised”

2 Corinthians 5

Introduction: Don’t loose heart due to the struggles of life

2 Corinthians 4:17 “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,”

In Chapter 5, Paul unpacks the inevitable, which is death

It doesn’t matter if your rich or poor, a celebrity or a bum, an atheist or a muslim, we all face death.

James 4:14 “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Illustration: On Tuesday we went to a celebration, where a young father went on a bike ride to never return to his family

1. (V1) Our earthly home will be destroyed, but we are promised a eternal body

a) Death is promised

Tent refers to the body, which will be destroyed and is not permanent

Our future bodies are not made with hands. God specially makes them to suit the environment of eternity and heaven; they are eternal in the heavens.

John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

2. (V5) He has prepared us and has given us the Spirit is a guarantee

a) There should be a maturing process

2 Corinthians 4:17 “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,”

yielding to the spirit produces maturity as we learn to resist the flesh

b) Spirit as a guarantee

Ephesians 1:13–14 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

How do I know that I have recieved the Holy Spirit? (Conviction and a changed life)

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

3. (V8) Be of good courage because Heaven is better

a) Christians die well because they understand what awaits them

4. (V10) We will be judged for what we have done in the body, whether good or evil