Advent 2018: Good Courage and a Life that Matters

Introduction

For many, Christmas is the reminder of something painful. It’s the reminder back to a Christmas table where your dad never sat or the first Christmas after your parents divorced. It’s the reminder of who has always been a part of Christmas but won’t be a part of Christmas this year. Your dad won’t be there or the baby you thought you’d have by now won’t be there. Your single, and you believed that you’d have a family by now, but you don’t, and for you Christmas seems to be a poignant reminder that you aren’t where you think you ought to be. This morning, what we’re going to see is that even though the Christmas season as we have conceived it now may cause these painful and real emotions to bubble up inside of us, that it is the coming of Christ allows us to walk in faith with a hope that is just as real and just as life-giving in light of that pain.

For others, Christmas is a reminder of something powerful. It’s a reminder that wherever you are in your life and wherever you are in the world and whatever season you find yourself in, there is home. It’s a flood of nostalgic memories and favorite traditions and Christ-honoring celebrations. It’s love and family and generosity. It’s warmth and kindness. It’s seeing people and remembering what is good and important. It’s the resetting of your priorities and the declaration of your love both to God and to your friends and family. It’s a reminder that you have a home where people will love you and know you and support you. And, this morning, we’re going to see that God has wired the power of home into our hearts, and that Christ came to secure our true Home with God for which we long.

God’s Word

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3 Rock Solid Assurances

This morning, we’re going to be picking up from where we left off a couple of weeks ago in . Now, I know this seems strange, but I had a particular reason in doing so. Each year, the Advent series is constructed to build a certain way. We look progressively each year at the redemptive narrative and the reasons for Christ’s coming, and try to fit them together from the big picture of of Scripture. We start with man’s sinfulness, move to Christ’s redeeming work, then to Jesus’ sanctifying work in man, and then land on Jesus’ future work with his second advent. There’s obviously some overlap, but two weeks ago, we looked at Jesus’ redeeming work in us as broken pots and now we’re going to look even more to the future as we look toward our eternal building, ‘a building from God’ here in chapter 5. So, I wanted kind of to set the table of where we were and give you some rhyme and reason of why this thing is laid out the way that it is.

In our text this morning, I see three real movements. And, from those three movements in our text, I see one word from each movement as a rock solid assurance that we gain from the Christ’s advent, that is, a rock solid assurance that we gain because of the coming of Christ.

Christ’s Advent is Our Guarantee.

The first word that I want you to lock in on is the word ‘guarantee.’ What I want us to see this morning is that Christ’s advent is our guarantee for the future. The guarantee of the future is really what’s at the forefront of Paul’s mind and is really what determines everything that he says. The first movement in the text that I think we should really see is in verses 1-5. You have these three ‘for’ statements capped off by verse 5 in which he sums it all up by saying, and “God prepared us for this very thing.” And, in this first movement, we see it bookended by this glorious, rock solid, immovable, life-anchoring assurance. Notice what I mean.

Book-ended Guarantees

“we have a building from God” In verse one, he starts by talking about what is apparent to us. He says, ‘the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed’. He’s talking about these bodies that we have and how weak they are, and he’s comparing them to a tent. Paul was a tent-maker; so, this would have been a natural comparison. I’ve lived about half of my life in a tent, and living in a tent can be a lot of fun, but it can also be dangerous. I once camped a night with the Rainbow People with nothing separating me from them except a piece of thin nylon, and it wasn’t exactly my most restful night. Once, Megan and I were camping in North Georgia, and we heard our cooler filled with Cokes get hurled out of the back of my truck. Now, I knew that raccoons didn’t have that ability. Not comforting! Tents leave you vulnerable! And, over the course of my life, I’ve been privileged to own some very nice tents. But, with enough time and enough sticks and enough teenage boys, do you know what happens? They all wear out. This is Paul’s point! The bodies that we have are vulnerable and temporary. They are going to wear out. They are susceptible the brokenness of this world. But, we have a guarantee! We have a promise! Though ‘the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God!’ It’s incorruptible as says. It hasn’t been built with human hands. It’s imperishable and eternal. And so, he’s starting off. And, he’s continuing with this desire of them not losing heart, not despairing, not being struck down, not being destroyed. By saying, “Your body is going down. Your tent is vulnerable. But, you already have a greater Building secured! You already have a guarantee!” He says that right up front.

The Down Payment

“who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” Then, he bookends it in verse 5 by saying, the Spirit was given to us ‘as a guarantee.’ So, the question becomes: how can I really know? How can I really know that this body is a tent and that a ‘building from God’ awaits me? How can I be certain? There’s another way to ask this question. Paul is talking here about the resurrection. But, he’s not so much talking about Jesus’ resurrection as he is our resurrection. So, we could ask: How can I know that I will receive a glorified, resurrected body like Jesus did? Paul says: “Because you have the guarantee of the Spirit!” The Spirit of Christ is in you and because the Spirit of Christ is in you, you can be certain that the resurrection of Christ will apply to you! You see, Jesus didn’t just come to die, Jesus came to win! Jesus came to win over death and sin and the grave. Jesus came to secure a new reality for the future for me, for you, and for his church. And, the wonderful hope became became reality in the resurrection. And, the assurance that we have of it is the Spirit that He sent to dwell in us. The idea behind ‘guarantee’ is like earnest money or a downpayment on a house. It’s a first installment on a lump sum that’s coming. The Spirit has brought the presence of heaven into the present. He has testifies to us that God has saved us, God has changed us, and God is changing us. The Spirit’s work in our life is our guarantee that our Home is secure.

Groaning and Longing

“so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” APPLICATION: It’s this book-ended guarantee, this rock-solid assurance of the future that is nailed down by the presence of the future that lets us know what we are to do now with the rest of what Paul says in verses 2-4. He says that he’s groaning, and he’s longing for this heavenly building. The groaning he’s talking about isn’t the picture of a dying man with gunshot wounds or ill woman on her deathbed. This is a marathon runner at the end of the race that has ran with everything that they’ve got and now they’re at the end of the race, and they’re mustering up the strength that they have so that they’re groaning and longing and stretching out to cross the finish line. They’re not at the finish line, but they’re excited about it. And, he says that the goal is actually that dying would be swallowed up by life.

So, what can we do who are dying? What can we do who are groaning and longing for the finish line? What can we do? We can allow God to prepare us. What’s interesting about the Spirit as our guarantee is that it’s the Spirit that initiates our new birth, our new life, and then guarantees our eternal life. It’s the Spirit that groans as we groan on our behalf says, interceding for us. It’s the Spirit that begins, in this life, giving you a foretaste of the next life, and it’s the Spirit that God uses to prepare you for the next life. Your security in Christ will be proportional to your control by the Spirit. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Christians who live under the control of the Spirit are given a foretaste of Christ’s full reign. You are never more alive than when you are full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and operating by the power of the Spirit. We must do what the Spirit says do. We must go where the Spirit says go. We must read the Word that the Spirit has given to us. We must pray in the Spirit. We must cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Brothers and sisters, as you stretch out to the finish line, lean into the Spirit. As you long for the Building of heaven, come under the control of the Spirit of heaven. Christ came to send you his Spirit. And, even as you draw near to death, brothers and sisters, you will come more and more alive! You can get older, and become more alive. You can get sicker and come more alive. You can get become more disabled, and come more alive. Let God prepare you by coming under the control of the Spirit!

Christ’s Advent Secures Our Home.

“we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” The second real movement in our text that I see comes in verses 6-8. After those ‘for’ statement in verses 1-5, you’ll find to ‘so’s’ in verses 6-10 that form our last two movements, and there are two words that really jump out at us from those. The word that I want us to really lock in on from this second movement is the word ‘home.’ What I want us to see is that Christ’s advent secures our Home. Can you even imagine what home meant to Paul? At this point in his life, he was essentially a man without a country. He was a Jew, but the Jews didn’t want him. He was a Roman citizen, but the Romans would execute him. He traveled from city to city and country to country. In fact, Paul was not even fortunate enough to be locked into a single church family. He was a missionary and church planter, and though he had many brothers and sisters who loved him, he was never in a city long term. So, the concept of home, the longing for a home was not lost on Paul.

Here, though, he is not so much talking about a place of address as he is talking about the body. He is using home as a metaphor to describe the physical body in light of where he actually wants to be, which is reigning in peace with Jesus. And, he’s saying, “So long as I’m here in this body, I’m not in my real real home. So long as I’m in this earthly tent, I’m not where I long to be — at home with my Lord.”

A Sermon of Good Courage

“we walk by faith, not by sight” What Paul is acknowledging is a tension that he lives in and that we all know. His eyes tell him that he’s dying, even though his faith tells him that he’s coming to life. His eyes tell him that he’s being destroyed, even though his faith tells him that he’s more than a conqueror. And so, Paul has a sermon of good courage that he preaches to himself, and he has sermon of good courage that he preaches to the church of Corinth. It’s a sermon that will allow him to face death and shipwrecks and lashings and stonings. It’s a sermon that will remind him that his sufferings will soon pass and that he can live now with courage because of what has been secured for him.

APPLICATION: You see, our sight tell us things are coming apart, but our faith assures things are coming together. Our sight tells us we are dying, but our faith tells us that death is the beginning of true life. Our sight tells us that we are unraveling, but our faith tells us everything is under control. Our sight tells us that our pain is pointless, our lives are hopeless, and our eternity is loveless, but our faith says that our pain working for our good, our lives are turning toward glory, and all things God moves are for the sake of love. I think about Edwin Lester who walked with the Lord for more than 70 years, and in his final days couldn’t get comfortable in his hospital bed. And, the family telling me, “Cody, we’re praying that our daddy can just go home. We know that he’s ready. If he can just go home.” This past week, Scott Johnson buried his mother and father in the same week. They’d been married 64 years, and they walked to heaven together. Scott told me, “Cody, they were in such bad shape. I was praying that they could just go home.” You see, brothers and sisters, Home with God, Home secured by Christ gives us the ‘good courage’ that we need to face everything what we’re going to face in this broken world. You can face the world against you or the edge of death or the loss of your beloved son and husband. You can bury your daddy or you momma and your daddy in the same week if you know where Home is. You can leave your home here and relocate your family to a new city to plant a church or a new country to reach the locals even if this isn’t your home, because your Home is with the Lord. You can live with ‘good courage’, radical courage if you know where home is. You can keep going in the face of incredible odds, if you just know where you get to come Home to. This is what Christ came and secured. This is what the Spirit guarantees. This what Christ will return to finish!

I think about Edwin Lester who walked with the Lord for more than 70 years, and in his final days couldn’t get comfortable in his hospital bed. And, the family telling me, “Cody, we’re praying that our daddy can just go home. We know that he’s ready. If he can just go home.” This past week, Scott Johnson buried his mother and father in the same week. They’d been married 64 years, and they walked to heaven together. Scott told me, “Cody, they were in such bad shape. I was praying that they could just go home.” You see, brothers and sisters, Home with God, Home secured by Christ gives us the ‘good courage’ that we need to face everything what we’re going to face in this broken world. You can face the world against you or the edge of death or the loss of your beloved son and husband. You can bury your daddy or you momma and your daddy in the same week if you know where Home is. You can, leave your home here and relocate your family to a new city to plant a church or a new country to reach the locals if you this isn’t your home, your Home is with the Lord. You can live with ‘good courage’, radical courage if you know where home is. You can keep going in the face of incredible odds, if you just know where you get to come Home to.

Christ’s Advent Secures the Reward We Will Receive.

“so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, good and evil” So, should we hate these tents that we have? Should we hate them since they get cancer and disabilities and ultimately die? In fact, Paul is saying, and has been saying, the opposite of that to the Corinthians. The Corinthians had a Platonic understanding of the body that led them to loathe the body and denigrate the body to a level that was despicable in the eyes of God. And, in this last movement, in this landing spot this morning, I think this is so much in view. Some people hear that this life and body are giving way to another, and they are prone to think that this life doesn’t matter. But, God has gifted us with a profound weightiness to this life. But, Paul says that we are to receive what we are due for what we have done ‘in the body.’ That is, our bodies were given to us by God for the purpose of his glory and for our good. Our bodies were given to us for our thriving and for our relationship with God. We should not spend all of our time wishing this life away for the next life. This is the only shot we have at this one. God has meant it for living. It is a gift to us, and it is meant to be lived seriously.

This body is under a curse, but this body is not a curse.

“good and bad” This body is under a curse, but this body is not a curse. Think of what can only be said of this life and this body right now:

It is this life in which you meet God and respond to him.

It is this life in which you meet God and respond to him.It is this life in which you will do either good or bad.It is this life in which you will reveal whether or not you are in the family of God/Kingdom of GodIt is this life for which you will give an account to God.It is this life which will establish your trajectory of eternity.

It is this life in which you will do either good or bad.

It is this life in which you will reveal whether or not you are in the family of God

It is this life for which you will give an account to God.

It is this life which will establish your trajectory of eternity.

Jesus Makes Life Matter

“receive what is due” Yet, the word that I said that jumps out at me here is the ‘receive.’ And, it’s because it does. Every time I read I shudder. The idea of receiving what I am due is a terrifying prospect for me. And yet, as we saw at the end of , at Christ’s second Advent, that the nations will be gathered before Jesus in his power and glory to be divided into lambs and goats. And, we will be divided by the things we’ve done. Whether we’ve cared for the hungry and the cold and the infirm. And, I’ve failed so often. This passage is proof again that believers and unbelievers alike will be gathered at the judgement seat. But, you see, on that day, for those who are in Christ, I won’t really get what I’m due. I will really get what Christ is due. For I will be credited with his righteousness. Any good I’ve done, any commendation I receive, any crown that’s mine, should really be his. But, Jesus has secured it for me. Jesus’ advent secured the reward for his church. I’m going to be rewarded because Jesus was cursed! I’ve only done bad, and Jesus only did good. But, Jesus received God’s wrath as though He had done my bad, and I will receive Jesus’ reward as though I’d done his good. So much so, that I am actually able to receive further commendation and further reward and further treasure for other good that I have been enabled to do in my life because of Christ. Jesus made my life matter! Praise God that Christ came! Praise God that Christ is coming again!