Back to Life Part 2

There were three men standing at the gates of heaven with St. Peter. “Tell me, what would you like to hear your relatives or friends say at your funeral?” the Saint asked.

The first man answered, “Because I’m a renowned physician, I’d love to hear someone say how I’d been instrumental in saving someone’s life.”

The second man reported that he was a family man and a schoolteacher and that it would be wonderful if someone said that he had been a wonderful father and husband and that he had made a difference in some young person’s life.

The third man before St. Peter said, “Wow, you guys, those are really great sentiments, but I guess if I had my choice, I would hear someone say, ‘Look! He’s moving!’

Last week we started a journey talking about being brought back to life through Christ. Using 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 as our road map we can find some really good nuggets of truth to apply to our lives.

Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth. I love his passion for the gospel. Last week we read starting in chapter 4 about how grace was being taught, how the spirit was being renewed, and that we need to focus our vision on the future life we will get to live in heaven.

Today I want to keep right on going into chapter 5 which is really and extension of what Paul was saying in chapter 4.

Having just discussed human frailty (4:7), Paul talks about believers’ future hope of an eternal heavenly dwelling. He contrasts the earthly house—which groans and is burdened—with the heavenly dwelling with the Lord. Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit acts as a down payment of this future hope.

In the next few verses we are reminded that earth is our temporary home. One day Christ will return to take us to our heavenly home. We should use the time we have here wisely. Christ will reward our faithfulness.

Let’s read

2 Corinthians 5:1–11 NLT

1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. 11 Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

There is a whole bunch of good things said right here that we can apply to our lives. Let’s dive right in.

Our New Life comes with a New Home

I want you to think for a moment about the favorite home you’ve lived in. Wasn’t it great? There’s just something about having a place to live that you can call your own. Remember the feeling of sleeping in your home for the first time. How great was that?

In our American culture one of the key pillars of the American dream is to own your own home. To be able to stake your ground and make something your own is part of what makes us Americans. Now, I personally think we might put a little too much emphasis on this goal, but none the less it’s just part of our society.

Well, as believers, we are very fortunate because when we came to faith in Christ we have been promised many things. One of those promises includes a NEW HOME. Did you catch that in what Paul told the church?

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

He says, “we will have a house in heaven”. What exactly does that mean? Does that mean that we are going to get a house with a picket fence? Well, what Paul is referring to here is our body. To keep in context we look back to chapter 4 where he was talking about human frailty and the struggles we face in our bodies.

You see, as much as we can try to stay healthy, our physical body is susceptible to death and decay.

Paul is telling us that once we have been grafted into the family of God that we have something important to look forward too. That our current life and situations are temporary. That God has something better for us as His children.

I like the picture of this new home. Not only the new body we are promised, which I will talk about more in my next point, but I love the fact that there is a great existence coming for us. I really believe it is going to exceed all our expectations.

Jesus gave us a little taste of what’s going on behind the scenes right now when he was speaking to the disciples.

John 14:1–3 NLT

1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

Heaven is a real place.

Jesus very plainly was telling the disciples that one day they will be with Him and the Father in a real physical place.

Jesus spoke these words to bring comfort. Death should not be a terror to us because He is preparing a place for us in Heaven which is the Fathers house. The Father’s house is where God sits enthroned. It’s no longer in the Jewish temple as it was before Christ. Now there is a real place that we as believers will all get to see in our resurrected bodies.

We should take comfort in the fact that our life in Christ means that this world is not our home. That we are citizens of a glorious place where the presence of God is the only source of light.

When Paul was talking about our “house in heaven” we are reminded that we will have an eternal home that will never perish and that ...

Our New Life comes with a New Body

There was once a youth pastor who fell asleep in a staff meeting. So, in love, the other church staff members quietly placed some clothes in there chairs and left the room. After a couple of minutes they blew a trumpet outside the door! Needless to say it was a pretty funny scene as the youth pastor really thought he missed the boat!

Well the rapture didn’t happen that day, but I tell you the truth, Jesus is coming back. The whole earth will know that Christ is King. Every knee will bow in adoration.

As Christians we have this great hope. We look forward to this day, not in fear, but with anticipation.

John 14:3 NLT

3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

Jesus himself told the disciples that he was going to prepare a place, but that when the time was right that He was going to come back for them.

Paul wrote about this great day in

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

He was writing this to encourage the Thessalonians that everyone will be part of the resurrection. Not just those who were living, but all those who have ever trusted Jesus as the Lord of their life. I like the idea that we will be caught up or snatched away. It gives me the thought that we will meet Jesus in the air as He breaks through the clouds.

I don’t know how it will happen or when it will happen, but I know the Word of God says that it WILL happen. I would bet everything I own on the fact that Jesus is coming back and that it’s probably sooner than we think it will be!

Now, back to our text for today, what does Paul say in 2 Corinthians 5 about the resurrection of the saints? Well, he still talking about our bodies. He says a few things that I want to point out to you.

1 - Not just a spirit we will have new physical bodies

2 Corinthians 5:3 NLT

3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.

Personally, I believe God is very interested in our physical being. He is in fact the creator of who we are. Wouldn’t it make since that when Christ returns to take us to the place He has prepared that we would be restored to God’s original perfected creation?

We live in a somewhat deformed version of creation because sin has brought death, decay, and destruction. What happened when Christ was resurrected will happen to us! We will get to share in that glorification. This is something that we get to look forward to in faith.

2 - Holy Spirit is a guarantee for new body

2 Corinthians 5:5 NLT

5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

God provides believers with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that they will receive resurrected spiritual bodies when Christ returns.

2 Corinthians 1:22 NLT

22 and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

Ephesians 1:13–14 NLT

13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

When you come to faith in Christ you receive the Holy Spirit of God in you. The Spirit of God is what gives us the boldness to step out in faith. The spirit of God is what started and continues the transformation process of sanctification in your life. Which culminates in us being perfected when Christ returns.

The Holy Spirit is a down payment on the Promise of our future glorified life!

When will this final transformation take place?

3 - This transformation will happen when Jesus returns

2 Corinthians 5:6–8 NLT

6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

This transformation happens in the presence of our Lord. I’m telling you, this is something to look forward to in your christian walk. As you read these words you can hear the anticipation that Paul talks with. That he is yearning for the day when this mortal man is gone and we get to live in glory with Jesus.

But we can’t get to caught up in this right now. We’ve got some work to do don’t we?

2 Corinthians 5:8–9 NLT

8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.

Our goal is to please God. This is my final point...

Our New Life comes with New Responsibility

If I had to pick the purpose for this part of the letter to the Corinthian church I would say that it was to encourage people to know that current suffering will not last forever, but it was worth enduring because people need to hear the Gospel.

Knowing we get to go to a place Jesus is preparing... Knowing we will get to have new bodies…These are great things. But these must not be our primary focus in life. Oh, it might be easy to accept Jesus as Lord, and be excited about what the future is going to look like, but are you on the same page as Paul when he says...

2 Corinthians 5:11 Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

We work to persuade others? What does that mean? Well, let’s turn our attention to last week. When we woke up each day, what was our motivation? Were you excited to tell someone of the saving grace of God? Did you give a testimony of how Jesus is your Lord? Did you go out of your way to LOVE someone?

Or was it just another week that in the grand scheme of things will just end up being a blur?

This part of the sermon might be a bit uncomfortable. I don’t want it to be, I want it to be encouraging. Listen to our scripture again.

2 Corinthians 5:9–10 NLT

9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

God will judge all individuals—including believers—not only in terms of salvation, but also with respect to eternal rewards for deeds performed while on earth.

1 Corinthians 4:5 NLT

5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

Paul is encouraging us to live lives that are acceptable or pleasing to God.

Last week I brought this up because it’s part of who we become. Not how we are saved. But we do good things because we are saved.

These words echo the conclusion statement we find in Ecclesiastes, which affirms the justice of God despite the presence of suffering and injustice.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 NLT

14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

Faith in God’s justice should lead us to reverence God and keep His commandments.

Now don’t get the wrong idea here.

The judgement seat of Christ is not a final exam to determine our suitability for heaven. If we have trusted in Jesus as our Saviour, our sins have been forgiven, and that’s what qualifies us to enter the holy presence of God in heaven.

Romans 8:1 NLT

1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Our sins, past, present, and future, were all paid for on Calvary’s cross.

When we stand before the Judgment seat of Chris, our faithful service to Him will be evaluated and rewarded. With perfect knowledge, He will asses our every though, motive, and action. The prospect of this coming judgement should MOTIVATE us to be more like Christ in our daily lives.

There are heavenly rewards for those who are faithful. Even different crowns that will be rewarded.

Being brought back to life in part means that we will have an eternal home, that our bodies will be made new, and that we need to take up the cause of Christ.

My goal in writing this message today is to encourage you to look forward to the return of Chris and to remind you that what we do here on earth counts for eternity.