2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Your Forever Home

Building Update

Sent out email on Thursday

Friday morning we received offer back from Coast Hills

They agreed to our counter

Purchased for $2.85 million

Current financing is 4.25% over 25 years

Mortgage will be $11,000 a month

Coast Hills is going to lease back space for $5,500 a month

Will have 9,000 sq ft to lease

Our hope is to be net positive

We will close this deal in January

Goal is services over there in 1 year

How can you help

Pray

Need to lease office space until escrow closes

Need to lease space

Need CUP process to go through

Give

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Transition

About the only thing I like about facebook is the memory feature

On Thursday a memory came up of our trip to the Grand Canyon

We camped at KOA in Flagstaff

On the first night, around midnight it started to pour rain. It was then we discovered that our tent was not water tight

The only option we had at that moment was a Teepee on the campground

It ended up being better in the end

Paul uses the analogy of a tent in referring to our earthly bodies

Tents were easy for Paul to talk about because he was a tent maker

It’s also a stark contrast between our lives here on earth and what is to come in our heavenly home

Paul doesn’t describe heaven today, but he does let us know how much better it is going to be

I. Skillfully Crafted vs. 1

The first aspect of our heavenly home is that it is skillfully crafted

Your forever home is so good it’s not even crafted with hands

It’s not made from a 3-d printer

It is spoken into existence just like the garden of eden was before sin screwed everything up

Temporary Residence

Before he gets to heaven, Paul starts out by describing our current situation

These bodies are temporary tents

As I mentioned Paul uses tents because he is a tent maker

He knows they are temporary

If they are destroyed we are going to be upgraded to our forever home

Of course, Paul is talking about death and eternal life

Not Made with Hands

That upgrade will be to a house not made with hands

The Greek word for house here is Oikia, which sounds a lot like Ikea

For some of you, this gets you excited, while it strikes terror in the rest of us

Fortunately you will not have to follow Ikea’s instructions to put everything together, it will already be assembled

Heaven will be nothing like Ikea, except for maybe the Swedish Meatballs

Our forever home in Heaven will not be made with hands

This perishing tent will be replaced with amazing

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.

The difference between you here on earth and you in heaven is incomprehensible

Your body is perishing here on earth, it will be eternal in heaven

It is born into sin, but it will be resurrected in power

It is a natural body here, but it will be a spiritual body there

II. Longing to Move vs. 2-3

The second aspect of our heavenly home is that God has put in your heart a longing to move

Once you decide to follow Jesus there is instilled in you a longing to move

That plays out in several ways

Normal Groaning

First, your earthly body will groan

Can I get an amen

Allan turned 70 this week

He is in good shape and by some miracle he has been able to control himself when Mrs Isaac makes her cookies

But his body still groans

From the minute you are born the clock is ticking on your dying

Put on Heaven

We want to put on heaven because we feel inadequate here on earth

Let me explain the language

Heaven represents our eternal life and nakedness is a reference to how Adam and Eve felt in the garden after they sinned

Our sin exposes our humanity and that’s not a good thing

It shows us that we don’t measure up without Jesus

But one day it will all change in the blink of an eye

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is

III. Moving On Up vs. 4-5

The third aspect of our heavenly home is that it is going to be a vast improvement on our current reality

Did you ever watch the Jefferson’s growing up?

The song from that show was called moving on up

It went “We’re Moving on up to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky.”

When we get to heaven it is going to be an upgrade

As believers, we need to appreciate and be good stewards of God’s creation but we are not to worship it because we know something better is coming

Paul calls it being further clothed

Being Burdened

But first, we need to understand that we are burdened

Romans 8:23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

It is the crushing burden of sin and affliction believers experience in their bodies that make them yearn for our spiritual bodies

Mortal Swallowed Up

When the rapture happens we will be caught up in the clouds with Jesus

At that moment our mortal bodies will be swallowed up

It will be changed from the imperfect to the perfect

1 Cor 15:54-55 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

That victory was yours when Jesus died on the cross and you gave your life to Him

For those who haven’t followed Jesus they won’t be made perfect but will suffer eternity in hell

There is a choice you have to make

Spirit as Guarantee

How can we be sure of this?

God has prepared us

That happens when our sins are forgiven and Christ’s righteousness is put on us

On top of that God has given us a guarantee

Paul tells us the God gave us His Holy Spirit as a guarantee

The Spirit is the one who works inside of you to guide you and convict you of sin

IV. Full of Courage vs. 6-8

Until we get to our heavenly home we need to be full of courage

Now we shift from what we get to how we act until that happens

First we need to full of courage

Paul never lost hope in his circumstances because he knew where he was ending up

His courage was never temporary feeling or passing emotion, it was a constant state of mind

He didn’t fear death, but faced it confidently

At Home in the Body

While we are here on earth we are away from Jesus

Paul calls it at home in the body

This isn’t self motivation, but a statement on our sad existence

Walk by Faith

While we here on earth we walk by faith and not sight

While i tried to figure out what was going on at Coast Hills, God knew exactly what was up

As soon as you started praying God answered big time

We are to fight the good fight of faith

1 Tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Take hold of the eternal life today

Good Courage

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

V. Aim to Please vs. 9-10

Whether we are in our heavenly home or here on earth we need to aim to please

In Life or Death

Col 1:9-11 we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power,

Day of Judgement