seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
What in the world?!? OK... I definitely need the commentary this morning.Our earthly house, this tent: Paul thinks of our bodies as tents — temporary structures that cannot be thought of as the whole person. If the tent is destroyed, we still have an eternal hope: a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan: Christians therefore groan because we see both the limitations of this body and superiority of the body to come. We are earnestly desiring our new bodies.
Earnestly desiring to be clothed… having been clothed, we shall not be naked: Paul is simply saying that in eternity, we will be clothed and not be naked — that is, we will not be bodiless spirits.
The Greek philosophers thought that a bodiless spirit was the highest level of existence. They thought of the body as a prison for the soul, and saw no advantage in being resurrected in another body.
To God, the body itself is not a negative. The problem isn't in the body itself but in these sin-corrupted, fallen bodies that we live in. Jesus approved the essential goodness of the body by becoming a man. If there was something inherently evil in the body, Jesus could never have added humanity to His deity.
But further clothed: In Medieval times, some Christians who had never been monks were buried in the clothing of a monk, hoping to do a little better on judgment day dressed like a monk. Jesus offers us a far better garment.
Therefore we make it our aim… to be well pleasing to Him: Since what we do right now has eternal consequences, our goal must persistently be to please God.
"You report to headquarters. Never mind what anybody else thinks of you. Your business is to please Christ, and the less you trouble yourselves about pleasing men the more you will succeed in doing it." (Maclaren)
So, to sum it all up.... No Virginia, you won't have to lug this body around in Heaven.
I'm actually turning 73 tomorrow. I don't know why I've been claiming 73 all year. I haven't done that since I was 12, wanting to be 13, so I could earn some cash babysitting. I have no clue why I've been thinking 73 when I was only 72... but boy this morning I feel that extra year. My hip hurts, my knee hurts, my belly is gassy all the time, and I've got a headache every single day. I'm thrilled I won't have to carry all these aches and pains into eternity. On top of that, the older I get the stupider I get. I'm glad we will get a new body!
I once heard someone say, "I'm going to wear this dress when I meet Jesus."
Paul says "Go ahead and wear that dress now, Honey. When you meet Jesus, you will be totally naked!"
I think the last time I met anyone when I was totally naked, was the day I was born. Since then, I've at least had a diaper wrapping my bum.
I wanna get naked and get to Heaven!
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