Assurance of The Resurrection
January 11, 2020
Commentary
In this passage we find that heaven was not simply a destination for Paul; it was also a motivation. He was anxiously waiting for the day when he would fully participate in the abundant life promised in heaven. He used a tent or earthly house as a picture of our present earthly bodies (v. 1). A tent is a weak, temporary dwelling without much beauty; but our glorified body will be eternal, beautiful, and never show signs of weakness or decay (Philippines 3:20-21). In contrast to the old body, the new body is pictured as a permanent dwelling.
He reminds the Corinthians that the world and its present sufferings are passing away (vv. 2-6). What is seen (the material) is temporary, but what is unseen (the spiritual) is eternal. No wonder Paul could endure suffering without wavering. His gaze was firmly focused by faith on the Savior and on his heavenly home; not on the seen but on the unseen (v. 7). To live this way is to live by faith and not by sight. Paul had a confident faith that conquered fear, and a future hope that was both a destination and a motivation. Paul was not afraid to die, because he was confident of spending eternity with Christ. Every believer in Jesus Christ has these same marvelous possessions.
Application
In our daily walk of life, what does it mean to walk by faith and not by sight? Lord, help me to think of examples our family has experienced of walking by faith!
2 Corinthians 5:1– 9 (NET)
1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. 4 For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we live by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him.