Fascinating!! That’s the first word that comes to mind as I ponder the reading. I am just fascinated by God! Do you ever feel that way? Interested? Intrigued? Curious? Hungry to know more?

I think Paul was all of the above for Christ. He was passionate about God and his faith. I read and hear the wonder, in these words and will break down a couple of main points that have spoken to me this week from this passage.

Before I get started, it’s really important to note this letter is written to the Corinthian Church. This means the book of 2 Corinthians is written to the Christian.

Number 1: Earthly & heavenly dwellings

The words dwelling, home, suit, tent, and body all appear to point to the same thing. We were made in the image of God, body soul and spirit. Like the astronaut who needs a different suit to survive in different atmospheres, we also need a different suit to thrive in different places. Our earthly body is uniquely suited for earthly living. Makes sense doesn’t it? And like the earth, because of sin, it decays over time. If you’re over 40 you have begun to appreciate that process. No need to belabor this point.

Paul agrees and reminds us that whether our bodies are here for a very short time (in human terms) or a very long one, the earth dwelling/tent/body is temporary, and when it no longer contains “us”, as believers, we move right into our new place, the eternal heavenly one. This understanding might create a conflict, especially as we age not only in physical years but in our spiritual maturity. 1 Corinthians 5:6-9 speaks of this conflict. We want to be with Jesus, but if we are with Jesus we are not on earth helping other’s know God. As the phrase goes,” the struggle is real.” God, at this point in time, has not allowed us to freely roam about because our eternal body can’t live in this sinful world and our sinful body can’t live in the perfect heavenly space where there is no sin. Are you with me? It’s one or the other. With God or with our neighbors who need God.

Fortunately for us, God gets to decide that timeframe, and we don’t need to worry about it. (Psalm 139:16)

Tucked at the end of this conversation about the 2 dwellings is a news bulletin: For all of us [believers] must appear before Christ, to be judged by Him. (2 Corinthians 5:10) Pause and realize that this verse can’t be taken out of the context of the whole passage and most especially not from the rest of the verse. We are being judged for what we did while we were living on earth. This has a great deal to do with the idea of stewardship. If God owns everything, as He sees fit He gifts or loans things to each of us; opportunities, intelligence, personality, experience, community, family, churches, friends, mentors, etc. All of these things that you either were born with, born into, or had the chance to develop, learn, and gain over your lifetime. So the question and the judgement is about what you did with what you had. Like the parable of the talents. (Matthew 25:14-30) For example: If I have made a decision for Christ and was (as we read later in the chapter) reconciled to Him at the age of 12. I’ve had many years to share my story. To make disciples. To help people in need. To stand up for righteousness. To be Jesus to people. Someone who came to faith on their death bed, and had 2 months to live has had less time, but maybe they had more resources than I and had the opportunity to give generously and to leave a legacy that affects far more people than I’ve been able to. Christ is a righteous and true judge. Rewards will be given or taken based on how we managed our life. All of this is called the Bema Seat Judgement and it will be discussed in more detail on October 24th at Grace Church.

What does it matter in my life today whether God has made me an eternal tent to put on or live in, since I can’t get to it any sooner than God sees fit?

1. It gives me a home to look forward to whenever that day comes.
2. It reminds me that God loves me, and provides generously.
3. It tells me that God is eternal and has made an eternal plan, not just a short term plan that will run out.
4. It encourages me to be a grateful worshiper, because God is AMAZING!
5. It creates a desire in me to do all that I can to honor Him in this life!
6. It deepens my hunger to know Him better, and help others know him and “become friends” with Him. (see below)

Number 2: While we are still here….

My NIV Study Bible titles the second section of the chapter “the ministry of reconciliation”. What in the world does that mean? I am probably always going to err on the side of oversimplification, but this is my take on it. It’s about our job as a Christian. In the verses above Paul is describing the final destiny, to let us know the plan God has revealed to him and to motivates us to finish our life here on earth well. Let’s start with the word reconcile.

Reconciled:: to restore to friendship or harmony.

The problem is sin. We are all sinners, it’s been passed down to us and in our free will we choose to be selfish and sinful, repeatedly. I don’t think any honest person can deny this. Doing something “good” or “right” does not remove all of the wrong, there isn’t an undo button. So all of the people that “feel” like they are “pretty good” may indeed to lots of nice things, but the good does not cancel out the bad that still exists.

God loves the people He created but they are sinful. God is holy and cannot tolerate sin. Big problem! Jesus provided the only solution to the problem by taking on all of the sin of the world, and putting it to death. That’s great news!! But He only reconciles the difference He has with the sinner who admits their sin to Him, believes Jesus is the Savior, and commits themselves to follow Him as Lord. That is reconciliation friends. Even though He is willing to rescue everyone, He won’t rescue those who are His enemies.

Verse 17 says, that person who is reconciled to God is a NEW creation, the old life is gone, and the new life has come!

Now, our NEW life comes with a NEW job, which is to help others do what we did. In other words, make disciples who make disciples. Or in still other words, the Good News Translations says “All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into His friends and gave us the tasks of making others His friends also” (2 Corinthians 5:18) The job is to help our friends become friends with God. As Paul writes in verses 11-15, its not for our sake, its for theirs and it’s for God’s. He goes on to say we just need to treat people and see people like God does, with all of the potential to become a friend.

There you have it. It is full circle. We were enemies of God. But when we became friends, God made us new! He created a new place to live with Him eternally. He gave us the Holy Spirit to indwell us in the interim, “as a promise”. He covered our sin so we no longer have to be judged for our sin, but only be judged for what we have done with our new life. We also have a new perspective, a godly one, and the power to walk away from sin and our old life. We also have gifts and the power to represent God and serve Him by helping other people gain a new life, a new eternal dwelling place, and friendship with God.

Think about this, even if you’ve been a Christ-follower for a long time 2 Corinthians 5 lays out a plan that you might not have been aware of. It is just as though you have been hired into a new company. It’s a perfect job, with out-of-this-world benefits, flexible hours, stellar support, and opportunity for advancement!

Thanks be to God! Let me encourage you to either get started today, or to keep up the great work!