2 Corinthians 5:1-10 - Walking by Faith: Longing for Heaven and Living on Earth (Rev. Erik Veerman)

Walking by Faith: Longing for Heaven and Living on Earth

2 Cor 5:1-10

Our sermon text is 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. You can find that on page 1147.

The theme of suffering continues here in chapter 5.

Last week, we were encouraged to not lose heart in our affliction. That is because of three things. (1) God is working his Gospel in us – he is renewing us day by day. (2) our suffering, though difficult, pales in comparison to the eternal weight of glory. And (3) God enables us to look to the eternal things in heaven, which we cannot see but are promised.

The beginning of chapter 5, here is a continuation of point 3 from last week. God enables us to look to the things in eternity even though we cannot see them. And in these verses, we’re given a picture of heaven and what it will be like to dwell there.

These verses put meat on the bones, so to speak. They tell us what the future reality will be like in comparison to our present reality.

So, as I read, listen for that comparison. Our present reality on earth compared with our future reality in heaven.

Reading of 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Prayer

There’s one medical statistic that has remained consistent for all of history… going all the way back to Adam and Eve. The percentage of this medical occurrence has not changed in that long. Thousands and thousands of years of human history.

I’m talking about the mortality rate. It has remained at 100%. By the way, the word “mortality” literally means “subject to death.” 100% in the history of humanity.

Now, I know what couple of you are thinking… “yeah but what about Enoch? God took him but he didn’t experience death? Or what about Elijah? He was taken up to heaven on the whirlwind.” Ok, fine. But you get my point. Everyone in history minus 2

There is only one event that will change that. There is only one event that will end mortality. And that is when Christ returns. We don’t know when that will happen. But when he returns, those who are alive will not experience death. Wouldn’t that be great if it happened in our lifetime.

At that time, the Scriptures say that Jesus will return as judge of the living and the dead. Verse 10 references Jesus’ “judgment seat.” We’ll come back to that later.

But look at verse 1, do you see that word “if?” “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed”  

It’s talking about our mortal bodies. That word “if” is the same word in the Greek for the word “when.” And here it is an “if or when.” It’s an “if” for you if Christ returns before you experience death. It’s a “when” if Christ returns after you pass from this life.

In the meantime, all of us will experience the groaning of our bodies, as these verses describe. And possibly all of us will experience the pains of death as we pass from this life.

And it’s difficult. Our “groaning” is difficult to different degrees now and it will likely become more difficult. We don’t want to struggle with sleep issues or weight issues or chronic issues or disease or mental heath issues… or the general wearing down of our bodies. No, we all have an internal longing to be whole.

And what 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 reveals to us is that one day we will be whole. These verses reveal the amazing reality of what is to come. It helps us to live with the groaning now with confidence in the reality of what is to come for us in heaven. And it’s a beautiful promise.

As you heard, these verse constantly go back and forth between earth and heaven. Our current reality and our future promise. The pains of our current bodies, and being clothed in perfected ones. How in this life we are away from the Lord –we’re not in his physical presence, but in the life to come, we will be with him forever.

And the big question here is this: How do we live in adversity and long for eternity? How can we turn our groaning into longing?

The answer centers on one thing. There’s one thing that is critical. Really, it’s the key to the answer. And it’s right there in the middle of these verses. Verse 7. “We walk by faith and not by sight.” You see, the Bible gives us many promises. And we are called to believe in them by faith.

Faith is the key to it all. It’s the key to living on earth while longing for hope for heaven.

Now, these verses do not give us a definition of faith. In fact, faith is only mentioned a few times in the whole book. But remember, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. This is not the first letter he’s written to them. No, it’s actually the fourth letter. We don’t have two of them. And also, don’t forget, Paul planted the church in Corinth. He’s also visited them. So, he is not defining the word “faith” because he knows that his readers understand its meaning.

Now, for us, the word faith culturally has a shallow meaning. Mostly.

People often use the word “faith” today in a generalized sense like a blind trust – a blind faith. Like, I’m not really sure about something, but I’m just going to go with it. You know, that kind of faith.

But the word faith in the Greek and its use in the Scriptures is much deeper. Much richer. Its not a blind faith without reason… but a belief and trust in something because of the confidence in and reliance on what is believed. In fact, the same word “faith” in the Greek is sometimes translated “assurance” depending on the context.

In other words, faith includes trusting in something because of real, rational, and true reasons.

Let me take a moment and speak those of you here who are still evaluating Christianity.

When you hear that Christianity requires faith, that’s very true. At the heart of what it means to be a Christian is to have faith in Christ. It’s faith in who he is as God and what he has done. But faith does not mean setting aside your mind or reason. No faith includes engaging your mind.

·       It’s believing in God as he has revealed himself in creation all around you and in the Scriptures.

·       It’s seeing how consistent and clear the Bible is and its validity. We have almost 6000 New Testament manuscripts going back to the second century and they are amazingly consistent.

·       Having faith also includes understanding your own heart. It’s recognizing your need for honor instead of your shame, for forgiveness from your sin, and for redemption because of your debt to God.

·       Faith is believing that Jesus has overcome those things for you.

·       You see, faith is both a heart and mind belief.

Now, for all of us, faith in Christ does include things that we cannot see. Absolutely. We cannot see heaven. We cannot see God. But that does not mean it’s a blind faith. No, it’s trusting in the riches which have been revealed to us.

So, when verse 7 says, “we walk by faith and not by sight” it’s saying that as we journey through life, we trust in the future promises that God has given us, because of all the things he has done for us.

Ok, with that foundation of faith, let’s look at two things. You’ll see those on the notes page.

First, Longing for heaven by faith. And second, living on earth by faith.

So, longing for heaven while living on earth, by faith

1. Longing for heaven by faith

Some people think that heaven will be like we are in the clouds, and we’ll be floating around like angels. But that is not how the Bible describes heaven. When Christ returns, we will be given new bodies and there will be a new heavens and a new earth – a new creation that is not groaning.

These verses give us a picture of some of that. Look at the contrast. Our earthly bodies are described as tents. Our heavenly bodies are buildings. One is flimsy and it doesn’t take much to tear down. The other is firm and immoveable.

In fact, the end of verse 1 says our heavenly dwelling will be “eternal in the heavens.” Indestructible. You ask, what will that be like?

I’m not totally sure, but we are given a glimpse of that in Jesus’ resurrected body. Ours will be like his in some way. When he appeared with his disciples, he ate with them. Thomas, his disciple, felt the scar on Jesus’ side. There will be a physical nature to our bodies.  But they will be imperishable. Immortal. Look at the end of verse 4 – “we will be further clothed so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.” No longer will our bodies be subject to death, but rather life forever. Let me put it this way, the mortality rate in heaven will be 0%. Death will be no more.

So that is one promise here – resurrected imperishable bodies.

Ok, there’s a second future promise in these verses. Those in Christ are promised to be present with the Lord. Physically present with him. Verses 6 and 8 describe how in our bodies now, we are away from the Lord.

To be sure, the apostle Paul is not talking about the spiritual presence of Christ. No, Jesus is spiritually present with us, now, through his Spirit by faith. But when our earthly bodies are destroyed, we will be with the resurrected Lord in heaven. In his presence.

Let also me clarify something. These verses do not focus on the timing of when we’ll be given eternal bodies. But these verses do tell us when we will be present with the Lord. We will be present with the Lord as soon as we are away from the tent of our earthly bodies.

Think of the thief on the cross. Jesus said to him that “today” he would be with him in paradise.

By the way, elsewhere in the New Testament, it’s very clear that our heavenly dwelling, our resurrected bodies, will be given to us when Christ returns, in the future.

Here’s what I am saying. If you are a believer in Christ by faith, when you die, your soul will immediately be with the Lord. But in the future, when Jesus returns your soul will be united to a new resurrected body.

When you pass from this life, it will be amazing to be in the Lord’s full presence. But when Christ returns and you are found in him, it will be even more amazing. It’s hard to even imagine being in the presence of the resurrected and ascended Jesus, with a new heavenly body like his.

We can’t see exactly what that will be like, but we walk by faith in that promise.

Let me summarize point one like this. Turn your groanings into longings. Long to be present with the Lord. And long for that imperishable, eternal, immortal body that you are promised in Christ.

2. Living on earth by faith (5:5-10)

Which brings us to #2. Living on earth by faith.

8 years ago, I took a paper lawn trash bag, which I had cut open. And I got out some old spray paint… And wrote in big letters, “Alaska or Bust.”

I wanted to tape the sign to the back of our RV, but the kids thought that was weird.

We then set off on a 7,000 mile journey. I wasn’t sure if we would make it. At one point, we were driving toward the Canadian boarder, and all of a sudden the engine made a bad noise… and smoke started billowing everywhere behind us. My heart sank. I thought the engine just blew up. I thought Alaska or bust was a bust.

Thankfully it was just a coolant line. Got that fixed and continued on. Made it into Canada, but then the next day, boom. Blew a tire. The next day, we almost lost another tire. Then the next day, black diesel smoke started pouring out of the tailpipe every time we tried to accelerate. We were in the middle of nowhere. By this time, I was quite sure we weren’t going to make it.

Isn’t that how you feel while on the journey of life? Do you feel like your travel sign says “heaven or bust.” Do you think that there’s a possibility you’re not going to make it. Or that you’ll lose your faith or that God will forget you? We lose hope, don’t we?

Do you know what your travel sign really says. It just says, “heaven!” there is no “or bust.”

Look at verse 5. “He who has prepared this very thing is God, who has given us his Spirit as a guarantee.”

God’s promise is sure. There are no “maybes” about it. It is not a hollow hope. It is the sure hope founded on what God has accomplished in Christ - his death and resurrection.

You see, God will accomplish his promise. If you have believed by faith in what Christ has done for you, God has given you his Spirit as a guarantee.

Jesus, himself, reinforces this. In the Gospel of John chapter 6, he said, “I should lose nothing of all that he [the Father] has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” And he said, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jesus promised that he will raise you up.

Let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 5… Immediately after Paul reminds us of this guarantee, he writes, “So we are of good courage.” That is verse 6. Then he repeats the same phrase in verse 8. “Yes, we are of good courage.”

Do you know when you need courage the most? In battles, in trials, in affliction and suffering.

So, in this life here on earth, no matter what happens to you -blown tires, engine failures, accidents, you can live with courage and confidence because God will carry you to your destination.

I’ll never forget it. In the distance I could see something big on the side of the road. As we got closer, it turned out to be a big sign. Pretty soon we could read it. It said, “welcome to Alaska.” For this special occasion, I brought a big sharpie. I crossed out the word “bust” on our sign… and underlined the word “Alaska.” We made it. By the way, that sign hangs in our basement.

Beloved in Christ, just cross out the phrase “or bust” right now in your imaginary travel sign. There’s no chance that you will not arrive. No, you are assured of that. And you can live on earth now with confidence and courage.

Ok, so that is one way you are called to live knowing of your future promise. Confidence and courage.

There’s also a second response here.

Look at verse 9. It says, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” In other words, whether we are on earth or in heaven, we aim to please God.

Let me mention the obvious. If you are in heaven, away from the body, you will be pleasing the Lord. That’s because you will be worshipping him for eternity. You will be so overwhelmed being in his presence that you will be giving him the glory forever. And you will be unable to sin, so everything you do in eternity will be pleasing to the Lord.

But the other part of verse 9 is that we make it our aim to please the Lord now. Think of everything that the Lord has done for you. Just in these verses alone there are abundant reasons to please the Lord. He’s promised to clothe you in a new heavenly dwelling. He’s promised that you will be in his presence when you pass from this life. He’s given you assurance. He’s given you faith.

Each one of those is reason enough to seek his pleasure. By the way, what does pleasing him mean? It means honoring him in your life. It means pursuing his commands. It means, loving your neighbor. It means participating in Jesus’ Great Commission, like Paul was doing.

Have you heard this description of some people. “They are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.”  That is why main point #2 is important. Yes, we should be heavenly minded, main point #1. But that should work its way out in our lives. Our courage, our ministry to others, our life… pleasing the Lord in those things.

That phrase definitely does not describe the apostle Paul. No. He was both heavenly minded and earthly good. His faith in Christ gave him hope. Yes, he longed to be present with the Lord and clothed in Christ in his heavenly dwelling, but he also pressed on in ministry and courage and confidence… with an unending desire to please the Lord in this life.

And that brings us to verse 10.

It gives us yet another reason we should seek to please the Lord. It says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Now, it’s tempting to misunderstand this verse. It is not saying that if you do good things, your reward will be heaven. This is not a verse that says we merit heaven through our good works.

However, it is a reminder that Christ is the divine judge. Our lives will testify to our faith. As one commentator put it, “everyone who is mindful of their mortality must therefore be mindful of their morality.” That’s a helpful way to think about it.

And notice that it says “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” Remember that there were some in Corinth leading the church astray. They were teaching a false Gospel and peddling God’s Word, undermining it. They also must appear before Christ. And they will be gravely accountable for their evil works…  because their life and actions and false teaching demonstrate a lack of true faith in Christ.

But let me also say, if you have faith in Christ for salvation, having repented of those things that do not please the Lord…God will reward you for your good works. Because your works are not your works but Christ’s work in you. God will get the glory because we have sought to please him. And we will receive the great rewards of heaven.

The point is that we should aim to please the Lord in this life. Why? Because he’s given us assurance. He is the divine judge. And (back to verse 5), God is the one who will cloth us with an imperishable dwelling forever.

Conclusion

So may we live by faith here and now, with courage and confidence, pleasing him, and anticipating his coming judgment.

May our groanings turn to longings because the mortality rate in heaven is exactly 0%.  

And may the Lord give us faith in Christ or strengthen our faith in him on the journey.