Moving on Up to the Heaven Side 2 Cor

Moving on Up to the Heaven Side  2 Cor. 5:1-10

EBC   2/22/09

  The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 2:11, that those who are born again are strangers and pilgrims in this world. When we got saved we became citizens of a place called Heaven- Phil. 3:20.

  It seems to me that I just don’t fit in down here anymore. Paul felt the same way look what he said in Phil. 1:23-24. Paul seems to be writing as if he is someone who “desires to move on up”.

I. Some words about Hardship (1)

  A. This is a temporary time-(1) Paul uses two terms to describe the temporary nature of this life.

    1. Tabernacle- a tent or temporary dwelling. It is used as a metaphor for these human bodies which are a temporary home for the soul.

    2. Dissolved- to demolish, to loosen. It refers to travelers reaching the end of their journey and loosening the straps which held the burdens to the backs of their animals.

  B. This is a tragic time- (2-4)

  Paul uses some words to describe this time

    1.Groan- to sign heavily within

    2.Burdened- to be pressed from the inside.

  Paul uses these words so we will understand that life is filled with tragedies, trials and traumas. Many times we are burdened to be removed from this life with all its obstacles.

      a. Job. 5:7- Yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.

      b. Job 14:1- Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble

   C. This is a testing time (7)

     1. We are told to navigate this world by faith. God allows us to pass thru this life and all it’s trials and tragedies to prepare us for glory. He uses the pressure to mold us into his image.

        a. Rom. 8:18-

II. Some words about Hope (4)

  A. We have a comforting hope- this life with all its ups and downs will not last forever.

    1. Mortality will be swallowed up in life. When this life draws to a close and we lay down theses temporary bodies that we have a new body awaiting us in Heaven.

    2. These bodies are fading we do all we can do to keep them looking shape but they are dissolving.

      a. Someone has said you know you are aging when:

        1. It takes you longer to rest than it did to get tired

        2. You sit down in a rocking chair and you can’t get it started

        3. Your knees buckle but you belt won’t

        4. When your teeth sink into a steak and stay there.

    B. We have a confident hope

     1. We don’t have to worry about whether things will work out in Heaven, we know they will.  

       a. Phil. 1:6- what the Lord has started He will complete. Thank God for the confidence we have in him- when we take our loved ones to the cemetery we aren’t burying them they are already with the Lord. When we dies we won’t be left alone- we will be in the presence of the Lord immediately.

      b. This confidence that Paul spoke about it not a hopeful thing, a maybe -it is an absolute thing. The “eternal weight of glory” Paul described in 4:17 includes a new body. That truth was of great comfort to the apostle, whose physical body had been so mercilessly battered by the effects of the Fall, personal sin, hardships, illness, the rigors of life, and persecution that he longed for his incorruptible, immortal resurrection body. Paul’s confident assertion for we know indicates that believers’ glorified bodies are not a remote possibility or a vague wish. They are a fixed reality, a settled fact based on the promise of God

       c. Paul used the word “if” rather than “when” because he believed that Jesus would return while he was still living on earth. He believed the return of the Lord was imminent.

          1. 1 Cor. 15:51-

          2. 1 Thess. 4:15-

III. Some words about Home

  A. Our home is a perfect place (1)

     1. A building of God. Heaven is a place the sin, the faults, the temptations of the world can’t enter.

       a. 1 Peter 1:4-

     2. Someone has said-“There will be no death, no tears, no burdens, no trials, no devil, no evil, no sadness, no sorrow, no grief, nothing to defile, discourage or defeat will ever darken that glorious land”

     3. John 14:1-3- it is a perfect place being built for a redeemed people.

  B. Our home is a permanent place (1d)

    1. This life is temporary and fleeting away. But, praise God heaven is eternal.

    2. Heaven will not fade away, it will never be defeated.

  C. Our home is a precious place

    1. Rev. 22:1-5- God gives John a glimpse of Heaven.