Future Hope Inspires Perseverance

Dr. Patrick Mead

Don't Lose Heart • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

2 Corinthians 5:1–10

Perseverance

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Hope Inspires Perseverance, Part 2

2 Corinthians 5:1–10 ESV

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 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.

We are bringing our study of perseverance to its conclusion. We have dealt with the hope of the present life in verses sixteen through eighteen of chapter four. This morning verses one through ten of chapter five deals with the hope of our future life in Christ.

At issue in the first ten verses of chapter five is the hope that Christians have beyond the grave. Paul has already dealt with the truth of the resurrection in the first letter that he wrote to the Corinthian church. He is not repeating his teaching in 2 Corinthians. In fact, he is revealing something more about life after death for the believer. He is dealing with what happens to the Christian at the point of death.

This particular passage has caused a great deal of research and disagreement. Therefore, we want to be real careful that we don’t get bogged down and miss the point that Paul is trying to make. The hope that we have in the future has Christian inspires us to persevere in our Christian walk and service with great confidence.

Paul says twice, in verses six and eight, “ we are of good courage.” It means to have a confident expectation that inspires the believer not to lose heart, but to persevere. First, we see that the confident expectation of transformation and resurrection inspires perseverance.

1. The confident expectation of transformation and resurrection.

2 Cor 5:1-5 “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

In this section, Paul continues the contrast between the temporary and the eternal. In doing so, he uses a powerful metaphor to contrast our earthly bodies with our heavenly bodies. In fact, this section is filled with different metaphors to illustrate this contrast.

Paul speaks of our earthly tent. This is a reference to our physical bodies. Paul likens our bodies to tents. Pau understood tents being a tentmaker himself. As you know, tents are subject to wear and tear. In the same way, our physical bodies are sufficient but are subject to wear and tear. They are gradually wasting away; as Paul said in verse sixteen of chapter four. But Paul goes further in this first verse of chapter five.

He speaks of our earthly tents as being destroyed. This is a reference to death, physical death. The last time I checked, the death rate is still running at about 100%. And Paul speaks about physical death in the context of Christian living and service. You see, the fear of death, especially when we are going to die for following Christ, can cause us to lose heart and give up.

Paul wants to remind believers that we don’t have to fear death. Why? Paul says when we die we have a “building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Paul is speaking about our spiritual, heavenly bodies. He is referring to our immortal bodies. Now, there is so much discussion on this first verse, and we will not get into it. But we do need to focus on one thing.

Paul says that when our earthly tent is destroyed, “We have a building from God.” There is great debate about the verb “we have.” It is present tense, and therefore gives us a couple of ways to understand it. Some argue that the present tense in the Greek can also be a future tense. And therefore, Paul is referring to return of Jesus when we receive our resurrection bodies. The reason Paul uses the present tense is to show how it is already a done deal. There are others that believe that when we do die, at the moment of death we receive a “spiritual body.”

If you hold to the first understanding, and many great scholars do, then you hold most likely hold to a view that our souls are disembodied until the resurrection. I don’t hold to this view.

If you look down to verse three, Paul says, “If indeed, by putting it on we may not be found naked.” You can also translate it “may not be found disembodied.” I believe that Paul was confident that when he died he received a “building from God”; that is, his spiritual body.

I believe that this passage suggests that there is no homeless interlude for the souls of believers after we die. Now, let me say that there are pastors and theologians that I look up to that disagree with me. And I am okay with that. God gave me a brain and the Holy Spirit so that I can think for myself.

It is this confident expectation that Paul had of transformation and resurrection that created within him a hopeful longing for the culmination of his salvation. Notice verse two, “For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”

Twice Paul speaks of his longing for full salvation. In verse four he expands upon verse two by stating that he not only longs for it, but alsois burdened for his full salvation. He wants to be clothed with his glorious body and life.

Paul says he desires to be “swallowed up by life.” This means that he wants to be clothed with the imperishable. When Christians die they actually live. When Christians die they are swallowed up by life.

The source of such confident expectation for future transformation and resurrection is given in verse five, “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

When you come to Christ the Holy Spirit indwells you. The Spirit of God is a down payment for what is still to come in the future. The fact that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer now means that the process of transformation and resurrection is already at work. Look at verse sixteen of chapter four, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” It is the transforming presence of the Spirit of God that gives the child of God a confident expectation that the Lord will bring our salvation to completion. He who began a good work in us will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus. Because of the hope of future transformation and resurrection, we don’t lose heart; we do not give up. Next, we see that the confident expectation of being home with the Lord inspires perseverance.

2. The confident expectation of being home with the Lord.

Verse six, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Paul is not implying that the Lord is not with us this side of heaven. He knows that the Lord is always with his children, and that he would never leave them, nor forsakes them. But Paul had a longing, one that we should all have, to be in perfect fellowship with Jesus. Paul lived his life for the unseen, and therefore he longed for the fullness of the presence of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. He longed to see Jesus face-to-face.

We, believers, need to remember that perfect and ultimate fellowship with Jesus awaits us. Paul longed for that perfect and ultimate fellowship and had the confident expectation that death was the vehicle that took him into the fullness of Christ's presence.

So often, we as believers go to great links to stay alive, when we should long to be swallowed up by life, to be at home with the Lord. When we have the confident expectation of transformation and resurrection, and the longing to be at home with the Lord, it should cause us to have a confident resolve to please the Lord by persevering in our Christian walk and service.

3. The confident resolve to please the Lord by persevering in your Christian walk and service.

It is the hope of face-to-face fellowship with Jesus in the future that caused Paul to have the resolve of verse nine, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please the Lord.”

Christ loves us, he has died for us, he was resurrected from the grave, and given us a resurrection body. He plans to bring us to himself for all eternity. Shouldn’t our future with Jesus motivate us to please him with our lives? Shouldn’t the riches of his grace cause us to say, “Master, what ever you say, I will do it.” If his grace now and in the future is not enough to motive us, Paul adds another eschatological item to help us.

Verse ten, “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.”

When it is all said and done, every child of God will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We will give account for the things we did in our earthly tent. This is not to determine our eternal destiny because we belong to Christ. It is to evaluate our Christian walk and service. “There is only one life, it soon shall pass; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Therefore, we should have a confident resolve to please the Lord by persevering in our Christian walk and service. Will we waste our lives with the temporal, or will we invest our lives in the eternal?

There was a Christian couple that lived in the Northeast. They made it a life goal to be able to retire early. They accomplished their goal at the ages of 59 and 55. They moved down to Florida, bought a beach house and a 30ft boat and lived the rest of their lives sailing their boat, and walking on the beach collecting seashells.

Many would say that this couple lived the American dream; they lived a successful life, but did they. If they did not live for the unseen, the eternal, then they wasted their lives.

Can you imagine standing before the judgment seat of Christ as a believer and all you had to show for you earthly existence was a beautiful seashellcollection. When you stand before Christ will it show a life lived for the eternal, a life lived to please the Lord? Or will it show a life that was wasted? It’s never too late to change your direction child of God.

For some, you will not be able to stand in judgment because you have never trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior.