Verses 1-8, “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
The older I get, the more I can relate to this verse about desiring our new heavenly bodies. And even if you are still young and cannot relate to this physically (yet), the closer you get in your walk with the Lord and the more persecutions and sufferings you experience on behalf of Christ, the more you should desire to be with the Lord in your permanent residence. Jesus has even given us the Holy Spirit as a downpayment of what is to come; it is our guarantee that He has every intention of fulfilling His promise to us. What we will enter into is called Rest for a reason. If this life isn't making you want rest more and more, then maybe you haven't fully surrendered your life to Him. We need to walk by faith while we are here, despite the difficulties of the path we're on, being fully convinced that He is God! We should be confident and well pleased to be absent from our bodies and present with the Lord. In fact, you cannot please God without this confidence or faith. Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
We have many examples of those who walked before us in faith. None of them were perfect, but they all trusted God. They didn't just profess that they had faith; but when tested, they demonstrated their faith by their works. Hebrews 11:13-16, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Verses 9, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.” Our goal, according to Verse 9, should be to please Him, not to please others; and certainly not to please ourselves. We need to deny self, pick up our cross, and follow after Him. Not only does God give us the ability and strength to do this, but He also provides that extra motivation of knowing that there will be a test afterward, where we will be held accountable for what we have done while here on earth. Verse 10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Understanding who God is should cause us not only to fear Him, but motivate us to try and rescue others who are on the path to Hell. Verse 11, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God...” Jesus said in Luke 12, “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” BUT then Jesus reassures us of His love for us in the next verse by saying, “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” God's love for us has already been demonstrated. We do not need to fear that He doesn't love us, but we need to have the proper respect for who He is and not treat Him as common or our equal. If His word speaks...it is a command which comes from His position of authority, not an opinion or suggestion.
Verse 16, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.” We cannot judge people according to earthly measures of success or accomplishment, but rather look at their fruit as believers. Matthew 7:18, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” It is actually pretty simple, but our feelings complicate matters and confuse us because of what we see. We end up making excuses for people in sin, even feeling sorry for them, and ignore the lack of good fruit or even rotten fruit they are producing. We need to pray that God will give us eyes to see people spiritually, the way He sees us, and not feel sorry for others when they are in sin, as though they have no choice in the matter. Think about it...when you pity someone whose in disobedience to God's word, you are questioning the Father's authority, acting as though you know more than Him and can judge rightly. When in actuality, you are the unjust judge.
If anyone calls themself a Christian, we can expect that they have been born again and are a new creature in Christ. We can also expect that there will be falls along the way, because of human weakness, but they should get back up and not stay in their sin. If this isn't the case, we must ignore our feelings and judge according to the Bible. I John 2:4, “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Paul ends this chapter by pleading with the Corinthians, and indirectly with us, to be reconciled to God. This means that we need to be in right standing with God, with nothing standing in the way of our relationship with Him...especially sin. Verse 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God has already removed any barriers to reaching Him (the veil was torn in a spiritual sense), now it's our turn. Sin separates us from God, which is why He hates it. Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” Let us embrace the Gift He has given us and not let anything or anyone come in between our relationship with Him!
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