NYUBF | New York UBF

2008 Easter Sunday Message-II

OUR HEAVENLY DWELLING – AN ETERNAL BODY

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10
Key Verse: 5:5

“Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

Happy Easter! Christ is risen! In all history, there is no greater mystery than this: What happens when we die? Some people believe in reincarnation, that after we die we are recycled into another form of life. For example, if we have done bad in this life, we might be reincarnated as a lower form of life, like a frog or a mosquito. If we have done good, we might go to a higher form of life, like a cat or a cow. We should be careful if we are having a beefsteak dinner this evening because we might be eating one of our ancestors. Some people think that when we die, nothing will happen, because we emerge from nothingness and return to nothingness. It doesn’t really matter to them what they do in this life, whether good or bad, great or small. How dangerous! Our view towards life after death affects our way of thinking, morality, ethics and almost every aspect of our lives in this world. Apostle Paul, the author of the second letter of Corinthians, preached the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection throughout the world in the first century, firmly believing that after we die, there will be a resurrection for everyone and that everyone should appear before the judgment seat of Christ for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10) In fact, according to Jesus, everyone will experience resurrection. Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (Jn 5:29) Praise Jesus Christ who suffered and died for our sins and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures. (1 Cor 15:3,4)

Today’s passage teaches that the resurrection of the body is the greatest mystery and the culmination of God’s creation. Verse 5 reads, “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” However, we often feel defeated and powerless as we confront many challenges in this troubled world. In today’s passage, Apostle Paul gives his personal testimony about his life of victory in the power of resurrection.

FIRST, PAUL’S CONVICTION OF FAITH (4:13-18)

Paul was a faithful witness of the gospel of Jesus’ resurrection. But because of his preaching of the gospel of the resurrection, he was ridiculed and even greatly persecuted instead of being recognized or welcomed by others. According to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, it seems that many believers in Corinth didn’t actually believe in the resurrection either. Many people criticized that Paul’s preaching and teaching of the resurrection was nonsense and absurd. Yet, Paul was neither intimidated nor discouraged by them. Paul might have been tempted to water down the gospel in order make it sound more appealing to a bigger audience of his time. But he didn’t compromise. What he received from God, he believed and preached. (1 Cor 15:3) In verse 13, we see that he saw himself identified with one of the prophets, a faithful servant of God’s words, who wrote Psalm 116:10, “I believed; and therefore I have spoken.”

What was Paul’s conviction of faith? Look at verse 14. “Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.” Since many people are dying every day, it may be much easier for ordinary people to believe in the death of Jesus than in his resurrection. “Resurrection” sounds too unrealistic and impossible. However, Paul firmly believed in the glorious resurrection of all believers in Christ Jesus. Some people may die when they are very old, full of wrinkles and with only a few rotten teeth. If there is a resurrection, with what kind of body will they come? Most of us are concerned about beauty.”‘Will we be resurrected young, beautiful and sexy?” Some people don’t like the way they look. They don’t want to look the same when they are resurrected. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul had already mentioned the mystery and glorious beauty of the resurrection body. 1 Corinthians 15:39-41 reads, “All flesh is not the same: men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.” Paul believed that the resurrection body will be gorgeous and magnificent.

Look at verse 16. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” I used to be proud that I have a lot of hairs on my head. But recently I found many more grey hairs and a bald spot on top of my head. Apparently, I am wasting away outwardly. But I am being renewed day by day in my spirit. Our physical body has an expiration date. After the expiration date, our physical body has to be discarded. But our spiritual body has no expiration date. Our life in this troubled world is full of one trouble after another, one test after another, one parking ticket after another. Sometimes, we feel like giving up everything. But compared to the eternal glory that will be revealed in us, our present troubles are small and momentary. Therefore, instead of looking at the troubles which we can see now or worrying about material things that will soon be gone, we should fix our eyes on what is unseen, that which will last forever and ever. (17,18) The present world and the things of the world will disappear someday, but the kingdom of God will be forever. We must ask ourselves a question, “Where is our faith?” In the things of the world or in God’s promise of everlasting life?

SECOND, RESURRECTION, GOD’S ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF CREATION (5:1-10)

Read verse 1. “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
Here, Paul compares the human body to a tent. As a tent maker himself Paul knew that tents are for temporary use no matter how fancy and strong they are. Some tents might have a ten-year or even twenty year-warranty. But they are not made for permanent use. Most of us worry a lot as if worrying can solve problems. Although we know that worrying does not solve any problem, we worry anyway. It’s a bad habit, built into our mental system. How can we overcome the habit of worrying? First of all, we need to accept that our life in this world is transitional, not permanent. No one lives permanently in this world. Some may live longer than others. But we all will die someday. People are greedy for money, power and fame, thinking that those things may give them security and satisfaction in this world. But there is no permanent security in the world. No health insurance or life insurance can fundamentally cover our lives even though insurance premiums are so high. Life insurance does not give our life back to us. Health insurance does not guarantee our health. But God covers us fully. How? By giving us the resurrection body.

Look at verses 2-4. “Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” When someone dies, he is putting off his earthly and temporary body and is given a far superior and permanent body in return. But the process is not that simple. In verses 2-4, the word “groan” is repeated twice. Living in this imperfect world in our imperfect body, we are often frustrated and stressed out. After experiencing many challenges in this world, we might even feel that we are going nowhere. So we end up groaning in our frustration. But we also groan because we have desire for a more perfect body. In other words, we go through an endurance test as long as we remain in our earthly bodies. We often get tired of this kind of groaning process. However, we must know that our groaning will be over when our earthly bodies will be swallowed up by life in God’s appointed time, either by rapture or by our death.

Look at verse 5. “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” When God made man in the beginning, he made him in his own image. But his creation didn’t end there. According to verse 5, the glorious resurrection is the culmination of God’s creation of humankind. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:49-52 regarding this glorious resurrection, “And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

How can we be sure of this? Can we have any preview or evidence of what would come in the future? Look at verse 5b again. “(God) has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” As we read in 4:16, outwardly we are wasting away, but inwardly we are being renewed and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ day by day. How is it done? It’s done by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. God has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believers and complete the work of transformation in us. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is like a security deposit for what is to come. The hope of an eternal body is not just wishful thinking. We already have the down payment of our inheritance through the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 also reads, “God anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” The word “deposit” in Greek (arrhabona) also means “pledge.” The presence of the Holy Spirit is us is like an engagement ring for our future marriage.

The Spirit may not seem like a very convincing guarantee since we cannot see it with our eyes. How do we know that the Holy Spirit is in us? First of all, no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Jesus dwells in those who confess Jesus as the Lord and Savior, whether they are a Jew, a Greek, an Asian, or an American, an African, a Chinese, an Indian, a Catholic, a Protestant, or an Evangelical. There are gifts of the Holy Spirit which equip us to serve the body of Christ and all of humanity, such as the gift of prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership and compassion. The Holy Spirit also produces spiritual fruits in us, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.(Gal 5:22-23) Paul added that where there is the Spirit of the Lord, there is freedom. (2 Cor 3:17) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that liberates us from legalism and all kinds of oppression. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are truly free, not to commit sin freely but to serve the living God without fear and with all our hearts. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are willing to forgive those who sin against us. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The Holy Spirit is a powerful spirit that transform us. How should we live then?

First, we should live by faith, not by sight.(6-8) Look at verses 6-8. “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Here, the word “confident” is repeated twice. Although we may be vulnerable and weak while in the body, we can be sure and confident of the powerful and persistent work of the Holy Spirit in us. Some people wish to die early in order to avoid hardship in the world. But the Holy Spirit does not encourage us to die early. The Holy Spirit does not necessarily make us feel good and high emotionally either. We should not depend on our feelings. Instead, we should live by faith, not by sight, fully trusting in the love of God our Father in all circumstance and depending on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. In times of crisis, we feel week and vulnerable. But that’s especially the time to exercise our faith in Jesus. We know that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro 8:35-39) Faith is the victory.

Second, our ultimate goal should be pleasing God (9-10) Read verses 9-10. “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, where good or bad.” The confidence that we will leave our earthly bodies behind when we enter into the presence of the Lord, clothed in our glorious new bodies, is no excuse for being careless about the way we live in this world. These bodies will perish, but the deeds we have done in our bodies, whether good or bad, are the basis of our future judgment. As Christians, our desire should be to live in our earthly bodies in such a way that we will be pleasing to the Lord on that day.

Of course we are not saved by our deeds but by our faith in Jesus. Jesus our Lord will evaluate his believers and reward them according to what they have done for him, but the reward is not our goal. Our ultimate goal in life should be pleasing God our Father, who created us in His image and sent His Son Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and the Holy Spirit to complete His redemption. God is our Father who is all in all. Our ultimate goal in life should be more than struggling to survive or getting wealth, fame or power for ourselves in the world. It should be pleasing God our Father and serving those who are in need.

We are forgiven by the ultimate sacrifice that our Lord Jesus made on the cross. The grace of forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus is sufficient once and for all to cover all our sins. We can receive this marvelous blessing of forgiveness only by trusting in his grace. And we have everlasting life as we continue to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. That’s what the communion is all about. Jesus our Lord invites all of us to share his life now and forever.

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