2 Corinthians 5:1-10

(2 Corinthians 5:1-10)

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

 

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16, For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. He has a lot of externally facing difficulties, but those difficulties were incomparable if compared to the weight of eternal glory he would experience in the future. He confess that I can.

 

『For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 』With eyes to look beyond reality, Paul begins 2 Corinthians 5 and talks about the situation in which our tent house on the earth collapses. He is emphasizing that in this world there is an eternal home when we die. The tent house, which is likened to a finite life that can fall from the earth, contrasts with the eternal house in heaven that God has built. The tabernacle is compared to the body. It is the body of the flesh and the body of the spirit. It is that the eternal tent (dwelling) from the kingdom of God is the body of the spirit. Those who are in Jesus Christ do not end with death, but because they have faith that they will live in an eternal kingdom with a resurrected body following Jesus Christ, who was the first fruit of the resurrection, they can endure and overcome the difficult and difficult situations in this world

 

Even if the body disappears due to death on this earth, it does not disappear forever, but this belief that those who died at the time of Jesus' return can be resurrected and put on the body and enjoy eternal life. Even in the middle, he allowed himself to confess his faith calmly without despair.

 

The tabernacle is the place of covenant meeting with God. Before the age of the law, the place where Abraham met God was the tabernacle. The house that God built by hand is the body. God made man by making it out of dirt. And he put Adam in the Garden of Eden to eat the fruit of the tree of life. The spirit in Adam's body came alive and began to communicate with God. However, due to human sin, the body was contaminated and the spirit became an inhabitable place. The veil of all humans has fallen. But those who are in Christ have a place from heaven. This dwelling place is the body of the spirit. If you don't put on the body of the spirit, you become naked. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and discovered that they were naked. If you cannot wear the body of the spirit, you become naked.

 

『For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 』『Overwear』 means to wear one more dress. It means wearing the body of the spirit over the body of fresh. The person who is born again is wearing two clothes. It is the body of the flesh and the body of the spirit. It leads to life only when the physical body dies. Life is the body of the spirit. Romans (6:4) says "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" To die (the body of fresh) is to be swallowed up with life (the body of the spirit). So what will die is gone, and only life, the body of the spirit, remains.

 

In 5:5-6, 『Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:』 When the saints groan in tribulation, the saints are comforted through the hope of eternal life and eternal kingdom. Such work is accomplished through the Holy Spirit. When everything is torn down and faced with life-threatening situations, the loving God does not leave his children alone, so the Holy Spirit comforts our hearts and gives us new courage and hope.

 

The Holy Spirit saved the saints from the dead because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shed his precious blood for the saints who are bound to die in sin and transgression. He made it possible to overcome the many adversities that lie ahead by allowing us to look at the house and the country that will dwell forever.

 

There are two stories about how people of faith who have hope for an eternal kingdom live in this world differently from those of ordinary people. 『For we walk by faith, not by sight:』People who live in this world are obsessed with what they see in front of the many problems of reality and live with selfishness and stupidity that hangs on material. However, people of faith believe that God's mighty hand, who created heaven and earth, is with the saints, with hope and confidence in the eternal kingdom that the Holy Spirit has allowed us to see. You will be able to overcome those difficulties confidently.

 

Another look is 『We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.』
There are times when the environment is so difficult and painful that a believer wants to end his life in this world at least a little sooner and enjoy rest and peace in the eternal kingdom with the Lord, but it is God who controls the time. In the time that the Lord allowed us to live in this world, we must do our best to live with those who please the Lord.

 

In 5:8-9, 『We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 』Saints should only be a life that pleases the Lord. It is not that I am happy and the Lord is happy, but only the Lord is a happy life. Whether the saints are in the body of the spirit or the body of the flesh, the Bible tells us to always strive to please the Lord.

 

『For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 』
Here, good is God's way, and evil is a way to achieve righteousness by yourself. So, according to the result, it is divided into the result of whether or not to wear the place of God's kingdom. This is because the description in 2 Corinthians 5:1-9 is about putting on the tabernacle. It means that if you do not return the place from heaven, you cannot return to the kingdom of God. This is the judgment.

 

Since the spirits who have left the kingdom of God believe that they can achieve righteousness on their own, God created and sent the material world, but those who come back after realizing that it is impossible to achieve righteousness themselves, God puts the dwelling place in the kingdom of God again. To those who insist on trying to achieve this, he judges without putting on clothes.

Those whom God puts on the clothes of the kingdom of God are those who are united with Jesus Christ. They are those who realize that it is impossible to achieve righteousness on their own. God forgave all these worldly sins. That is why we just need to repent to God and return to the kingdom of God.

 

Those who say that believers are in Christ, but still look to see if they sin according to the law and try to keep their own righteousness are those who do not understand the will of God. The righteous are the only ones who repent of their departure from God and crucify with Jesus Christ. So, they believe that God has taken all the sins of the world, and only want to return to the kingdom of God and put on a place from heaven. The criterion of judgment is whether or not we are justified. The criterion for justification is faith in Jesus Christ.

 

In 5:15-17『For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.』

 

Today, many church members regard the new creation as a mental function. They say they have new values. The new creation means that the previous physical body has died and has been reborn as a spirit body. But people don't try to believe it. Because they think and look at them with the eyes of the flesh. The new creature becomes wholly obedient to the word of the Lord. It is not the kind of person who thinks according to the flesh, but a person born from heaven. This is not to say that values have changed philosophically and are becoming metaphysical humans. Humanly, it would be an almost impossible life. But when you believe that you are dead to the world, not effort and determination, the Holy Spirit will guide Saint.