SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 5
MEMORY VERSE:
“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, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
OUR HEAVENLY DWELLING (vs. 1-10)
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. 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. 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.
Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 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, whether good or bad.
THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION (vs. 11-21)
The death of Christ had convinced us that one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who dies for them and was raised again. “Therefore, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (v. 17). All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. Be reconciled to God. For God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
THOUGHTS:
The Corinthian church adopted Greek culture. They did not believe the concept of bodily resurrection. Instead, they saw the afterlife as something that happened only to the soul, with the real person imprisoned in a physical body. They believe that at death, the soul was released and entered an eternal state. There was no immortality for the body. But the Bible teaches that the body and soul are not permanently separated. We will still have a resurrected body which will be perfect without sickness, disease or pain.
Paul was not afraid to die because he had hope and confidence of eternal life with Christ. For believers, death is only a prelude to eternal life with God. We will continue to live. Let this hope give you confidence and inspire you to faithfully serve God.
False preachers brag about having a spectacular ministry. They preached the Good News for money and popularity. They do not have a sincere heart about eternity. If they are more concerned about themselves than about Christ, we should avoid them and their message.
God reconciled us by blotting all our sins out and making us right with him. We are no longer enemies or strangers or foreigners to him. Therefore, we have the responsibility to do the task of reconciling people to God.
An ambassador is an official representative of one country to another. As believers, we are Christ’s ambassadors sent with his messages of reconciliation to the world. Are you fulfilling your commission as Christ’s ambassador?