Living In The Light Of The Court Of Christ

BIBLE STUDY #788- CHURCH IN THE HOUSES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22 – 28, 2013

Topic: “Living In The Light Of The Court Of Christ” 2 Corinthian 5:1 The following verses in this chapter (2 Corinthians 5:1-10) are closely related with what Paul has been saying in chapter 4:7-18. Paul has been speaking of his sufferings and tribulations then and of the future glory that was extended before him. This takes him face to face before the subject of DEATH. In this section we have one of the greatest developments in God’s Word concerning the matter of death and of its relation with Christians (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). The present body, the mortal body, our terrestrial dwelling is “this tabernacle.” A tabernacle is not a permanent dwelling but rather portable, for pilgrims and travelers. Death is designated as the dissolution of this tabernacle or tent. The tent is dissolved in the moment of death. The body goes to the tomb while the spirit and the soul of the believers move on to be with the Lord. Paul begins the chapter with the certainty that if his terrestrial dwelling is dissolved as a result of his sufferings he knows he has a building from God, a home not built by human hands, eternal in Heaven. (2 Corinthians 5:1 “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.”) There is a big difference between the tabernacle and the building. The tabernacle, the temporary tent is dissolved, but there is a building, a new and permanent house that the believers await in the land further away from the ailments. This is God’s building in the sense that it is God who gives it to us. Besides it is a house not built by human hands. What Paul is saying is that while our actual bodies are appropriate for life in this world, our future bodies, glorified, will not be from this creation. They will be especially thought for the life in Heaven. The future body of the believer is also described as eternal in Heaven. It is a body that will no longer be subjected to illnesses, deterioration or death, but rather it will remain forever in our celestial home. Glory to God! This dwelling, our present mortal body, takes us to groan because of the way it limits us and obstructs our spiritual lives. What we desire and long for is to be clothed of our home that is in Heaven. We who are in this body want not to be undressed but rather clothed so that the mortal may be absorbed by life. Let us be transformed and not undressed! We’re wearing out the terrestrial dwelling and later the eternal dwelling will be for Heaven! The body dies and goes to the box, but we have a new body for Heaven, my new body. Dressed with new clothes, no longer with this flesh but clothed with a glorified body, immortal. The best will be the rapture, but if it doesn’t happen before, either way, we need to know that we will be dressed with that new dwelling. No matter what happens, the rapture or death, when Christ comes we will be transformed or resuscitated just as He was; it is a promise, a commitment from the Spirit. Many do not want to die and want to be present for the rapture; of course, that would be great, but if it does not occur, we will have in our resurrection a building that comes from God. Many desire the rapture, having a mortal body which will be absorbed by the immortal without going through death. Those who die before will also have it! Faith does not take away all our natural feelings but rather it subordinates it to the most elevated feeling. God prepared us for the redemption of the body. It will be the culmination of His glorious purposes for us. Today we are redeemed as far as our spirit and soul, but later the redemption will also include the body. Just think about this, God made us with this goal in view of, a glorified state and a house not built with human hands but eternal in Heaven. The assurance is that God has given us the guarantee of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:5). The fact that each believer possesses the Spirit of God dwelling in him is a pledge that all God’s promises will be fulfilled in him.

It is by faith that we believe the Lord even if we don’t see Him. If Paul was absent in his body on earth, then it was that he would be present before the Lord, scraped from the flesh, it’s what exists between death and the rapture; the soul and the spirit dwelling before the divine presence of the Lord. We must be pleasant to the Lord because the reward will be directly proportional to your fidelity to the Lord, it is not that salvation will depend on your deeds. Faith is connected with salvation and the deeds are connected with the reward. Paul yearned to be pleasant, either absent or present. What he did on earth, his purpose was first to please his Lord’s heart. The reason to please Christ is that all of us must appear before His tribunal. Christ’s tribunal will reveal the service in our lives for Christ exactly as it has been. Not only the amount of service will be reviewed but also the quality of our service, inclusive the motives that impulse it. That occasion will be a matter of reward or of loss. Let us look out and take care of our steps so that we do not lose the reward at the end. Amen.