Arriving At The Building That Proceeds From God

FROM: DECEMBER 5 @ 11, 2017

TOPIC: “Arriving At The Building That Proceeds From God " 2 Corinthians 5:1-11

What the apostle Paul has believed is what has led him to speak (2 Corinthians 4:13 “…I believed, therefore I have spoken."). The apostle said in 2 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." Paul has rest in what he has believed and since he believed he is speaking like that. He cannot faint under tribulation, for the assurance of happiness is only IN ETERNAL LIFE. So we have to look at what we cannot see, that’s why we look to the eternal, to the eternal life that the Father gives us through our faith in the sacrifice of His Son. There should be rest in our lives just as the apostle lived it. Let us seek eternal happiness, it’s not temporary. My dear brother, do you want to be happy and be delivered from the great tribulations? There is a better and great glorious expectation for the righteous, not here, but after death! 2 Corinthians 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly dwelling, this tabernacle, is undone, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, ETERNAL, IN HEAVEN! Our thoughts should progress, they should improve in this regard. The thought of the apostle lets us see that we can progress, not remaining only in complaints and bitterness. Along the way Paul sees something greater than the earthly life. Is it the same for you? For him it will be a great day when his human body has already come to an end. Look, everything that overwhelms us and distresses us will no longer be important the day we understand that our body will cease to be. You can look at it as if the body were a tent, a provisional shelter where one lives temporarily. Well, the day will come when this body will dissolve into dust, then our spirit will be able to enter the true residence, in the “heavenly room (Vs. 2)” of our souls, “…an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." This is what Paul believed and so he spoke waiting for the day when God would give him a new glorified body in which he could still SERVE and WORSHIP GOD in the heavenly places! So, after death, what awaits our life is THE COATING OF IMMORTALITY! The apostle Paul did not see eternity as a retirement in which one is permanently inactive, but as the entrance into a new body in which one can perform a "complete service." However, with all his longing for the life to come, neither did Paul despise the present life. The reason for that is that even here and now we possess the Holy Spirit of God! 2 Corinthians 5:5 "But he who made us for this very thing is God, who has given us the earnest of the Spirit." The earnest are rings that represent a private contract, a commitment like in weddings, where the parties agree. * Thus God the Father gave us his Spirit to be with us and in us. Romans 8:6 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Galatians 4:6 "And because you are sons, God sent into your hearts the Spirit of his Son who cries out: Abba Father!" God is our Father and Paul wanted to be pleasant to Him (2 Corinthians 5:9) in everything. The apostle carries in his relationship with the Father trust, intimacy and submission, a filial relationship with his responsibilities. I John 4:13 "We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." Paul, because he believed he spoke. He is convinced that a Christian can already enjoy an advancement of the eternal life. We cannot live weary in this life because there is someone who leads us and it is the Holy Spirit; He is the pledge (the earnest or ring) of God's commitment with his Church, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, He is the pledge of marriage between Christ and his Church.

When Paul was thinking about the life to come, a grave note appeared in his mind. It is that he would never forget that we are on the road not only to glory but also to judgment. Because we all have to appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). It is the administration of justice. We know there are struggles, but in essence life is a battlefield that presents itself to us as something tremendously serious and exciting. It is that in life we are "achieving" or "failing" in what is our destiny, we are "winning" or "losing" OUR CROWN! "Time" is the testing ground of eternity! Life needs enthusiasm to live it and to overcome it in order to obtain the crown! We need to know, my brother, how to administer justice because if we win the race and keep the faith there will be for us in eternity the CROWN OF JOY (Philippians 4:1). This crown is for the souls that we reach throughout the ministry. It is the prize, they are the souls won for Christ. We will obtain the CROWN OF JUSTICE (2 Timothy 4:2-8) that will be given to us when we finish the race and keep the faith. "Support the afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry, rebuke, convict, urge on time and out of time with patience and doctrine." "Be sober in everything." A CROWN OF LIFE (Revelation 2:10) "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life." A CROWN OF GLORY for grazing the flock well. (1 Peter 5:2-4) "Feed the flock of God...taking care of it, not by force, but voluntarily; not for dishonest gain, ...with encouragement soon...not as having lordship...being examples..." Obtain an INCORRUPTIBLE CROWN (I Corinthians 9:25). "Everyone who fights, abstains from everything..." Also the CROWN OF WISDOM (Proverbs 14:18) "But the prudent are crowned with knowledge." God will give us the CROWN OF VICTORY (Psalm 21:3, 8, 11) "Blessings of goodness...a crown of fine gold you have placed over his head...your hand will lay hold on all your enemies...but they will not prevail..." As Paul believed and therefore he spoke; now also let us do the same, and desire more than anything to be able to obtain our building in heaven, our new dwelling, our house not made with hands, our heavenly room to live eternity with our beloved God. Amen.