Introduction
One can’t
help but be impressed with the hardships Paul endured as an apostle
of Jesus Christ. He provides us with a portfolio of his sufferings
in 11:23-27 (read). And remember--these were avoidable sufferings
that he voluntarily endured!
What’s even
more impressive is the way he looked at these sufferings. Read
4:17a--how can he call this “momentary, light affliction??”
It sounds like maybe one of those stones knocked something loose in
his head! Read 5:6,8--how can he always be “of good courage?”
How does he get this kind of victory over negative circumstances?
The answer is in
4:18 (read). There is a relationship between what we focus on
(skopeo) and how we view our afflictions. If we focus on them
(“the things that are seen”), they grow in size and
overwhelm us. But if we focus on “the things which are not
seen,” they will shrink in size so that we are able to live
above them. What are these “unseen things?” Not
“possibility thinking” or “positive self-talk.”
They are the great invisible realities revealed by God’s Word
and apprehended by faith (5:7).
The promises of
God for this life make up a big part of this. How about
Rom. 8:28,31,35,37-39? When we focus on the fact that God is in
control and that he loves us, and begin to look for the ways God is
at work in our sufferings for his glory and for our good, it really
does liberate us from bondage to negative circumstances.
But Paul is here
primarily referring to God’s promises concerning the next life.
That should be clear from his repetition of the word “eternal”
in 4:17b,18. He is focusing on eternal things.
As incredible as
it may seem, Paul did not really look to this life for his lasting
happiness. He would have been amused and amazed at the modern
American expectation that we should find happiness in this life. He
would tell us that this expectation is perhaps the biggest reason for
our misery! He believed that most of the happiness isn’t coming
until the next life.
What “eternal
things” is he talking about? It’s pretty difficult to
focus on something that we know little about. Paul lets us in on
them in the following verses . . .
A New
Body
Read 5:1-4. Those
who have received Christ will receive new bodies when he returns.
Here the Bible directly contradicts the Greek spirituality of Paul’s
day and the eastern spirituality of our own day, which views our
physical bodies as the prison-house of our souls and salvation as
liberation from our bodies. For Paul, that would be like showing up
at a party naked! God created humans to have bodies, and salvation
includes having our bodies transformed to perfectly express his life.
Notice the
contrast Paul draws between our present bodies and the bodies we can
have in the next life.
“Earthly
tent” emphasizes temporality and ease of removal.
“Building
from God . . . eternal in the heavens”
emphasizes strength and permanence.
In an earlier
letter to the Corinthians, Paul elaborated on the superiority of the
new body over our present bodies.
Perishable vs.
imperishable: Some last longer than others, but they all poop out
(GEORGE BURNS). But the new body will never wear out or malfunction
in any way.
Weakness vs.
power: Much of our technology is designed to mitigate this
weakness, but we are still extremely limited. The new body (like
Jesus’) is not subject to these limitations (JESUS ENTERED
LOCKED ROOMS; DEFIED GRAVITY).
Dishonor vs.
glory: Because of the fall, our bodies do not display God’s
majesty as they were supposed to. But the new bodies will radiate
God’s greatness (PRISM; ANGELS).
“We
know . . . ” At a recent discussion about
the afterlife, most people expressed dogmatic agnosticism about the
afterlife: “How can we ever have more than guesses about
this . . . One guess is as good as the
next . . . No one has ever come back to tell us.”
Paul disagrees. He says “We know.” How can we know?
We can know by
the apostles’ witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Someone
has come back and told us. He appeared to over 500 hundred people.
He appeared to his disciples, who went to their deaths rather than
retract their claims that Jesus had conquered death and appeared to
them. He appeared to Paul and transformed him from Christianity’s
foremost opponent to its foremost advocate. This testimony, which
has never been impeached, is not absolute proof--but God says it is
sufficient evidence for you to bow to Jesus Christ and ask him for
the gift of eternal life.
We can know by
the Holy Spirit’s witness in our lives (read vs 5).
Biblical faith begins with the objective testimony of the apostles,
but it doesn’t end there. When you receive Christ, his Spirit
indwells you and grants you additional subjective evidence of eternal
life--e begins to transform your life in various ways (EXPLAIN).
Paul says this is God’s “down-payment”--his guarantee
that he will deliver on the rest of his promises about eternal life.
“While we are
in this body, we groan.” Some of us groan every time we look in
the mirror, so we look in the mirror as little as possible! We groan
more as we get older and this body begins to wear down and reminds us
that we have little time left. Paul groaned too, but the pains of
his mortal body only reminded him of the new body God had in store
for him. We can do the same thing.
A Homecoming
But there’s more. Read 5:6-8. The best thing about eternity
for those who know Christ is that it will be a homecoming.
“To be absent
from the body is to be at home with the Lord.” Christians
have the promise of Christ that our physical deaths will usher us
into instantaneous, perfect, face-to-face, eternal communion with the
God (Luke 23:43 - to a capital criminal).
Many people are
afraid of death precisely because they know it will mean facing God,
and they fear God’s judgment. This is why Paul says that “the
sting of death is sin” (1 Cor. 15:56).
How could Paul
look forward to facing God? How could he be so confident that God
wasn’t going to greet him with wrath and judgment? It wasn’t
because of how righteous he was--he killed Christians for a living
before his conversion, and he continued to struggle with sin even
afterwards.
For the same
reason Jesus could make this promise to the thief on the
cross--because God is a God of grace. Because Jesus Christ was
willing to bear your guilt and God’s judgment for all your sins,
you can be certain of God’s forgiveness and acceptance on that
day--if you have asked Christ for it. Right standing with God
no longer depends on what you do for God, but only on what Christ has
done for you--so you can be forever delivered from God’s
judgment (Rom. 8:1; Jn. 5:24). Have you received God’s
grace?
“To be at
home in this body is to be absent from the Lord.” The truth is
that our communion with God in this life is very imperfect. As 5:5
says, the Holy Spirit is only God’s “down payment.”
Our experiences of deep intimacy with God are relatively rare and
short-lived, and these experiences only exacerbate our homesickness.
Some Christians try to “keep” these moments or try to find
ways to conjure them up (TRANSFIGURATION), but they are blessings
granted by God at his discretion to keep us homesick for heaven and
encouraged to keep serving him until then.
But in the next
life, we will know God fully, just as we have been fully known
(1 Cor. 13:12). An infinite God will forever reveal more
and more of the limitless depths of his kindness (Eph. 2:7).
An
Evaluation For Reward
But there’s
more--read 5:9,10. “Wait a minute! You just said that
Christians were delivered from God’s judgment. What’s this
about appearing before the judgment seat and being recompensed for
our deeds?” The answer is that Bible speaks of two different
judgments.
One is called the
Great White Throne judgment (Rev. 20). This is the judgment for
all who have not received God’s forgiveness through Christ. All
who appear at this judgment will be condemned. This is the judgment
all Christians have been exempted from.
The
other--mentioned here--is the judgment seat of Christ.
The word “judgment
seat” is the Greek word bema, which was the word used to
describe the platform on which Olympic judges sat during the games.
The purpose of this judgment was to evaluate the contestants’
performance for the purpose of reward, not for condemnation. They
don't give the top three finishers medals--and then shoot the other
contestants in the head!!
In the same way,
scripture says Christians will be evaluated by Christ for the service
we rendered to him in this life (“the deeds done in the body”).
That which advanced self and not his interests will be mercifully
burned up--but that which advanced his kingdom will be richly
rewarded by God’s praise, the satisfaction of seeing the full
significance of our service, and roles of service in God’s
eternal kingdom. On that day, every suffering we have endured in
Christ’s service will be compensated beyond our wildest
imagination (4:17b).
Anyone who has
really put themselves on the line to accomplish a high goal
(ATHLETICS; BUSINESS; EDUCATION) knows the importance of evaluation
and reward. This is what makes all the sacrifice worthwhile. This
is what keeps us serious when we are tempted to be frivolous. We
were designed to accomplish significant goals, and to have our
accomplishments evaluated and rewarded.
Quote 1 Cor. 9:25.
The accomplishments of this life are just faint and quickly fading
reflections of our lives’ true purpose. We were made to serve
God, and to use all of our God-given faculties to influence others
eternally for him (read 5:11).
We have been given
the privilege to live by faith for this purpose for a short time.
Soon the night will be over and the day will have come. What we have
done for Jesus Christ will be revealed on that day, and it will stand
as a monument for all eternity. Don't waste the opportunity! Give
yourself to him, and to finding and fulfilling his purpose for your
life!!
HENDRICKS: “If
this book isn’t true, we’ve gone way too far. But if it is
true, we haven’t gone near far enough!” I believe it is
true . . .