2 Corinthians 5:6-10

2 Corinthians 5:6-10  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, I say, 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. 

Are we at home in the body?  Do we live only for ourselves, for our temporal existence?  These are good questions, probably too direct, too hard to field honestly so early in the morning when our spiritual stomachs might be too weak to consider such strong meat.  Obviously, Paul is saying in the above passage that if we are physically on Earth, we are in reality not with the Lord, but he is also saying that does not matter much because Christians walk by faith and not by works.  Christians don't have to work our way to heaven by good works, for we are already there by faith.  Therefore, whether we are in our earthly bodies or in heaven, we are always before God because of our faith in Jesus Christ and his works.  Faith alone brings us into the throne room and because of that truth, we should make it our daily goal as sons and daughters of God to please him in earnest.  

However, if our carnal nature is preeminent in our lives, if we are comfortable just being in our bodies, our focus on this life will be skewed towards our needs, our personal entertainment and well-being.  But believers' lives should be focused primarily on the spiritual.  Whether we are at home in the body or away from it, our main goal in life should always be to please our Lord, for we know whether we are here or there, our lives will be held accountable to him.  Otherwise, 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.  Paul, of course, wanted to be at home with the Lord.  He wanted to receive his full inheritance: a heavenly body and eternal life with the Lord, but since he was still in the flesh, he lived for the Lord night and day by trying to persuade the gentiles to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord.  Paul lived as if he were always before the throne of God.  He lived to fulfill God's purposes for his life: to be an apostle, a father of many churches, a teacher in the church.  Each of us has his or her own appointed role in life, and we are to fulfill our assignments the best we can, for we, too, will receive what is due us in the final judgment.  

For sure, God desires that we emit his savor, his likeness to the world.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  (Philippians 2:5-7)  We also should be servants even to the point of dying to ourselves and allowing the Spirit to make us alive unto God.  Is this hard to grasp?  Yes, the carnality within us will not want us to grasp that reality, but that is the truth of the gospel.  We don't belong to ourselves, we are God's.  We are not to remain comfortable in the body, oriented towards pleasing ourselves, but we are to be servants of God whether in the body or away from the body.  As citizens of the heavenly kingdom, we are to do HIS WILL, NOT OURS.  Paul put his life on the line for God; can we do likewise to some degree?  Are we willing to put our skills and talents on the line for him or are we hiding behind the blanket of self: our needs, our wants, our timetable?  Praise God, He is willing to use us if we are willing to be used.  And I know as Christians, children of God, we are willing.   Let us serve Jesus with diligence, with effort, with passion and love.