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.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

2 Corinthians 5:1-5  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.  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.

Right now in the flesh, we are clothed in mortality.  Death is the inheritance of this earthly tent; someday it will return to dust.  However, our redeemed spirits are clothed in immortality.  Jesus' work on the cross has assured us of that.  Because of Christ and our adoption as sons and daughters of the Most High, we shall live forever in the household of God.  Right now our flesh is exposed to the sinful environment of this world and the vicissitudes of life.  As fleshly beings we experience the ups and downs of life.  Some days are exceptionally good, yet other days are terrible disasters.  Some days we are all top of the world, but other days we are underneath the world.  In the flesh our lives groan with the consequences of living an earthly existence.  But by faith we know this mortal being is swallowed up by life.  Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose (that we should have life) and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  God has made us for this reason that our temporary, often difficult lives, might be swallowed up by his life, new life.  To reveal this truth, He has given us the Holy Spirit to abide within us.  Because He has given us the Holy Spirit, we are assured (guaranteed) of heaven and the heavenly bodies that will eventually come to us.   

Even though life can be difficult, we do not desire to die (to be unclothed), but rather we desire to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.  We are looking forward with anticipation to our eventual heavenly bodies and our heavenly home.  REGARDLESS OF OUR ANTICIPATION, WE ALWAYS MUST BE COGNIZANT OF THE REALITY THAT WE ARE NOW CHILDREN OF GOD WITH ALL THE RIGHTS OF A TRUE OR BEGOTTEN CHILD.  Even though we are on this side of the veil of death, we are still the legitimate children of God, with all the rights of a member of his family.  Faith in Christ has made us so.  Therefore, we should act like his children to the best of our abilities even though we are still in the flesh.  We should commune with our Father God continuously through prayer, reading his Word, and willingly following his will in everything we do.  Our lives should be hidden in HIS LIFE.  This is why we discipline our lives.  This is why we attempt to be above reproach in our choices and actions.  This is why we make our lives as holy as possible, even though Jesus Christ is our true holiness.  Today, children of God, listen for the voice of God within you--listen and obey his words of instruction and receive his words of love.  Do that which is right and allow him to make you conformable to his image today.  I am confident that you will.

2 Corinthians 4:13-18

2 Corinthians 4:13-18  It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,  because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 

Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

As Christians we walk and live by faith.  By faith we know this world is not our home.  We know there is a spiritual world, one that cannot be perceived by our senses.  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.  (Hebrews 11:3)  We know that God does not solely abide in this dimension of reality, for this reality HAS BEEN CREATED.  Consequently, we know there is a spiritual world, an uncreated world, one that can be entered into by faith.  If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  (Romans 10:9-10)  Paul believed emphatically in the eternal kingdom of God being accessed by faith.  Therefore he could say,  With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.   His message was so much of faith that he was willing to go through all kinds of persecution and difficult situations to bring the gospel to people.  

Do we have that kind of faith?  Do we really believe there is a world beyond our perception?  Or do we mainly believe in the physical world and maybe that God is just a bigger entity who can create things such as the heavens and earth and the stars and galaxies.  Do we really believe there is another domain of existence?  Or do we only believe in what we can see or touch, such as the billions of galaxies that we observe in space.  Is this God of yours bigger than space?  Or is He some kind of a creator who tinkers with creating things, and for some reason you are just one of those creations?  Who is your God?  If He is one who exists in your finite perception, you don't need faith, but if He is beyond your human abilities to comprehend or imagine, if He exists in a world you cannot perceive except by divine inspiration, He is the God of faith, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He is the God that requires faith, the God who sent his Son to die for your sins.  There is no other way of knowing Him.  If He is the God that sends a shiver down your spine; He is still knowable through senses, but if He is the God that seems distant when you are in trouble, it is because He is the God found through faith.  

Now, do I not believe that God is intimate?  Yes, I believe He is intimate, but sometimes we want to make God in our own image.  Yet God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.  (John 4:24)   He is everywhere simultaneously.  He is all knowing, all powerful, all-encompassing.  Nothing that is, is beyond him.  Who is your God?  Well, God is the God of Faith and He is Alive.  Paul quotes the Psalmist, “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”  In the same psalms it says, All men are liars.  Otherwise, God receives and delivers those who believe and state it with their mouths.  He brings them out of death; He places their feet in the eternal "land of the living."  Let all men be liars, for eternal life in God is REALITY.  And that reality can only be gained by faith that He is, for faith is the key to the kingdom of God, to eternal life.  Therefore, Paul says, So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  Paul's faith was so sound, so sure, that he was willing to face any dire circumstance in this temporary world.  His God was so real to him that he was willing to lose all, to gain EVERYTHING.  Are we so willing?  DO WE REALLY BELIEVE THERE IS ANOTHER DIMENSION WHERE GOD IS, A TRUE RESTING PLACE, AN ETERNAL HOME?  YES WE DO, for we live BY FAITH in the I AM, who was and is and shall be.  Amen!

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

2 Corinthians 4:7-12  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.  So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 

As Christians, are we too much alive to this world?  Paul said for the sake of the Holy Spirit's blessed ministry to the world, he is like a jar of clay, that which can be easily destroyed, fragile in nature.  He said, I am hard pressed on every side; the vicissitudes of life are overwhelming to me.  It seems as if I am spreading life to everyone, but my personal life is like death.  I struggle every day in my physical body, in my emotional well-being.  My enemies are always out to destroy me, to harm me, to belittle me.  My life is like an incessant march toward the grave.  My personal desires, wants, and security are not mine to claim, for I have given them to God: I am like a dead man.  But Paul concludes, I am sacrificing my life freely that I might give life to the lost, that they might hear and see the ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT through my life.  

Is this our desire?  Is this our compulsion?  Do we so much want God's life in us that we are willing to forgo the embellishments of life or even the essentials of life such as physical safety and security?  Are we willing to live God's life rather than our own?  Are we willing to accept God's voice, God's will, over our own voice and will?  I am sure some of the difficulties Christians experience in life are a call on their lives by God to rededicate themselves to him.  Christians, because they are human, tend to concentrate on themselves when everything is going well in their lives.  When they have enough money in the bank, enough health to feel good, enough security to know that they are okay, they tend to orient themselves back into the world; the world becomes more significant to them than it should be.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  (John 12:25)  They start to look for that next great relationship, that new car, that next remodeling project, that next house, that exciting trip.  They start to allow self-interests to power their lives rather than seeking God's direction.  

I know I am like that.  But difficulties, sickness, insecurity tend to refocus our lives.  For sure, most of us do not live the harrowing life that Paul lived.  But even though Paul experienced such a life, he wanted us to know that through Jesus Christ, he was more than a conqueror.  He said that many times he was perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and hard pressed, but God always gave him the victory because he was never crushed, abandoned, destroyed, or left in despair.  Paul knew God was using his difficult life as an instrument to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to a sick and dying world.  Paul literally revealed the WORD OF GOD, THE BREATH OF GOD to a sinful, gentile world through his lifestyle, his choices, his words.  Are we willing to be like Paul, willing to be brought low so that Jesus Christ might be manifested in our lives?  Are we willing to go through struggles so that Jesus Christ might be glorified?  Are we willing?  Paul depicts himself as an earthen jar, that which can be easily cracked and destroyed, but which also can contain the marvelous, supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit.  We are also earthen jars, but God's glory, his voice, his breath will be manifested in those earthen jars if we are willing, if we yield control to the Potter.

2 Corinthians 4:1-6

2 Corinthians 4:1-6  Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.  Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.  On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 

If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  Many religious people want to hear another gospel rather than believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved.  Others, more secular people, put their trust in science rather than religion, believing the origin of all things rests with the probabilities of nature rather than with God.  They very much think this "Jesus thing" is for the weak.  But both groups of people have been blinded by the god of this age.  Neither camp likes the word "saved."  They would much rather believe in good acts and bad acts, good people and bad people.  Of course, they almost always categorize themselves as one of the "good" people.  When God escorted Adam and Eve out of the garden, bad things began to happen.  Bad things happened to them.  Cain slew Abel.  Adam's son killed his brother.  From that day on, sin has manifested itself in mankind.  As the Bible indicates, we are ALL SINNERS.  We have all gone our own way, manifesting self-will, self-interest, and self-desires to the detriment of others--deception and cruelty became part of our nature.  

In today's passage Paul says that he does not preach himself, his works, but the works of Christ.  He preaches that light has come into the world, and that light can enter into our hearts through faith in Jesus Christ.  By knowing Jesus we can know the glory of God, his nature and likeness.  By knowing Jesus we can have eternal life.  There is no other gospel!  We might try to make a gospel of good works, but we will never enter into the kingdom of God through good works.  That is like little children with mud-caked hands trying to clean dirt off their clothes.  They will never be successful, their clothes will always be dirty.  Christ has made us servants to others, but in the flesh we will never be able to heal their souls or to provide an eternal resting place for them.  The best that we can do is to make each other's journey on Earth a little less difficult, but we can never forgive sins or reclaim a person's soul to God.  That can only come through faith in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.  

Some people pick and choose what they want to believe from the Bible.  Many times they'll choose the practical, that which is easily understood, but will eliminate the supernatural from the scriptures.  Thomas Jefferson did that: all supernatural events were literally excluded in his Bible.  But the Word of God is supernatural even in the practical scenes that we understand such as the story of the prodigal son.  The supernatural aspect of that story far exceeds the natural applications, for that story is referring to God receiving wayward humanity back into his eternal gracious existence if people will only repent and return to him.  As with the earthly father in that story, our heavenly Father is constantly looking down the road to see if his beloved creation will return to him.  When he was in the pig stye, the son said by faith, "My father will receive me if I return."  And this is still true today: God will receive us no matter who we are if we will return to him THROUGH THE DOOR, WHICH IS FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.  This is the gospel; this is the WORD OF GOD.  As Peter said in Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.  The gospel is specifically Jesus Christ: there is no other door, no other religion, no other faith.  In him alone is life eternal.  Don't let any circumstance, any knowledge, any man, blind you to that knowledge.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18

2 Corinthians 3:12-18  Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.  We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.  But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read.  It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.  Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.  But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  Where Jesus is, that is where the Spirit is.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He becomes the essential part of our life: the dynamo, the fire within.  The old lifestyle is put away, and a new life spawns within.  We are no longer obligated to do religious activity to reach God, for He is resident within us.  And because of his presence, a new world of freedom opens up to us.  For where the Spirit is, there is freedom.  The veil of bondage has been lifted from OUR EYES, for we are no longer under the burden of the Law.  We now live in Jesus with an understanding that He has done the work of transformation, and because of that work we are free in our spirits, realizing that righteousness does not depend on us but on Christ.  With that understanding, we dance with joy, praise God with vigor, sing songs passionately, and pray believing.     

All Christians have their ups and downs, but in Christ, who lifts us up into heavenly places, we are always conquerors.  We just don't always realize it. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:37-39)  In the above passage, the Holy Spirit is saying through Paul that we who are following God, not under the covenant of law or under religious rituals, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory.  Otherwise, God is doing a mighty work within us every day, for we are his sons and daughters.  We are to be free as He is free--free to reflect his nature, his likeness, to a hurting world.  We have his DNA in us.  We are free to live joyously.  As Christians we should be much like the young calf who has just been released into an expassive pasture from the confines of a dark, dank barn.  As the calf would, we should run, jump, skip, turn gloriously around, for we are FREE.  We are free from the bondage of the Law and the pressures and guilt of sin.  We are free from the dread of condemnation and the knowledge of our failure to please God.  We are free to bask in the sun (Son).  Hallelujah!  

Today, appropriate your freedom by expressing God's love to the world--your world.  Let freedom in Christ, the lover of your soul, sink deep within your consciousness and bring forth joy unspeakable and full of glory.  (1 Peter 1:8 KJV)  God has made you distinct, different.  He has made you unique to reflect his likeness to the world.  He is perfecting that work that He started in you and promises to bring to completion.  Praise God, God has set you free.  You are free, and as the apostle John wrote, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  (John 8:36)

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

2 Corinthians 3:7-11  Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?  If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!  For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.  And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

Acts 15:6-11  Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”  The apostles and elders met to consider this question.  After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.  God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.  He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.  Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?  No!  We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”  

What does Paul mean by referring to the Law as the ministry that brought death?  Isn't the Law good?  Yes, it is good but can it bring life?  Can the Law bring forgiveness of sin?  Can it bring us into right relationship with God?  Yes and no.  First of all the Law is good, but fulfillment of the Law depends on MAN'S EFFORTS.  Therefore, to be righteous, to attain godly righteousness, a man must keep the Commandments completely all of his life, for if he breaks the Law, he cannot ever enter into the presence of God because God does not tolerate sin in his presence.  Sin has to be judged, and the judgement of violating the Law is DEATH.  Well, what about the sacrifices in the Old Testament?  Didn't they take away sin?  No, they covered sin.  They appeased the wrath of God for a while, for only blood, indicative of death, can satisfy the wrath of God on corrupting sin.  The sacrifices had to be performed yearly to insure that the wrath of God, the judgement of God, would not FALL ON HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE.  Because the Jews were chosen by God as his people, which in itself is an act of grace (unmerited choice), they needed a continuous covering of blood to stay in his presence and to find favor with him.  

However, the blood of bulls and goats could not eradicate sin; the blood could only insure for a short time that God's wrath on sin would be stayed.  All of these sacrifices, all of the ceremonies in the Old Testament, were in reality a looking forward to the enduring, complete sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.  His sacrifice on the cross completed the work necessary for the eradication of sin from the human soul.  His work would write the law of God on our spiritual hearts.  His work alone puts us in right standing with God, not our efforts.  We are now righteous because of him, not because of us.  Then what about the Law?  It is good, but we fulfill the Law by placing our faith in Jesus Christ's work and not our own.  He alone was able to walk this world sinless.  He alone fulfilled the holy requirements of the Law.  He alone did not deserve the wrath of God.  Therefore, He was the perfect lamb, the unblemished lamb, the sinless one.  His sacrifice forever satisfied God's wrath toward sin.  His death completed the judgement of God.  He paid for our sins by HIS DEATH.  

Consequently, those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ and his work are righteous.  GOD has purified their hearts by faith (in Jesus Christ).  As Peter proclaimed to his fellow disciples: “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.  (Act 14:38-39)  We have been set free from the Law of sin and death, the Law of condemnation.  We have been set free from our works, our striving to be holy through our efforts.  We have been set free from the Law that could only mirror our unrighteousness, and now, praise God, we have entered into the ministry of the Spirit, which brings us eternal righteousness in Christ our beloved Lord.  We are now no longer just servants; we are sons and daughters of the Most High, ransomed by the blood of our only begotten brother, Jesus Christ.  Amen!