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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.” (2 Corinthians 5.1-4; emphasis mine above and below, jb).
The Background: Persecutions followed Paul wherever he went. He was hounded in the countryside and in the city. Chains and stripes awaited him at every stop (see 2 Corinthians 11.22-30). These persistent persecutions caused him to reflect constantly on his real purpose in life and to consider the things which he viewed as most important. Just prior to penning today’s focus text, he wrote the following: “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4.16-18).
A Play on Words: “[W]e do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Now here is a question for us to answer. Do we look at the unseen things or, do we look at the seen things? Paul looked at the unseen things! To look at in this context means to consider or take into account. In other words, he did not take into consideration the things that are seen (i.e. the temporal world). Rather, his consideration and focus was upon the unseen things (i.e. the eternal/non-material things).
A Sure Thing: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God.” Paul could not see it, never had laid eyes on it, yet Paul KNEW for a fact that there was another existence beyond this physical universe. Furthermore he knew something of the character of that future existence; he knew that it was eternal in nature. This brings an interesting question to mind – How could Paul be so sure of that which he had never seen or experienced? The answer is to this question is not difficult from a biblical perspective. However, from a carnal or worldly perspective, it cannot be known. Where empirical evidence is required, the spiritual world CANNOT be discovered. That is why science can never prove the existence of the human spirit, or God, or angels, or any other element of the unseen world of which Paul spoke. Science is, by definition, limited to the material universe and cannot know some very important things.
A Heavenly Building: The builder is critically important to the value of any building. Two building identical on paper can be and often are radically different merely because they were built by two different builders. The building of which Paul had absolute and unwavering knowledge was one built by God and not man. This builder is the same being who spoke the world into existence and who will, some day, speak it out of existence. This builder is the one whom Abraham was seeking when it was said that he waited for a city “…whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 10.11).
Believers join with Paul in his unwavering faith in the future. The Hebrews writer put it this way: “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.” (Hebrews 13.14). Our eternal bodies shall inhabit an eternal city. Yes, praise be to God, we have a building, and the Builder has us!
Questions:
1. What was the “house” of which Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 5?
2. How could it be eternal, never to deteriorate or grow old?
3. What is the “continuing city” of which the Hebrews writer spoke?
4. How could Paul have such certainty in his future? Can we have this same certainty? Why or why not?
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