Bible Studies
Implications of Resurrection from 2 Cor. 5 (2 Cor. 4:16-5:5)
Series: ResurrectionIntroduction:
1. A house is a marvelous thing. 2. For many of us it is the one item that we spend the most money on. 3. Everyone needs a place to live and in most cases that place is a house. A house provides protection and security. Indeed it is a place to live and often we go further and call our place to live our home. 4. Paul uses just such images to compare our current state with our resurrected state. In the process he identifies some implications that grant hope beyond our current circumstances and beyond that define the work that we are involved in. 5. Reading of 2 Cor. 5:1-5.Discussion:
I. There are a variety of images in this text, but they are not difficult to understand.A. First Paul refers to “the earthly tent.”
1. A tent is a rather temporary structure.
2. In this text the tent to which Paul refers is our physical body.
3. He says, “If it is torn down, not to worry, we have a building from God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
4. So if this temporary structure (the tent of our physical body) is destroyed we should not be devastated by that.
5. It is decaying (4:16). It is temporal (4:18). And while we live in it we groan (5:4).
B. Paul introduces a house better than the tent of our physical body.
1. It is a building from God.
2. Not made with hands.
3. It is a dwelling from heaven.
C. Paul uses another figure in his description: that of being clothed and unclothed (naked).
1. He says that in the earthly tent (the physical body) we groan because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed with this dwelling from heaven.
2. When we are clothed with the dwelling from heaven “that which is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”
D. And so he uses another figure of being swallowed up, but this is a pleasant image since it involves being swallowed up by life, not death.
E. The images though varied are easy for us to understand. Our physical body is decaying. It is temporary like a tent, but we are not to worry. We have a better house made by God. While we do not like being unclothed or separated from our physical body, nevertheless we look forward to being clothed with something better.
II. Given the deteriorating nature of our physical body it would be natural for us to become discouraged, even lose heart.A. Many do.
B. But knowing that God raised Jesus and that He will also raise us (2 Cor. 4:14) causes us to see things differently.
1. We do not lose heart.
2. Our current affliction is perceived as light because we see things that are eternal.
C. Therefore we are of good courage (5:6ff).
1. Not walking by sight, but by faith (that is, by what has been revealed by God).
2. So we walk in a manner to be pleasing to Him realizing that it would be inappropriate to have such information and walk in some other manner.
3. And so the love of Christ controls us. He died for us, to give us life, so now we no longer live for ourselves, but for Him (5:14-15).
D. God has prepared us for this purpose and has given us the down payment (5:5).
1. The Spirit is the beginning evidence that the latter-day promises have begun to be realized in Christ and His people.
2. Rom. 8:23 indicates that the Spirit is first fruits of the redemption of our body.
3. Eph. 1:13-14 states that believers are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the “down payment” of the full “inheritance” to come.
E. Because of the resurrection we have hope.
III. A second implication of the resurrection is that we persuade men to become new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:11-19).A. Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord . . .
1. God has given us His son. He has paid the penalty of death that we might live.
2. What is the consequence of ignoring such? The death that He is attempting to save us from.
B. Therefore to save men from death we persuade them to be reconciled to God through Christ Jesus.
1. We work to persuade them to become new creatures in Christ.
2. In Christ God does not count our trespasses against us (5:19).
3. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf (5:21).
C. Our whole evangelistic endeavor is grounded in the resurrection.
1. We spend enormous amounts of money on our current tent treating symptoms of our disease.
2. In fact we should be investing even more heavily in an eternal home.
Conclusion:
1. Thus, we proclaim His death until He comes again. 2. We rejoice in momentary light afflictions in this tent, knowing that we have a dwelling from God and we long to be at home with Him. 3. And so we try to please Him as we persuade others to be reconciled to God.
