2 Corinthians, Chapter 5
© Copyright 2003 Darroll Evans, all
rights reserved
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
"For
we know" (Gr. oidamen gar-oidamen gar)
(literal: we understand because)---the "we" refers only to
Christians.
There is a great difference between what
Christians understand and what non-believers understand. For Christians, death
is not a valid concept.
As Christians, we understand that we
physically die. Our bodies return to the dust.
Because we have been called and appointed to
trust in The Messiah, Jesus we are part of a bigger plan, a plan of
reconciliation to the Father.
As Christians, we are a
We now reside in a temporary dwelling.
However our destiny is to dwell in a permanent home.
Many say that we are going to a new home. But,
our new home is coming to us.
Revelation 21:2-3
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God
Himself will be with them and be their God. (NKJV)
2 Corinthians 5:2-3
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house
which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
God has prepared something for us that we
cannot fully comprehend or appreciate while we are here on this Earth.
One of the metaphors used in the Bible refers
to clothing. We are "clothed" in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Because of that, we are not spiritually naked.
This verse describes the heart of every
Christian. We know that we are dying, and we also know that because of our
relationship to Christ Jesus, we shall live.
Jesus’ life imparted to us negates
death.
God has prepared us, saved us, given us the
promised Holy Spirit for the purpose of sustained personal relationship.
Our confidence is not self-based. It is
Christ-based.
Until we gain our resurrection body, we
cannot be in the see God.
I John 3:2---"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not
yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (NKJV).
I wear glasses. When I take them off, I can
still see, but it is with blur discrimination that I understand what I am
seeing. Spiritually it is the same for us now. We see the triune God with blur
discrimination.
While we are in this physical body we are
absent from the pure, unobstructed presence of God.
Verse 7 is as presented in the KJV a
parenthetical aside. "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)." The
just shall live by faith. We do conduct our daily lives by inward faith, and
not by external appearances.
Verse 8 is perhaps the most misquoted verse
in the entire Bible. We prefer "to be absent from the body AND
(Gr. kai-kai)to be present with the Lord." It does not
say, "to be absent from the body IS to be present
with the Lord."
There is no need to misquote Scripture to
prove a point.
Our current situation is not the focus of our
desire or ambition.
Christians’ focal desire to please God in all
things.
We MUST appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. It is not an option.
Christians shall be judged, and receive just
payment (reward) for our deeds. This is not a judgment to decide salvation.
That was decided at the cross.
John 6:28-29
28 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of
God?"
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you
believe in Him whom He sent." (NKJV)
Revelation 22:12---"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward
is with Me, to give to every one according to his work" (NKJV).
Have you trusted Christ Jesus?
Some may tell you that fear of the Lord is
actually respect. In this case "terror"
(Gr. fobon-jobon) means extreme terror.
"Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord" indicates that we were
there. We know what it is like to live in sin.
Christians understand sin. We were sinners!
Those outside of Christ do not understand us. They have no reference point!
"We
persuade men"---Our job in this age is to proclaim Christ Jesus.
Paul was transparent before God. We are
always transparent before God, but sometimes we are not so before men.
Paul proclaimed Christ and waited for God to
reveal the truth of His Son. Perhaps we should go back to that method.
We should proclaim Christ to all, and let God
sort them out.
"Be
beside ourselves" speaks of a state of mind. It speaks of insanity.
Some folks think that we are insane to
believe in Christ Jesus. Those same folks shall one day believe as we do.
If you were standing before the Great White
Throne, and saw Christ Jesus standing beside The Father, would you continue to
deny?
Or, would your "free will" force
you to make the obvious decision?
Many Christians have no concept of how
powerful God’s love is. Love NEVER fails!
2 Corinthians 5:14b-15
14b because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
We rightfully determine that (literally)
"if One died for all, "the" all were dead.
The Greek text contains the definite article
indicating that "all" speaks of as specific group. The specific group
being discussed is humanity!
Let me offer a re-write using that concept.
"If One died for all [of us], then all [of us] were dead."
You may not believe that Christ died for all.
I pray that God will open your eyes to understand the scope of Jesus’
sacrifice.
Jesus died for us so that our lives might be
re-focused. We are no longer to live for ourselves.
Now, we are to live for Christ. We are to
live for Him who died for us, and rose again to show us the way to true life.
Our lives are no longer focused on us. They
are now focused on Him.
From our point of conversion, we look to the
spiritual and not the physical. We may have thought of Christ as a great
teacher or leader. Now we know Him as Lord.
This section is difficult for many Christians
to comprehend. If you spend all you time analyzing this, it will never make
sense. Just trust it.
If you are a new creature, the old creature
has died. Don’t drag it out and parade it around.
Verse 18 says bluntly, "All things are
of [the] God." Do you believe that?
He is the same One that has reconciled us to
Himself by Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (Gr.
katallagees-katallaghV).
What is this ministry of reconciliation?
It is not being reconciled to other humans. It is
being reconciled to God the Father through the Son, Christ Jesus.
God gave us the word and ministry of
true reconciliation. He has made us ambassadors for Christ.
Verse 19 is the heart and soul of the gospel.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Do you believe that? If not
read it again!
Verse 19 tells you what Christ Jesus was to
accomplish. In your relationship to Christ, is He a success or a failure?
We are not to beg others to come to Christ.
We are to tell others to be reconciled to Christ and let the Holy Spirit sort
them out.
We are ambassadors, not salesmen. Salvation
is a gift from the most Holy God to His chosen children.