Transcript

Paul David Tripp writes this: I am persuaded that the whole purpose of camping is to make a person long for home! On that first day in the woods, putting up the tent is exciting, but three days later your tent has unpleasant odors you can’t explain. It’s humid and wet in the tent, the mosquitoes bite and buzz around your ears when you try to sleep.

You love the taste of food cooked over an open flame, but three days later you are tired of foraging for wood and irritated by how fast it burns. You were excited at the prospect of catching your dinner from the stream running past your campsite, which is reported to be teeming with trout, but all you have snagged are the rocks on the bottom.

After a few days the ground has gotten harder and harder and your back hurts, there seems to be no more felled wood to forage. And you’re now tired, hungry and sore.

Suddenly you begin to think fondly of home, thinking, “Yeah right, this is the life, I’d rather be home on my soft bed with my AC.”

You stand there hoping that someone will break the silence and say, “Why don’t we go home?” Your few days in the wilderness have accomplished their mission. They have prepared you to appreciate home!

Tripp adds: “Our world is a broken place groaning for redemption. Here is meant to make us long for forever. Here is meant to prepare us for eternity.”

The longer we live in this world and in this tent, our bodies, the more uncomfortable and unpleasant it becomes. Like tenting, this prepares us to appreciate home.

The trials of life, the breaking down of these bodies as our outward man perishes, all have a purpose of making us look forward to home, to the sure hope of heaven, eternal life with Christ, and receiving our glorified, resurrected bodies.

Our home and our hope becomes more and more precious to us as we go in life.

2 Cor. 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.”

Paul starts out here with words of faith, “For we know.”

He refers not to a wish, not to a possibility, not to some vague hope, but to a fixed reality, a settled fact and unshakeable truth based on the promise of God.

“We” refers to believers in Christ. And “we know” Paul says. How do we know? Because God has revealed it to us. “We know” because we trust the Word of God. And God is faithful and cannot lie. Earlier in this book, Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 1:20, “For all the promises of God in [Christ] are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

So “we know” because God says it and God has promised it.

The “we know” is also connected with the “knowing” in 2 Cor. 4:14: “Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” Our confidence in our resurrection and receiving resurrected, glorified bodies is because Christ is risen.

The reason we can say “we know” is because He lives. Because Christ was raised, our bodies shall be raised.

In this passage Paul contrasts our present body with the new, resurrected body we will have in heaven.

Paul says “if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved.” “Tabernacle” speaks of a tent. “House” speaks of a dwelling.

So “earthly house of this tabernacle” means a tent dwelling. The earthly tent dwelling is our bodies. It’s the idea that our souls live in a tent.

Paul was a tentmaker (Acts 18:1-3) and it’s interesting how he uses a tent as a picture of our present earthly bodies.

A tent is a weak, temporary, fragile, insecure, humble structure. And a tent is not a permanent dwelling, but a portable one for pilgrims and travelers.

Thus, these bodies being referred to as a tent reminds us of two things, it’s temporary and we’re just travelers, passing through this life in this tent on our way home.

The body which believers possess in this world is the earthly, temporary, fragile, insecure, lowly home for the eternal souls of sojourners whose real citizenship is in heaven, whose real home is in heaven.

And each believer has the hope of a new body, fit for heaven, which will be the eternal home for our soul and spirit.

Paul says “that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved.” Dissolved has the idea of “torn down, dismantled, folded up.”

The word “dissolved” goes with the thought of a tent, of pulling up stakes, tearing down a tent and folding it up and moving on.

“Dissolved” of course speaks of physical death, the tent of our bodies being taken down at the time of death. But notice that Paul says “IF this tabernacle were dissolved.” He doesn’t say “when.” He says “If.”

The believer in the Body of Christ always has the possibility of not dying. If we are alive when Christ returns for the Church we will not die.

Our bodies will be changed in a twinkling of an eye and we will be caught off the earth directly to heaven.

So, in faith, Paul writes “if” not “when” because he really doesn’t know if we will die and have these tents taken down in death if we are alive at the time of the Rapture.

But if not, one day we must pack up our tent, this physical body, and move out. This tent will give way at some point. But we have the sure hope of moving into a permanent structure, “a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

The “building of God” is the believer’s glorified body. One day we’ll be moving from a tent to a solid, secure, firm structure, a building. The new body is a permanent dwelling, it’s “eternal in the heavens.”

Paul said one verse earlier “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Our new bodies are unseen, but it’s real, and it’s eternal. The glorified body we will receive will be suited to the glorious environment of heaven and suited to live for eternity.

It will never weaken, it will never perish, like this body is and does. It will be forever free from sin, sorrow, and death.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 says of our new bodies, “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”

The glorified body will be made from this present body. God will raise, transform and re-make our mortal body into one that is fit for heaven, glorified, incorruptible, immortal, powerful and like Christ’s resurrected body.

Philippians 3:21 says, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his [Christ’s] glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

2 Corinthians 5:1 says “we have” this building of God already as a present possession. In God’s eyes, we already have it. It’s as good as done.

I like how Romans 4:17 says that God “calleth those things which be not as though they were.” That’s what we see here about our new glorified bodies, God calling those things which be not as though they were. And it’s because God is absolutely faithful, what He has said He will do.

Paul says it’s a “building of God, an house not made with hands.” God is the One who will raise and transform these bodies. He is the One who will give it to us. We have a definition of “not made with hands” in Hebrews 9:11:

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.”

The expression not made with hands means “not of this creation.”

This speaks to how our resurrection body is not earthly and physical. It is heavenly, spiritual and transcendent. It will be a divine creation.

Our present bodies are suited to life on this earth, but our future, glorified bodies will not be of this creation. They will be especially designed for life in heaven and eternity.

The believer’s future body is “eternal in the heavens” and will endure forever in our heavenly home.

A woman nearly 100 years old wrote: This old shell in which I dwell, Is growing old, I know full well, But I am not the shell. What if my hair is turning gray, Gray hair is honorable, they say. What if my sight is growing dim, I still can see to follow Him.

What should I care if times’ old plow, Has left deep furrows on my brow. Another house, not made with hands, Awaits me in the Glory Land.

What tho my tongue refuse to talk, What; tho I falter in my walk, I still can tread the narrow way, I still can sing, and watch and pray.

My hearing may not be as keen, As in times past it may have been, But I still can hear the Savior say, In whispers soft, “This is the Way.”

This outward man, do what I can, To lengthen out his life’s short span, Shall perish and return to dust, As everything in nature must.

The inward man, the Scriptures say, Is growing stronger every day. Then how can I be growing old, When safe within the Master’s fold?

Ere long this soul shall fly away, And leave this tenement of clay. This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise, To seize the “everlasting prize.” I’ll meet you on the streets of gold, And prove that I’m not growing old.

2 Cor. 5:2-3 reads, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.”

In verse 2, what Paul is basically saying is: “I want that house from God, I want that building, that permanent structure. I want that body that is not like the one I have in this life.”

The point Paul is showing too is that every believer should have a desire to receive their resurrection body at the Rapture, because the next body is the best.

“For in this we groan” Paul says. We moan and groan all the time. I groan when I open bills, I groan when I’m hungry or when I eat too much. I groan when I have a job to do that I don’t want to do. I groan just from getting up out of bed.

Our bodies have aches and pains and in them we sometimes suffer and groan. Romans 8:23 says, “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” It’s scriptural to groan.

But the groaning here is not merely from the burdens of life, but from a deep, heartfelt earnest desire by Paul that he might depart this life by way of the rapture and immediately receive his resurrected body at that time.

In his “groan” Paul was not expressing a desire for death. It’s just the opposite, Paul was eager for Christ to return so he would not have to die and so he would be immediately “clothed upon” with a glorified body. The new body is called a house in verse 1 and a garment that we are clothed with in verse 2.

It’s at the Rapture that we will be “clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,” or we will receive our glorified body.

1 Cor. 15:51,52 says: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this moral must put on immortality.”

The ultimate for Paul and for anyone in the Body of Christ, is the Rapture, to go straight from this temporal body to the eternal, glorified one.

Paul really wanted that new body. He was weary of the limitations, temptations, weakness, pains of this body. And he wanted that body of glory and power.

He wanted that new body that is suited to the heavenlies and eternity that will be forever perfect and powerful and a perfect vehicle for the full expression of our transformed, new nature within to praise and serve the Lord forever.

After the Rapture, we will never be found without a body verse 3 says. It is as verse 1 says, “eternal in the heavens.” Being clothed with our glorified body we will never not have that body, we will never die or be separated from it.

But also this speaks to the state of the those who have died before the Rapture. Being “found naked” doesn’t speak of immodesty in the physical sense.

Instead we learn here in verses 3 and 4 how if we die before the rapture, our spirit and soul will spend the interim “naked” or “unclothed,” i.e., having no body.

They’re in a spirit form. There is, however, some spiritual temporary covering for our immaterial being until the time of the Rapture for those who are in heaven.

Revelation 7:9 speaks of kingdom saints before they’ve received their resurrected bodies “of all nations, and kindreds, and people” standing before the throne of Christ in heaven and they are “clothed with white robes.”

Lazarus and the rich man were in recognizable human forms in Luke chapter 16.

And Samuel, after his death, when he appeared to Saul after he died was recognizable, in human form, and his personality remained.

In 1 Samuel 28, the Scripture records how King Saul visited the Witch, or medium, of Endor in order for her to bring Samuel up that so he could consult him as to what he should do with the Philistine Army that had gathered against Israel.

God stepped in by His power and special permission and He allowed Samuel’s real spirit to appear to have him pronounce final doom upon Saul.

The account shows that the souls of people exist and live in a separate state after death, which as Scripture says, will one day be reunited with this body in the resurrection.

Like the spirits of Moses and Elijah who appeared on the mount of transfiguration with the Lord, so the spirit of Samuel appeared to King Saul.

Samuel had the form of a human being in his disembodied state. He was described as “an old man…and he is covered with a mantle.” Now age and material clothing do not exist in the spiritual and timeless realm of those who have died, but God miraculously gave such appearances so Saul was able to perceive that the spirit was Samuel.

But we also see that the voice, emotion, and personality of Samuel followed him after he died. Samuel when he appears, asked Saul “Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?”

“Disquieted” means “to trouble, to disturb.” Samuel’s comment expresses agitation caused by Saul’s efforts to contact him. “Why are you troubling me?” Why are you disturbing me?” First the reason he says this is because it was against God’s will and His law, that living humanity was not allowed to seek out discussions with the dead (Deut. 18:11).

But also he says, “Why are you disturbing me?” because he had been disturbed from his rest. He’s kind of annoyed. He’s resting. He’s annoyed that his rest is interrupted by Saul.

It’s kind of like when you get annoyed when you’re taking a nap and the dog barks or the phone rings. Nobody likes to have their rest interrupted.

This was the case with Samuel too in his rest after his death.

Samuel was agitated with Saul when he was alive, and he was agitated with Saul after he died. Our emotions and personality follow us into glory. We don’t all become robots and colorless automatons in heaven. Our unique person and personality remains.

You also see memory by Samuel. He remembered Saul and his sons in that account. Our loved ones do remember us in heaven.

Pastor Ricky Kurth, the editor of our monthly Bible study magazine, the Berean Searchlight insightfully wrote in a recent edition about the martyrs who will die during the tribulation period. In that day they will cry out in heaven to the Lord for vengeance.

They remember how they died, and at whose hand (Rev. 6:10). As Pastor Kurth points out: if people in heaven can feel a righteous emotion like vengeance, then they definitely feel the righteous and pure emotion of love.

So our loved ones remember us, and they love us still.

The unclothed state of those who have died is only a temporary one also until the Rapture. This is definitely not a negative or bad state to be in as Paul goes on to explain in v. 8. Paul was “willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

Those who have died are conscious, at rest, and fully enjoying the joys and bliss of heaven and being with the Lord.

2 Cor. 5:4: “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

Paul’s groan, his earnest desire and burden in both verses 2 and 4 was to go directly from his earthly body to his heavenly body, to go from his tent to being “clothed upon” with his glorified body without facing death. He was groaning for glory.

And the hope of the Rapture is when “mortality” will be “swallowed up of life.” Mortality being swallowed up by life is living in our immortal, eternal, glorified bodies with Christ’s everlasting life within and dwelling in the full life and glories of heaven.

Paul wanted life, real life, abundant life. He wanted what is mortal to be swallowed up by the fullness of the perfections of eternal life. He longed for an immortal life. He wanted the full richness of the eternal life which God has prepared for His own. Paul wanted everything to be swallowed up by eternal life, the perfect life in glory.

He’s saying “I want the fullness of everything God has for me. I want to be literally swallowed up by the fullness of all that eternal life can bring.”

May we yearn like Paul for the next life, that this mortal, corruptible and temporal may be swallowed up by that which is immortal, incorruptible and eternal, and may it motivate us to live for Him and for the eternal in this life.

This is the ultimate purpose we have been made for, to be the Lord’s and dwell with Him for eternity, enjoying the fullness of His Person and glory forever.