What Ministry Is All About, Part 6
In our message, HAVING THE RIGHT AIM (2 Cor. 5:1-11), Paul continued to give thanks to God for making us ministers of the New Covenant, explaining why we should not “lose heart” or give up (2 Cor. 4:1, 16; 1 Cor. 15:58, etc.). It is because of His mercy and grace- (i.e. NOTHING can separate us from the love of God, having been forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ of all our sin- past, present, and future), we should never throw in the towel (2 Cor. 4:1, 16; 5:21; Luke 18:1; Gal. 6:9; 2 Thes. 3:13; Rom. 8:31-39; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Rom. 5:1-2, etc.). Even though our outward body because of the Fall of man (Gen. 3:1-19) is running down and dying (2 Cor. 4:16 NLT), “WE KNOW… we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1, caps my emphasis). The “tent” here in 2 Corinthians 5:1 that Paul (a tentmaker) is referring to is our physical bodies today which are in this time weak, temporary and without much beauty, but the “building of God” is our future glorified bodies which will be “eternal in the heavens” never perishing, sinning or falling apart (2 Cor. 5:1). This knowledge, “WE KNOW,” is based on the Bible and promises of God Himself (John 14:19; 1 Cor. 15:35-57;2 Cor. 4:14; Rom. 8:30; 1 John 3:2, etc.).
Today “we groan” (2 Cor. 5:2, 4a, etc.), thankful for the life God has given us but also looking for the time when God will swallow up death in life, making all things right at His return for the church (1 Cor. 15:54; 2 Cor. 5:4, etc.). There is a sense today, because of the Fall of man, that we are not fully clothed spiritually (2 Cor. 5:2; Gen. 3:8-10, etc.). Scripture is clear the moment a Christian passes away he or she is instantly with Jesus Christ spiritually (2 Cor. 5:6, 8, etc.) even though our bodies would temporarily sleep until the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:50-57, 2 Cor. 4:14, etc.). “For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us [today]. Rather we want to put on our new bodies [the glorified, eternal ones at Christ’s return] so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up [transformed] by life” (2 Cor. 5:3-4 NLT).
It is in view of this grace… guaranteed by God’s unbreakable Word and power through Him inside of us (2 Cor. 5:5) that we are to be “confident,” radiant, and courageous in our faith (2 Cor. 5:6, 8). Another way to translate “confident” in the Greek is “full of courage.” Grace is the primary motive that we have to “walk by faith [and] not sight” desiring to please Him (2 Cor. 5:7, 9; Gal. 5:16-18; Eph. 5:18, etc.). The verb “walk” here once again is peripatéō which means “keep on walking,” step-by-step, DON’T GIVE UP! (Rom. 12:1-2, etc.). Grace helps fix our “want to” when we better realize the goodness of God so we can have the right desire to “MAKE IT OUR AIM… TO BE WELL PLEASING TO HIM” (2 Cor. 5:9, caps my emphasis; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Pet. 1:13, etc.). Grace also teaches us the fear of the Lord which will help us prepare for “the judgment seat of Christ” for all Christians (2 Cor. 5:9-11; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Tim. 2:1-6, etc.).
Much could be said about this often omitted or minimized doctrine in the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16-17, etc.). “The judgment seat of Christ” will be a time when Christians (i.e. “each one”) “must… appear…” before Christ to give an account of his or her life (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:9-12, etc.). Christians will NEVER go to the White Throne Judgment of lost people who, having rejected Jesus, are “not found written in the Book of Life… [and] cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15), but we are still accountable to God who is “the judge of all” (Heb. 12:23, etc.). The Word says only what is done in faith (by Him through us- Luke 9:23) will be eternal and go into His kingdom (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:18; 1 Cor. 3:13-15; Heb. 12:28-29; 1 John 2:28, etc.). *For more information on this message, please see SBFC’s March 9, 2025 sermon above.