Living for What Lasts Forever

Life can feel like a burden at times. Our bodies weary, our minds tire, and regardless of how desperately we cling to youth or health, the years continue to pass. The Bible says that this life is one in which we live in a “tent”, temporary, fragile, and easily torn. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). That is the hope God has set before us: one day the tent will be put away and we will be given a permanent home that can never be destroyed.

Every believer groans over this reality in our hearts. We all yearn for more than this broken world can offer. Paul tells us, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2). It is a holy homesickness. We do not want to escape this life, but to complete it. What is mortal will be swallowed up by life, not death. God has prepared us for this and given His Spirit as a down payment, a guarantee that His promise is true (2 Corinthians 5:5).

Because of that, we can live with courage. We may be away from the Lord in this body, but we live with our eyes fixed on Him. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). It means we live for what we cannot see yet but know is coming. The world pursues what fades away, but we set our eyes on what is eternal. As Paul says elsewhere, “For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

There is a sobering part of this truth as well. Whether in this life or the next, we all will one day stand before Christ. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Nothing will be concealed, nothing will be excused. The Lord calls this truth to awaken us: every decision we make, every hidden motive, every thought, and action will be exposed before the Lord.

So what are we to do with this knowledge? Paul answers the question plainly: “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). Our goal is not to please others, not to build a legacy in this life, but to live in a way that will be pleasing to the Lord. One day the tent will come down and we will step into eternity. The question is not whether that day will come, it will. The question is whether you will be at home with the Lord when that day does come.

Jesus Christ is the only way to that eternal house. “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Trust in Him, follow Him, and hold fast to the Spirit’s promise. If you belong to Christ, you can live with courage now knowing that death is not the end, but the doorway to life eternal.

 

Job 37:1-39:30
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10
Psalm 44:9-26
Proverbs 22:13

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New Testament: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10

 

Summary: Treasure in Jars of Clay, Our Heavenly Dwelling

 

 

 

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  ~ 2 Corinthians 5:10

God is the judge of all people*. He will test whether we are truly his servants. Only those people who are loyal to him will have a place in heaven and the New Jerusalem*. However, nobody can earn that place by their own deeds. They receive it because of their faith (trust) in Christ. Christ died so that God could forgive their wrong and evil deeds.

 

God is also the judge of the deeds that his servants carry out in their work for him. That is the judgement that Paul seems to refer to in 2 Corinthians 5:10. By the words ‘we all’ in that verse, he seems to mean all Christians.

 

In that judgement, God wants to reward his people for their loyal work for him. However, God, who knows everything, cannot approve of all our actions. Even when we do the right things, we may act for the wrong reasons, or with wrong attitudes*.

 

Paul discusses this judgement further in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. It is possible for someone to fail this test but still to receive a place in heaven*.

 

Although that person is a genuine servant of God, he will suffer the loss of everything. His work for God, his master, was completely unsatisfactory; but still God, in his love, will save that person.

 

By God’s standards, all people are weak. It astonishes us to think that God wants us to work for him. Again, it astonishes us that God can consider our work to be valuable. It astonishes us to know that God wants to reward us for our deeds for him. In 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, Paul expresses that thought by reference to his own experience.

From: usefulbible.com

 

For we must all appear,…

That means all of us. Are you ready?
  
This is the reason why the saints are so diligent and laborious, so earnest and intent upon it, to be accepted by the Lord, because we must stand before the King. If Jesus is not your King now is the time to make Him your King.

Jesus Christ who is appointed Judge of the whole earth, who is every way qualified for it, being God omnipotent and omniscient; and when he comes a second time will sit upon his great white throne, a symbol of purity and integrity, and will enter on this work, and finish it with the strictest justice and equity: and before him “we must all appear”; all the saints as well as others, ministers and people, persons of all ranks and conditions, of every nation, age, and sex; there will be no avoiding this judgment, all “must appear”, or “be made manifest”; they will be set in open view, before angels and men; their persons, characters, and actions, even the most secret will be judged.  ~ John Gill

 

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Overview: 2 Corinthians  –  Click Here

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2 Corinthians 03-04  –  Click Here

2 Corinthians 05  –  Click Here

 

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