Feb7

"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." 2Corinthians 5:1

Paul contrasts our earthly body and our resurrection bodies here. Notice he says, "For we know . . . " Not we "hope" or "expect" or even "believe", but "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." This is a positive "know" ~ Paul knows because the Spirit of God has revealed this to Him.

The word for "tabernacle" is skene, which means "tent." This word was used for the wilderness tabernacle of the Old Testament in the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament into the Greek. The Old Testament tabernacle, the Mosaic tabernacle was a skene, a tent. It was a flimsy sort of thing. Our earthly bodies are tents. They are merely a flimsy covering for our Spiritual bodies. This body of ours will be sown a natural body, but it will be raised a spiritual body. Our bodies will one day be put in the grave, but we, the "real" persons will have gone to be with Christ ~ if we are believers!

Many folks believe we will get sort of a temporary body when we get to heaven. Like taking your car to the garage to be repaired and getting a loaner for a short period of time. But Paul is saying here that it is "eternal in the heavens." He is telling us about the new body that we are going to get ~ and it is eternal! This to me, and I hope to you also, is awesome!

We need to realize that there is an outward man and an inward man (or woman). The outward person perishes, but the inward person is renewed day by day. The things that are seen are temporal. Some of you have seen me, and some of you have not. But even those of you who have seen me have actually really not. All you have seen is this house, this old tent, I live in. And the older I get, this old tent flaps around a little more with each passing year. It does so with each one of us! Solomon described old age in Ecclesiastes: "In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low" (vv 12:3-4). The "keepers of the house" are the legs, which will one day tremble at the knees. "The strong men," which are our shoulders, are bowed. "Those that look out of the windows" are our eyes, and the "sound of grinding is low" as we don't don't hear as well with age. This is old age taking place in the outward person ~ the things that are seen that are temporal.

However, there is also the inward person! And the inward person is spiritual. This is sometimes a little difficult for people to understand. But God is a Person, but He is not physical, a material Being. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth," Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4:24.

Many people don't like growing old. But, may I say, if you are in Christ, you should be looking forward to old age, because each day brings you closer to Him. We are going to see Him someday! We are going to see the face of the Lord Jesus, the One who loved us and gave Himself for us! I rejoice in that prospect ~ and pray you do also. These old tents in which we live are only temporal, so Christians, and non-Christians alike, will you be ready for your new heavenly bodies when your time arises? Hope so!

May God bless you with love, hope, peace & joy in Christ Jesus! Sister Sandy