6.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• In this world our bodies are like tents that will soon be dismantled.
• In heaven we have an eternal home that is waiting for us.
• God wants us to groan with longing for heaven.
• The Holy Spirit was given to us as a “down payment” of heaven.
  - Through the Spirit we can be sure of the “full payment” (heaven) that God has promised us.
  - Through the Spirit we can already experience the love, joy, and peace of heaven.
  - Through the Spirit we can already begin to live the life of heaven:
     1. a life of service to God.

6.2 – 2 Corinthians 5:1–10←⤒🔗

^5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens.

^5:2 For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling,

^5:3 if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked.

^5:4 For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

^5:5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

^5:6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord –

^5:7 for we live by faith, not by sight.

^5:8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

^5:9 So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him.

^5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.

© NET Bible

6.3 Our bodies are tents←⤒🔗

In Lesson 5 we looked at 2 Corinthians 4. From that chapter we learned that heaven is our hope in times of suffering. For this lesson we are moving on to the next chapter in the Bible: 2 Corinthians 5. Paul is still speaking about life in this world and life in heaven.

In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul explains that life in this world is like living in a tent (verses 1 and 4).

When Abraham moved around in the land of Canaan, he always lived in a tent (Genesis 12:8; 18:1). When the Israelites moved around in the desert, they too lived in tents. When you live in a tent, it is because you are moving around. You are not at your final home. A tent is not the best place to live in. It can be uncomfortable. Also, it can be destroyed by wind or fire.

Paul’s point is that our bodies are like tents. Our bodies are not permanent. They are not very strong. They are soon “dismantled” (verse 1).

6.4 Our home is waiting for us←⤒🔗

In the same verse (verse 1), Paul says something wonderful: “we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens.”

Think carefully about these words. Paul does not say that we will have an eternal house. He says that we have an eternal house. It is already ours! It is waiting for us. When our tent (our body) is destroyed, that is where we will be.

Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham “was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” This sounds much like verse 1 of our passage. Our home in heaven is a “building from God…not built by human hands.” Because it is built by God, it is strong. It will never be destroyed.

We cannot see this home yet. But just like our father Abraham, “we live by faith, not by sight” (verse 7 of our passage).

6.5 We must long for our eternal home←⤒🔗

Even Christians can feel too much at home in this world. We can enjoy this world so much that we forget about our home in heaven. Our bodies can become so important to us that we forget they are only tents.

But Paul was someone who suffered a lot. His sufferings made him long for heaven. God can also bring suffering into your life, to teach you that this world is not your permanent home.

God wants his children to “groan” with longing for heaven (verse 2). To groan means to make a deep sound of pain. It must be painful for you to think that you are not in heaven yet. You must feel pain because of your sins. You must feel pain because of all the sin and suffering in this world.

Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matthew 5:4, 6). Heaven is the place where we will be comforted and satisified.

Verses 2–4 of our passage says the same thing, only in a different way. Here Paul explains that believers will be “clothed” in heaven. In this world we are clothed with weak bodies. But when we die, God will clothe us with our heavenly home. We will be comforted and satisfied.

6.6 The Holy Spirit is the down payment←⤒🔗

In verse 5 of our passage, we read that the Holy Spirit is the “down payment” that God has given us. A down payment is the first payment of a big sum of money. When you receive a down payment, you can be sure that the rest of the money is coming. And even while you wait for the full sum of money, you can already begin to enjoy some of it.

We can say that heaven is the “full payment” that God has promised us. While we wait for this full payment, we have God’s “down payment,” his Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit we can be sure of God’s promise of heaven. And through the Spirit we can already experience the love, joy, and peace of heaven (Galatians 5:22). That is why we can be “always full of courage” (verse 6 of our passage).

Furthermore, through the Spirit we can already begin to live the life of heaven. What does the life of heaven look like? It is a life of service to God. Paul says that he has one ambition (goal) in his life. It does not matter if he is still in this world or if he is in heaven. His ambition is always to please God (verse 9). That is the ambition of every Christian who longs for heaven.

Why do we love our brothers and sisters? Why do we share our things with the poor? Why do we encourage others? Why do we give our best at work? Because these good works come from the Spirit. They are part of the life of heaven!