2 Corinthians 5:1–21 (NKJV)
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. 12 For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Adam and Eve, created completely “good” by God, walked with God in perfect communion. After the fall into sin, they were ashamed to be found naked creation and hid from Him. Their own works-righteous clothing of fig leaves could not conceal their guilt. Thankfully, God gave His promise that His Son would crush the Serpent’s head. With that, guaranteeing what was to come, He clothed them by the sacrificed blood-shed skins of an animal (Gen. 3:21), foretelling the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
As long as we live in this sin-stained human-nature, we groan and are burdened. Though we have been brought to believe in Jesus Christ and live by faith in God’s Son, we are not free from this body of sin. “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (Rom. 7:18). By God’s grace, Christians are constantly fighting against the desires of our sinful nature. We live by faith, not by sight. We die to sin and rise again to new life through faith in Christ. We receive the (Pastoral) Ministry of reconciliation and the minister (pastor), as Christ’s ambassador, sent to reconcile us to God through the message of Jesus Christ.
Through the resurrection of the dead, we will be freed from the battles of this world. We will be “clothed with our heavenly dwelling” (2 Cor. 5:4). God’s deposit will reach fulfillment when we appear before Christ’s judgment seat, dressed in Christ’s white robes of forgiveness. The old has gone, the new has come. And the alleluias ring forth for eternity!
Let us pray: Lord, grant to Your faithful people pardon and peace that they may be cleansed from all their sins and serve You with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
