Earthly versus Heavenly

I. Introduction
 A. 2Corinthians 5:1–5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
 B. We have been spending one week per verse on some wonderful verses. Now we come to a five verse paragraph that can’t be so easily divided. We will spend two weeks on it: the first half and the second half, though we will read the whole thing each week.
 C. In this passage Paul talks about our bodies. He talks about our present bodies and our future bodies and about a time when we have no bodies.
 D. There is not an immense amount of information in the Bible about these things (God is not all about satisfying our curiosity), but there is plenty to help us to joyfully yearn for the fulfillment of the promises of God.
 E. This passage says three important things about us:
II. We have a tent which is our earthly home, a tent which will one day be destroyed.
 A. 5:1 "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
 B. What is Paul talking about? He is talking about our bodies, our present, earthly bodies and our eternal heavenly bodies.
  1. Here Paul calls our present mortal body an "the tent that is our earthly home" which will eventually be "destroyed." 
  2. The reason some Bibles translate this “torn down” instead of destroyed is because it is sometimes used to refer to taking down a tent.
 C. This is what Paul means when he calls the body a tent. It is a place where we dwell, but not permanently. It is not a structure made to last. It is a tent: a temporary dwelling.
 D. One day our bodies will be destroyed. These tents will be torn down. The one who trusts in Christ doesn’t need to be afraid of this.
 E. Those without Christ have nothing to live for – except what they see in this world. So, the things of this world are all-important to them. And death scares them.
 F. But the Christian knows that this world is not our home: we’re just passing through.
 G. But as Christians we do not conform to the thinking of this world and treat our bodies as the end-all of our existence. They will ache, they will age, they will weaken, they will decay. But that’s OK. They’re just temporary dwellings. The permanent fixtures are on order. They will be coming soon enough: "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
 H. Life is more than food and drink. Life is more than creature comforts. Life is more than good health.
 I. Of course, we should take good care of these temporary vessels so that they can be useful in the Lord’s work. But we do not live for our bodies. We do not let our bodies rule us. (1Cor.6:20; 9:27)
III. We have another home, this one not a tent but a building made without human hands, in which we will dwell for all eternity.
 A. 5:1 "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
 B. Once these bodily tents (our earthly bodies) are torn down (at death), then God will give us new bodies, made by Him, bodies which will last forever in the heavenly places.
 C. This is our answer to all of our aging and weakening and decaying: "I’m getting a new house soon and it’s guaranteed to last. Its beauty and its strength and its intellect will never fade."
 D. Paul, of course, is talking here about the judgment day, the day of Christ’s return, the great day of resurrection, when each soul separated by death will be reunited with his body, resurrected like Christ’s body: "We eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has." (Phil.3:20-21) (See also John 5:28-29.)
 E. On that day, not only will we “see Him face to face” 1Cor.13:12, but we will be made like Christ!
   a. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 1John 3:2
   b. How will we be like Him?
    (1) We will never be like Him in His deity.
    (2) We are already like Him in His humanity.
    (3) Our bodies will be like Him – “He will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” Phil.3:21
    (4) Is this all? I don’t think so. We’ll be like Him on the inside. We’ll be like Him in purity, glory, joy, love.
IV. We long for our new home.
 A. 5:2 "For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling."
 B. For while we’re in these earthly bodies we groan. We feel our weakness, we feel our weariness, we feel pain, our memory fades.
 C. Some feel it when they’re young. Everyone feels it when they are old.
 D. But it’s not just moaning and groaning. It’s also yearning. We are yearning to put on our heavenly bodies. For the Christian, our discomfort now is combined with a longing for something much better which we know is coming.
 E. And this is much, much more than just an end to pain. According to the Bible, our Christian hope is based not in merely dying and going to heaven, but in Christ’s return and final triumph and remaking of creation, including being reunited with our bodies in their new resurrected form.
  1. Even though believers who have died are with Jesus, they are still without their new resurrection bodies, and God’s curse upon the world has not been rolled back yet.
  2. It is when we are reunited with our bodies in glory that we will reach the final destination of our hope.
 F. What’s so good about “our heavenly dwelling” that we should long for it?
  1. This new body will be very different than our present one.
  2. The resurrected bodies we shall receive on the last day are far better than these: no pain, no disease, no weakness, no limitations, no disfigurement, no injury, no danger, no confusion.
  3. But it is more than this, much more than this.
  4. Our new bodies will be imperishable. These resurrected bodies are made to last.
   a. They are buildings, not tents;
   b. They are made by God not man;
   c. They are eternal in the heavens, not earthly and destined to be destroyed.. No more aging?
  5. Our bodies will be glorious!
   a. Philippians 3:21 “[Christ] will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
   b. Ours is a lowly body now, but then we will be given a glorious body! Beautiful, magnificent!
    (1) Transfiguration (Matt.17)
    (2) Angels are glorious.
   c. And not only glorious and imperishable, but powerful.
    (1) “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.” 1Corinthians 15:42–43
    (2) I think if we could see our future selves, we would make superheroes look boring.
  6. Paul talks about groaning for our new bodies also in Romans 8:23 “We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
   a. Our adoption
   b. Aren’t we adopted already? Two stages: official and physical
  7. And it’s not just us that’s groaning and longing for our resurrection!
   a. Romans 8:19–22 “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”
 G. If we understood the glory and value of this destiny, we would be willing to do anything to obtain.
  1. Philippians 3:8–11 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
 H. But, unlike Paul, there are two problems we have as American Christians:
  1. Many do not have enough suffering to make them long for a different life.
  2. We have an enormous variety of escapes and pain killers at our disposal to dull the pains of life. And this also prevents us from yearning for the life to come.
  3. One of the reasons God puts sufferings in our lives is to wean us off of earthly pleasures and earthly securities so that we begin to look forward to a world with no tears and no pain and no sin and no fear and no weakness and no
V. Conclusion
 A. Beloved, there are wonderful things up ahead for us who believe. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1Cor.2:9)