majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5,
"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have
a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human
hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly
dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For
while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do
not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who
has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a
deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
God knows how we feel about our impending physical death. We all face
sickness and death. God never created us to die, but he had warned
Adam that if he sinned he would die. An essential nature of God is his
sense of justice and justice demands payment for sin. As Paul says in
Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." Adam sinned, nonetheless,
and now all who descend from Adam die. Sickness, pain, infirmities,
all physical ailments are due to mankind's turn from God, from
mankind's "fall" in the garden of Eden. Although we are offered
forgiveness of sin and eternal life through the punishment Jesus
Christ took on our behalf, physical death is not removed from us in
this life. We still get sick and die. It will be in the resurrection
that sickness, pain and death will vanquished. I possess eternal life
today, but I still get sick and one day I will die. We all will,
except for those fortunate enough to be still alive when the Lord
returns to planet earth. We read of it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Until the Lord comes, we all die. Paul speaks of the salvation of our
bodies as a future event, in the resurrection, Romans 8:22-25. There
he says, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the
pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we
ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as
we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no
hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for
what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
Although God's justice will be satisfied, he cares for us out of his
wonderful love for us and knows of our anxiety of the unknown and the
abrupt end of what we know in this life. We read the comforting words
in Psalm 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of
his saints." And, for those of us who have embraced him in faith, he
has provided us a down payment on our life in the resurrection through
the indwelling Holy Spirit, "God... has given us the Spirit as a
deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." I find this wonderful and I
find it comforting. All believers have a wonderful future to look
forward to in the resurrection and have the comfort of the presence of
the Holy Spirit in our lives today to reassure us! How like our God to
care for us in this way!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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