◄ What Does 2 Corinthians 5:3 Mean? ►

Because there are many anomalies in the Christian faith, Paul often sets out the truth of our great salvation and the glory that is ours in Christ, in a very systematic way. For instance, he points out that the suffering we undergo for Christ's sake, brings with it great reward and equips us for the ministry of comfort, in that when we are weak in ourselves we are strong in the Lord, but when we are proud of our self-sufficiency, we will suffer a tremendous fall.

Paul also uses many metaphors and similes in his teaching, and in this section he shows how things that appear permanent in this world are passing and will fade away, while spiritual things which are unseen and indefinable are secure, permanent, and everlasting. 

In this chapter, Paul moves from comparing the distresses of Christian suffering with the joys of our future glory in heaven. He contrasts our earthly body with the new heavenly body, which will one day replace this old dying frame. He points out that he would prefer to put off his mortal body to die and go to be with Jesus, rather than keep on living in this fallen world and a dying body.

He wanted to show that death is not the end of life but the start of a glorious and eternal future AND that this body of ours is nothing more than a temporary lodging place. He likened our mortal frame to an old, deteriorating tent that can be taken down at the end of our life-journey; a temporary covering for the soul on our brief journey through life. He explained that one day this mortal body will be discarded, at the point of death, in preparation for a new eternal body, where we will receive a permanent and immortal body. As believers, we have a promise from God that we will one day receive an incorruptible body; a new dwelling place, a body like Christ's resurrected body, a body of flesh and bone.

He wanted us to know that in the eternal ages to come we would not be a spirit without a body. We will not become an unclothed, disembodied spirit, with no physical covering. As part of the new creation in Christ, we will one day be given a new body; a permanent, immortal body that will never die and one which will be like Christ's glorified body. We will one day have a new covering: "A building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, a body not made with hands."

When God created the world, he built man's earthly body from the dust of the earth. Adam was the federal head of the first creation; the old creation in Adam. But by faith in Christ, we are born into the new creation with Jesus as the Federal Head. When man disobeyed God, sin entered the world. The first creation was cursed and death was the result of sin. And death places its icy fingers around the throat of every human being, as a result of Adam's fall.

Because of sin and death, we groan in this body and desire to put on our new, heavenly dwelling place. Because of our mortality, this earthly body will one day be destroyed and return to dust. Because of sin and death, we have many physical limitations. We get sick and become disabled. We have problems with joints and organs that become painful, malfunction, and eventually expire and die. 

Because of sin and death, we do not want to be unclothed and naked. We want to be clothed in our new, eternal, bodies so that mortality may be swallowed up by immortality and death may be enveloped by life. The encouraging truth in verse 3, is that having been born again into the family of God by faith in Christ, we have an assurance that when we pass from this life into the next, we will be given a new, glorified state. We will be housed in a literal body. What a tremendous hope. Praise His holy name.

Heavenly Father, thank You that in Christ we have an assurance that we are not only forgiven of our sin and have received the gift of eternal life by faith, but are part of the new creation in Christ and have passed from death to life. Thank You that in Him we will not be found naked, but have received an inheritance in heaven and will soon be clothed with a new, eternal body, that far surpasses this frail, dying frame. Thank You for sending Jesus to be the propitiation for my sin and thank You that by His death and Resurrection, sin and death have been defeated. I praise You for the wonderful assurance that my body will also be resurrected and I will be complete and blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; spirit, soul, and body. Hallelujah! Praise His holy name, AMEN.