“For we KNOW that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved (if and when our bodies return to the dust), we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1).
( The one word that stuck out in my mind from that verse was the word “know.” Paul did not say “we believe,” or “we think,” or “we hope.” He said, “we KNOW” that we have a God-made eternal body awaiting us when we are resurrected even if that resurrection does not occur until long after this physical body has totally dissolved into a handful of atoms. He continues, “For in this (present physical body) we groan (experiencing the pains of aging), earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked (of immortality)” (verses 2 and 3).
That IS the fate of the unredeemed, you know. When they are resurrected they will quickly discover that they are still mere human beings – subject to the second death. That is why, if cast into the fires of hell, they cannot suffer eternally. They will be burned up, reduced to ash, as if they had never ever existed. But, since God requires a judgment of “life for life,” a serial killer will be resurrected not just once and consumed in the flames, but revived again and again in order to pay with his life for each life he has taken. Only upon paying the utmost in satisfaction of divine judgment will he then die never to be resurrected again. A Hitler’s hell will be of much longer duration than that of a mere Christ rejecter for those who are responsible for the deaths of millions will have to die a million times themselves.
Paul continues in this 5th chapter of 2 Corinthians, saying, “For we that are in this (physical) tabernacle do groan, being burdened (with pain, physical disabilities, sickness, etc.), not for that we would be unclothed (not that we therefore have a death wish wanting an end to our physical life with its pains and sufferings), but clothed upon (with immortality), that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (verse 4).
But it is the next verse that really gripped my mind: “Now He that has wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also has given unto us the earnest of the Spirit” (verse 5, 2 Corinthians 5). That word “earnest” is from the Greek word for “down payment.” This is why Paul could say we KNOW we have an immortal body awaiting us upon being resurrected. God has already given us the down payment of His Spirit from which that immortal body will be composed. Why is someone confident another is going to give them the $5,000 they are asking for their car? Because that other person already gave them a $1000 down payment! How do I KNOW God is going to resurrect me and clothe me with an immortal spirit body that will endure the ages of the ages? Because He has already given me the down payment of His powerful Holy Spirit, a Spirit that enables me to put off the old former self and now live a righteous godly life, able to say no to whatever once addicted me or caused me to sin.
These are the thoughts that gripped my mind and thinking throughout the day today. I had to pause and take a break and turn in my New Testament to 2 Corinthians and read again the glorious future that awaits all true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” The sting of death is removed in Jesus Christ and the grave, the sea, or the cremation urn cannot hold your remains forever as there WILL come the hour when our Lord will say to us what He said to Lazarus many years ago. As with Lazarus, we will hear the shout, “Come forth!” and we will come out of death into life eternal. Praise be to God.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley