Theme: God Guarantees You a Home
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 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. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at
home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by
sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body
and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our
aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the
body, whether good or evil. (ESV)
One of the joys I’ve experienced as a
parent is getting to read kids’ books that I never read as a child. I’m
thinking primarily of books that have been around for a long time, at least
since when I was a kid, but ones that I never came into contact with. One of
those book is The Sneetches by Dr. Suess. When I was a kid I was
familiar with many of Dr. Suess’ books, as I’m sure you were. But, until we
rented if from the public library, I had never heard of The Sneetches
before. Perhaps this book is new to you as well.
If you’ve never read the story, it’s a
quick read, but I won’t delve into the details here. Essentially, it’s a story
about differences on the outside are not all that important. What matters is
who we really are on the inside. The sneetches had their petty differences
based on how they looked, and those jealousies allowed them to be manipulated.
A con-artist took advantage of them by playing both sides of their disagreement
and ended up swindling them out of all their money. He catered to their desires
and guaranteed that he could make them better than the others, only to turn to
the other side with the very same promise.
In the end, the sneetches learned from
the mess and ended their rivalry, but only after they had lost all their money
to this supposed guarantee. When all was said and done, the only guarantee was
that they would lose their money. The con-artist’s tricks never changed
anything, only the sneetches could make the changes that were needed.
What the sneetches really wanted was a
home. Those who were outcasts wanted to be accepted. Today in our text, God
guarantees you a home with Him, something we all desperately long for. This is
a home that can unite us despite our differences. But, is this promise simply
superficial, nothing more than a great hoax and con? Of course not, and it’s
the resurrection of God’s own Son that proves the point. Through that
resurrection, the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of a home in heaven.
Having a home is absolutely a blessing
from the Lord. But, the attraction can become a bit romanticized in our
society. Our culture is full of clichés about home:
·
Home is where the heart is
·
Home sweet home
·
There’s no place like home
The kid’s story of
the sneetches is treasured because is plays off our desire for home and
community. We saw this connection to Church a couple of weeks ago when we
considered the blessing of being part of the “apostles and prophets, with Jesus
Christ as the Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20).” We belong to Him and that
includes a sense of community.
The words of our text, although
magnificent in their own right, are not fanciful. We are also confronted with
harsh realities:
·
Our lives are like a tent, fragile and temporary.
·
We groan earnestly for something better.
·
Life has its burdens, the heaviest being our own mortality.
These are not images from a children’s
book; more like a horror movie. These phrases capture the vivid nature of a
life of sin. Sin is not only foolish, it is dangerous. James described it by
saying, James 1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his
own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
We face a much more critical issue than
the sneetches did. We are up against sin. But, like them, we long for certainty
and hope. Who will be our guarantee? Verse 5 tells us that God
gives us the Holy Spirit. But the bigger question is, how trustworthy is the
Spirit as our guarantee? The difficulty we now have is that we know what
God has promised us, but we don’t quite have it yet. We are asked by God to
trust, to have faith. We really have to commit all things to God. As much as we
do know about truth and salvation, we don’t know it all, not even close. The
Spirit’s trustworthiness is brought out in other portions of the Word.
Earlier in 2 Corinthians Paul wrote, For
all the promises of God in Him (Christ) are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory
of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has
anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our
hearts as a guarantee.
God wants us to see possibility through
His Son. He phrases that as the answer “Yes” to our deepest unknowns. Life,
salvation, eternity, and the like, are all possible through Jesus, even though
we don’t always fully understand how that could be the case. And that’s why God
says, The Holy Spirit is your guarantee. God knows how hard it is to trust by
faith and so He helps you with that struggle by giving you a sure guarantee.
The Holy Spirit is our confidence until we get to heaven and fully realize
God’s promises. The answer is “Yes” today through Jesus but God also keeps us
strong while we wait.
A similar thing was written to the
Ephesians, In Him (Jesus) you also trusted, after you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory
(Eph. 1:13-14).
These verses really help us understand
the Biblical meaning of a guarantee. In a way, a guarantee is the counterpart
to redemption. To redeem something is to make the purchase for it. We know,
dearly, that Jesus is our Redeemer, having purchased life for us at the cross,
by His blood. The guarantee is the down payment made on the purchase. Let’s
understand this appropriately, because God writes about these things from our
perspective. We should absolutely trust that Christ’s payment for sin was fully
paid on the cross. But, again, the difficulty for the waiting Christian is that
we still wrestle with sin today, and furthermore we are waiting for God’s final
promise of coming again to come true.
In the midst of that struggle, God says
that the Holy Spirit is the one who makes the down payment on our redemption.
He doesn’t do this because something still needs to be paid. That’s not the
point. He does it because the Spirit stands in for the promise of Christ while
we wait for Christ to return. The Holy Spirit’s work is God’s proof that He
keeps His Word, that we are definitely forgiven in Christ. He literally becomes
our down payment on redemption; a debt that has already been paid in full, but
something we are likely to doubt as we live in a sin-filled world.
This is a great comfort. As Paul writes,
we take great courage at this fact. But, there are two things that make it
difficult to keep this trust and courage alive.
1) God operates by faith – this
means that some (or most) of the things God does defy our understanding. Our
relationship with Him cannot exist if we can’t trust these unknowns. As the
writer to the Hebrews defines, Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. When something is defined like that, it
will naturally be difficult for Christians to follow and accept.
2) What we experience in life seems
contrary to what God promises – We talked about this already in the
difference of what God says about redemption and how we perceive it in life.
God says we are fully forgiven, but life seems to operate as if we are
continually helpless against sin and temptation. Paul gets even more serious
about this matter when he talks about the difference between death and
immortality. To the believer, we are not overcome by the prospect of death
because that means we can be present with the Lord. This doesn’t make any sense
according to our experiences in life. None of us have tasted perfection or
eternity yet. We are continually tempted to disown this promise in Christ. God
asks us to wait for something that we have never experienced before and that
seems impossible according to what we’re used to.
And yet Paul says, in the face of this
struggle between promise and perception, we take courage. This is summarized in
the famous phrase, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” This is the simple,
yet reason-defying (unbelievable, profound) truth that separates believers and
unbelievers.
It’s kind of like the Sneetches. A simple
children’s story, but a lesson with deep implications for all people. And, like
that story, it’s ultimately about finding a home. Our home is in heaven with
God. We may be comfortable to some degree here on earth, but even the greatest
joys we have here cannot compare with the plan God has had for us from
eternity. We once ruined that dream by our sins. It was dead, defeated, and
destroyed. God’s plan for His creation was de-railed.
But hope was sealed, guaranteed, in the
smallest of promises. That promise was kept alive through the harsh ages of
history, across time and nations, wars and peace, morality and wickedness. God
preserved it at all costs – the down payment guarantee was hard at work. And
that promise was delivered in the smallest of gifts, a new-born Child. Today,
we remember when that glorified Child, God’s own Son, Jesus, returned home to
heaven. He ascended to rule on our behalf, to intercede as our perfect
substitute. He is forevermore our “Yes” when we ask ourselves if God wants us
in heaven.
So continue your walk this day and
always, by faith and not by sight. Believe me, God knows how hard it is. He
knows what you go through, the struggles you face, and the even the evil you
commit. He knew you would have these problems and so He gave you a guarantee –
Himself, His won Spirit to assure you along the way. His voice today is through
His Word, and by that Word you will make it home. It’s guaranteed. Amen.
The peace of God which surpasses all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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