A House Not Made with Hands

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this we groan, 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.”  II Corinthians 5:1-3

In Chapter 4, the Apostle Paul emphasized that we humans can’t dwell on our troubles but should keep our focus on eternity.  He continued that theme in Chapter 5 as he expounded on the reason for the patience and the determination that he had to continue preaching regardless of the circumstances, roadblocks, and afflictions that he suffered as well as the need for all those who followed Christ to keep on keeping on.  The reason to persevere was the future of enjoying their heavenly home.  I stop here to ask believers, “What is your alternative?  Would you desire to go back to your old life before you became a believer?”  The Hebrew people, when faced with hardship, desired to return to Egypt because of the better food that was available (Numbers 11:5).  God had provided food for them in their journey, but they were tired of the same old thing and were willing to go back under slavery rather than continue on to the promised land.  Sometimes we have to forfeit something to gain something better in the future.  For the believers in Paul’s day, they had to suffer persecution and ridicule because they followed Christ, but a wonderful reward was coming.

Paul referred to the physical body as a “tabernacle” made from the dust of the ground.  When God created Adam, He made him from the earth’s soil and breathed into him the breath of life which gave man a soul, the thinking, reasoning, and emotional part of man (Genesis 2:7).  The body, made of dust, cannot sustain itself forever.  On the other hand, the soul is eternal because it came from the breath of God.  In the Old Testament, a tabernacle was a temporary temple which could be moved from place to place as the Hebrew people traveled to the promised land.  It was never meant to be a permanent fixture which housed the Spirit of God, just as our earthly bodies of clay were never meant to house our souls forever.  Our bodies eventually wear out, and we pass away–“…for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19), but the soul will live on because it came from God directly and not through a substance which God created.

Everything God made, except the soul, was never intended to last forever.  Since God will never die, our souls will never die.  The soul will live on in one of two places–heaven or hell.  Paul was confident that he and all those who received Christ as Lord and Savior will live on throughout eternity in heaven with Christ in a home that God built which can never be destroyed.  When believers are resurrected, they will be given new, eternal bodies which will never die.  I realize that these facts are well known to those who have trusted Christ and are committed to Him, but it is nice to be reminded of the promise that God has given to us especially in times of trouble and hardship.

Paul described the longing for our new heavenly, pain free, and perfect bodies as a “groaning”, a deep longing and desire to be free of the pain, hardships, handicaps, and suffering that physical, earthly bodies endure.  We become weary of the limitations placed upon our bodies as we grow older.  There are many things that we could do when we were younger, but as we age, a greater effort or an abandonment of those things is required.  That stinks.  It is difficult to give up what one once had no problem doing, but now has to depend on someone else.  In speaking to Peter, Jesus warned him that now he had the strength and capacity to do as he wished, but one day he would be old and have to depend on others who wouldn’t do as he liked, but rather as they liked (John 21:18).

Paul wrote that the souls of believers will be clothed so as not to be found naked.  I have often wondered as to what sort of bodies that believers have who have passed over into heaven.  Scripture doesn’t describe what type of body that a soul receives at the moment of death when he or she enters heaven.  Scripture does tell us that when Jesus returns for His church, and all believers are resurrected, we will receive a new, permanent, never to die again, body, one that can live on earth or heaven.  The souls that He brings with Him will receive this new body as well as those who are still alive (I Thessalonians 4:13-17).  We will all be changed in the “twinkling of an eye” (I Corinthians 15:52).  We will be immortal.  I have tried to picture what we call the rapture in my mind’s eye, but I am sure it will be more glorious than I can ever imagine.

God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for the sins of men and women.  No one will be resurrected to eternal life unless he or she has come by grace through faith in Jesus (John 14:6).  Those who attempt to come any other way will find that God has no obligation to resurrect them to eternal life.  I don’t know why so many people have so much trouble in believing the gospel.  I am just glad that God gave me the ability to believe it, and I received it.  Thank You, Lord.