Free Bible Commentary
“2 Corinthians 5:1-5”
Categories: 2 Corinthians“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”
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Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” The “outer man” is the “earthen vessel” (2 Corinthians 4:7) and the “earthly tent” or “tabernacle”. When this physical “house” we dwell in is finally “torn down”, we have a “building from God…eternal in the heavens” (verse 1). A “tent” is a flimsy, temporary place for lodging, whereas a “building” is a sound, solid, permanent dwelling place. When Christ returns for His own, God will set us up in the most glorious high-rise you could ever imagine!
Until that day, “we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven” (verse 2). Even though we have already “put on the new self,” created in the “likeness of God” (Ephesians 4:24); we still yearn for the final and complete transformation, when the “perishable shall put on the imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:53). Our groans are sometimes negative and painful as we experience the bumps and bruises of life on planet Earth. And sometimes they are positive and hopeful as we contemplate the beauty and splendor of heaven that awaits us as faithful servants of the Most High God.
As we patiently anticipate that more excellent nature and eternal dwelling, we can rest assured that God’s promises are always steadfast and true. He has given His children “the Spirit as a pledge” (verse 5) until that day. A pledge is an “earnest” or “down payment” until the final transaction takes place. But we can have much more confidence in this pledge than we can in some “earnest money” that might be given in good faith when someone signs a contract to buy a piece of earthly real estate that we own. God has given us His Holy Spirit as a GUARANTEE of an eternal estate that is much more REAL than any earthly dwelling place could ever promise to be.
Our guarantee is this: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.’” (1 Corinthians 15:52-54)
Please read 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
