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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
November 3
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Today's Pathway:
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Paul concluded chapter 4 with the statement that he was not focused on the troubles that surrounded him, but was looking forward to his eternal home. As he opens chapter 5 he teaches about the resurrection body that believers will someday have. The wording here can be difficult to understand, but the principles contained here are precious indeed. The key to understanding these verses is to realize that when Paul speaks of his "house", he is speaking of his body. In verse 1 his "earthly house" would be the body that his soul was dwelling in while on earth. It is interesting to note that Paul also refers to his body as a "tabernacle". When we think of a tabernacle today we normally think of a religious building. But a tabernacle by definition is just a tent. For example,the Feast of Tabernacles was a commemoration of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and since the Israelites lived in tents from the time they left Egypt until they conquered Canaan, the Jews lived in tents during the Feast (Leviticus 23:42-43).
A tent is normally not a permanent structure. Hebrews 11:9 tells us that Abraham was a sojourner in the Promised Land, and because of that he was "dwelling in tabernacles". Tents are temporary, just like our fleshly human bodies are temporary. Tents are designed to be torn down. Paul writes that our earthly tabernacle is going to be dissolved someday. He knew that death was coming, but he also knew that the only thing that was going to be dissolved was the tabernacle itself, not the person in the tabernacle. Death has been defined as "separation". When a man's heart stops beating and he breathes his last breath, his body and soul separate from each other. In just a few verses Paul is going to write,
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (II Corinthians 5:8).
When the believer dies, his earthly body will go into the grave and decompose, but his soul will go to be with the Lord. Death is an enemy (I Corinthians 15:26), but we do not need to fear it (Hebrews 2:14-15), for our death will simply be the release of our soul to be forever with the Lord, and that should encourage and motivate us.
Beginning in the middle of verse 1 Paul explains that we will someday have a new body in glory. He writes that God has prepared a "house", not a tent, for us in Heaven. It is not made with hands, which indicates that it is miraculous and created by the Lord Himself. It is eternal, and will never dissolve. In verse 2 he says that believers groan for this. We groan in our present bodies because of the pains and stress that we encounter on a daily basis, and we desire relief. We are not in a hurry to die, but we do earnestly look forward to the day when those things are gone forever. We want to put on our glorified body. Paul notes in verses 3-4 that we do not desire to go through eternity without a body. He writes that we do not want to be "unclothed". It should be mentioned here that the believer will not receive his glorified body until after the resurrection, which will occur at the rapture (I Thessalonians 4:13-17). Henry Morris wrote this about the "intermediate state" between the believer's death and his resurrection:
"If our earthly house is 'dissolved' before Christ returns, there will be an intermediate period 'with the Lord' in which we shall neither wear our present body nor our future resurrection body. The period between one’s death and resurrection, even though a time of blessed fellowship with the Lord, is compared to a state of nakedness, since the soul is without its body, or 'spiritual clothing', awaiting Christ’s return to earth."
Richard Pratt added,
"Paul likened being without a body after death to the condition of nakedness. Ultimate salvation is not that disembodied souls enjoy eternal bliss in the heavenly realms, but that they are bodily resurrected and inherit the new creation."
Life in our current bodies is difficult. I'm so thankful that we have the promise of a glorified body that will forever be with the Lord.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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