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.
My job required heavy lifting for many years, 15 of them in the soda business. I would see old-timers in soda companies and they all said that it would get me. It got me. As I get older, these verses from Paul become more and more relevant. The groans are quite audible now. That is why, as we get older, this promise of a new body is so glorious. How much harder it would be to endure these times if it were not for the eternal body that awaits us!
There are so many that operate under the discouraging motto, “When you’re dead, you’re dead.” It must be hard for them to get out of bed in the morning to go back on the treadmill of life with no obvious destination. I ride my bike a lot because I get somewhere while exercising. A stationary bike has no charm for me. To those of you who feel like you are wasting energy in drudgery and hopelessness, getting nowhere, these verses are for you. The Corinthians were focused on this old thing when their eyes should have been on the life to come. In that tent…
We will rejoice!
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church