2 Corinthians 5: Living for Tomorrow, Starting Today

Introduction

“At the risk of dropping in your esteem, I have to confess that camping, especially in a tent, is not my cup of tea.” That is how the preacher of the Église Évangélique Baptiste de Paris-Centre opens this message from his series on Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. Between a night in a tent and a night within four walls in a real bed, the choice is quickly made.

The apostle Paul, for his part, was a tentmaker. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, he uses the very contrast between a tent and a solid house to change the way we look at our present and our future.

The preacher reflects on this passage through three words that all begin with the same letter in French: waiting, down payment and ambition. Three words to learn, starting today, how to live for tomorrow.

Message Outline

1. A Fragile Tent and an Eternal House

In Paul's day, tents were used in military camps, by travelers who walked long distances, and probably in some modest dwellings. A tent is useful, but it is light, temporary and vulnerable.
At the end of chapter 4, Paul compared the light affliction of the present moment with the eternal weight of glory to come, the visible things that last only a time with the invisible things that are eternal.
At the beginning of chapter 5, he continues along the same lines. If this perishable body, this tent, is destroyed, in other words if I die, another dwelling awaits me: a building from God, an eternal house that is not made with hands.
The exact meaning of this dwelling is debated, but for the preacher, Paul is speaking here of the new, imperishable body we will receive in eternal life. He speaks of it in almost the same terms in Romans 8:22-23: the whole creation groans, and we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan as we wait for the redemption of our body.

2. Waiting: We Groan in This Tent

Paul writes in verse 2 that we groan in this tent, and he repeats it in verse 4. If you often find life hard, frustrating or disappointing, the apostle seems to be telling you that this is normal.
This should not surprise us if we keep in mind God's verdict on the human condition after sin entered the world: the ground is cursed, it is by painful toil that you will eat its produce, and you will return to the dust (Genesis 3:17-19). Life is hard, and that includes the Christian life.
Some Corinthians criticized Paul for not being impressive enough: “Paul, you are too fragile. We want strong leaders.” Paul owns his frailty and reminds us that we are all fragile in our present condition. But Christians live their frailty differently, because they are waiting for the day when it will lead into life in all its strength.
The groans in the text have two sides. In verse 2, they express a longing, an ardent desire, like a child who sighs, “Dad, I can't wait, I can't wait!” In verse 4, they express a trial: we groan, weighed down. Waiting is both enthusiasm and pain.
We long for the day when we will see the Lord face to face, when death will be destroyed forever, when he will wipe every tear from our eyes. In the meantime, we live in a fragile world, with a fragile body, in fragile circumstances and relationships.

3. A Hope of Resurrection, Not a Disembodied Eternity

“Not that we desire to be unclothed, but clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life” (verse 4). The Christian hope is not to live a disembodied, purely spiritual eternity.
Speaking of “going to heaven” after death is not wrong in itself, as long as we understand that heaven first of all represents God's presence. But this language can mislead us. Our hope is the resurrection, a new body, a new earth, a new reality.
In his book The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis describes a world to come where, at first, walking on the grass hurts, because it is so solid. It is an image from fiction, but a telling one: the world to come will not be less concrete than the present world, it will be far more so. Everything there will be more solid, more intense.
Why do we struggle to think this way, even as Christians? Because the consumer society fills our whole horizon. “We no longer really thirst for the living water God offers, because we spend our time drinking the sodas the world offers us.” Career, leisure, possessions, relative comfort: not necessarily bad things, but things that will never replace God.
The preacher suggests that we may need to simplify our lives in order to refocus on God and his Word, and to identify what in our lives stands in the way of our hope.
Verse 3 adds a simple clarification. The great majority of human beings will pass through death before receiving this new body. Only the very last generation will be transformed during their lifetime, as Paul also writes to the Thessalonians. In both cases, the destination is the same: the new creation, eternal life, an eternity we are called to prepare for starting today.

4. The Down Payment: God Committed Himself by Giving Us His Spirit

“Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit” (verse 5). This word can also be translated as deposit, earnest money or guarantee.
Many of us have already paid a deposit on a rental. If I put down my money, it is because I am committing myself and have no intention of backing out. By giving us the Holy Spirit, God committed himself to us for this future.
Can we imagine God making a temporary visit and then saying, “No, actually, I'm pulling out”? No. The gift of the Spirit binds us to God with an unbreakable bond.
The Spirit already gives us a foretaste of the reality to come: daily access to God through prayer, whenever and wherever we want; his Word, which gradually transforms us through our encounter with Jesus; and the supernatural bond that unites us with one another in the Church, as we wait to spend eternity together.
“Life by the Holy Spirit is a preparation for eternity.” We already have, in a way, one foot in eternity.

5. Always of Good Courage, Even in the Face of Death

“Being therefore always of good courage” (verse 6). Paul can keep going with courage despite the sufferings of ministry, because he has nothing left to gain or prove: he has already received everything from Christ.
For us too, this is an invitation to persevere in Christian service, whatever form it takes. We do not serve in a void: we are investing in a glorious future that is already secured.
This assurance is also a witness in a context of anxiety and loss of meaning. Do our friends, our colleagues and our loved ones see in us men and women who care about current events but are fundamentally at peace? Being a witness often means “keeping calm”: listening, reflecting, helping, serving, without withdrawing from the world.
Even death, our enemy here below, has been tamed. The worst that can happen to us on the human scale leads us to the best: eternity with God. Paul does not wish for death as such, but he no longer fears it (verses 6 to 8).

6. Ambition: Pleasing the Lord

“What is your ambition in life?” Paul's, in verse 9, is to please the Lord, whether he remains in this body or leaves it. He is not talking about an ambition for ministry, but an ambition that applies to all of us.
If all that concerns us is what we will do with these few decades, we will not be able to live in hope. Paul had written to the Corinthians: “If the dead are not raised, ‘let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32). A less hedonistic version ends up in the same place: life is short, so let's optimize. “YOLO,” as some say.
If the horizon of my life is not death but eternity with God, then I have time. Time to be changed, to center my life not on experiences to maximize, but on a relationship with God forever.
If you spend 48 hours in Rome for the first time, you fill your schedule: monuments, museums, churches, pasta. If you move to Rome for several decades, you take the time to learn the language and the culture, and you let yourself be changed. Our ambition is to learn, little by little, to become like Jesus, because life with Jesus is our future.

7. Standing Before the Judgment Seat of Christ

“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (verse 10). Paul is not calling salvation by grace into question: he has just said that God gave us his Spirit as a guarantee.
He reminds us of a biblical truth: human beings are accountable to God. God's forgiveness, total and final, does not cancel our responsibility for the way we live. The preacher adds, in passing, that this can help us forgive those who have hurt us: they will have to answer for their actions before God.
Paul gives a few clues in his first letter (1 Corinthians 3:13-15): each person's work will be revealed and tested by fire. He distinguishes the salvation of the person from the evaluation of their works.
If we enter this courtroom covered by the righteousness of Christ, who paid the price for our sins on the cross, we can stand there “not with terror, but with full confidence,” a confidence not in ourselves but in his work. Woe to us if we want to stand before the thrice-holy God armed with our own righteousness.
The preacher speaks to those who have been circling around Jesus for a long time: the moment has come for a real encounter with him through faith. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Key Takeaways

Our body is a fragile tent, but an eternal dwelling awaits us: a new body, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Christian waiting is both ardent longing and trial. Our groans express our frailty and our hope.
The Holy Spirit is God's down payment: through him, God has committed himself to us and already gives us a foretaste of eternity.
Our ambition is not to maximize our experiences, but to please the Lord and learn to become like Jesus.
We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we can stand there with confidence, covered by his righteousness.

Personal Application

What thing or area of your life ties you too much to the present and stands in the way of your hope?
Do your groans look more like weariness or like the ardent desire to see the Lord face to face?
How are you cultivating, this week, the foretaste of eternity the Spirit gives you: prayer, the Word, fellowship with other believers?
Do your loved ones and colleagues see in you a peace that does not depend on the news?
Are you living like someone who spends 48 hours in Rome, or like someone who moves there and lets themselves be changed?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the tent and the house represent in 2 Corinthians 5?

The tent, light, temporary and fragile, represents our present body, which is destined to be destroyed. The eternal house, not made with hands, refers to the new, imperishable body that God is preparing for those who are in Christ, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Why does the apostle Paul call the Holy Spirit a down payment?

Like a deposit or security payment made on a home, a down payment commits the one who gives it. By giving us his Spirit, God commits himself to us for the future. The Spirit binds us to him with an unbreakable bond and already gives us a foretaste of eternity: prayer, the Word and fellowship with other believers.

Does the judgment seat of Christ call salvation by grace into question?

No. The preacher reminds us that God's forgiveness is total and final, but that it does not cancel our responsibility. Paul distinguishes the salvation of the person from the evaluation of their works. Covered by the righteousness of Christ, we can stand before this judgment seat not with terror, but with full confidence in his work.