The Good News

This week in my 2 Corinthians class, we went over 2 Corinthians 5. The beginning of the chapter is a passage that Paul writes to the believers in Corinth about his (and their) eager anticipation of the redemption of creation.

2 Corinthians 5:1-6

Our Heavenly Dwelling

¹For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God,²For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. ⁴For 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. ⁵He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

⁶So we are always of good courage..

I have always just skimmed over this passage, giving it a mere nod of agreement without fully understanding the beautiful truth it is conveying. In this passage, Paul (after speaking about suffering in the earlier parts of the book) gives us the picture of our hope and comfort, which he has promised in the midst of suffering.

Our Hope is this:
A confident expectation of the future: a time when we will no longer groan in our fallen world, but a time when all of creation will be 'swallowed up by life,' redeemed to be in a perfect state, a lovely glorification that will be perfection.

Our groaning however is not to be unclothed, but further clothed. Know that not that every single aspect of humanity is going to be destroyed, for we bear the image and proclaim the glory of God, even in our fallen state. We groan rather that we would be 'brought up' from this 'level of imperfection' to a place where the glory of God cleans and perfects every aspect of this life into something magnificent, something so far and lovely that it cannot be defined by words.

This anticipation is often tainted however by a common idea that heaven will be a far-off mystical place where nothing familiar exists. The beauty of our anticipation however is that our hope lays in the redemption of this earth as it is going to be a perfect and glorified version of what we know here. As one of my professors said, God is going to undo what Adam did... restoring creation to what He deems "good." (Gen 1)

In chapter 4 of II Corinthians, Paul talks about our anticipation for this in light of the resurrection of Christ. As we have died with Christ, and know full well the wonders of the cross, the joy and the glory comes in the resurrection, a glorification after the defeat of death. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we can in confidence (as guaranteed by the Spirit within us) that we will be raised into his presence (II Corinthians 5:5).

It is this future glory that we find our comfort. This is why we do not lose heart!

We do not endure and enjoy suffering for the sake of suffering alone, but just as Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him, we likewise endure suffering for the joy of the future glory that we have yet to experience. Keep your eyes on the delight that is coming, and know that the pain you endure here is meant to not only strengthen you, but increase your anticipation for glory! As your groaning increases, let your joy likewise increase for the day when your groaning will come to an end, and the delightful glory of the new earth and new heaven will swallow up all that is here.

Take comfort... we have hope, we have good news =) Groan with hope then, and find this hope to be your comfort in the midst of your groaning.