2 Corinthians 5 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00So, in uh 2 Corinthians 5
2. 0:04is where we're at today. So, in 2
3. 0:06Corinthians 4
4. 0:08Paul has been saying that there are
5. 0:10things that are light [music] and
6. 0:12temporary, and there are things that are
7. 0:14weighty and eternal.
8. 0:16And the things that are weighty and
9. 0:18eternal are the changes that God is
10. 0:21working in [music] us through our pain
11. 0:24that is communicating his glory to
12. 0:26others. That's weighty and eternal.
13. 0:28[music]
14. 0:29And the things that are light and
15. 0:30temporary are the afflictions
16. 0:32themselves.
17. 0:33They're like dust in the wind. They're
18. 0:35like feathers in the breeze. But what
19. 0:37settles, what stays, is the glory that
20. 0:40God is bringing through it. And so, he
21. 0:42finishes chapter 4 by saying
22. 0:46that we look not on the things which are
23. 0:49seen,
24. 0:50but at the things [music] which are not
25. 0:52seen. For the things which are seen are
26. 0:55temporal, meaning temporary,
27. 0:57but the things which are not seen are
28. 1:00eternal. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse
29. 1:031.
30. 1:04For we know that if the earthly tent,
31. 1:07which is our house, is torn down,
32. 1:11we have a building from God, a house not
33. 1:14made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
34. 1:18So, right there, we have a contrast
35. 1:21between a tent
36. 1:24and a building.
37. 1:26What is the difference between a tent
38. 1:28and a building? [music]
39. 1:30A tent is made of fabric, and it is
40. 1:32temporary, and it can blow away.
41. 1:35And it can be folded
42. 1:37and stowed away.
43. 1:39But a building, a house, is made of
44. 1:43steel and rock,
45. 1:46and wood, and it has weight, and it
46. 1:49remains.
47. 1:52So, he says, "We know that if the
48. 1:54earthly tent, which is our house, is
49. 1:57torn down, we have a building from God,
50. 2:01a house not made with hands, eternal in
51. 2:04the heavens.
52. 2:05The earthly tent refers to your human
53. 2:08body.
54. 2:10Your visible human body.
55. 2:13And it is torn down
56. 2:15by time,
57. 2:16by affliction, disease,
58. 2:18persecution sometimes.
59. 2:21But it gives way to something that
60. 2:23doesn't get torn down.
61. 2:25And that is a dwelling with God that is
62. 2:27made without hands. So, that's the
63. 2:30earthly life and the eternal [music]
64. 2:32life.
65. 2:34For indeed, in this house of our human
66. 2:37body,
67. 2:39we groan,
68. 2:41longing to be clothed with our dwelling
69. 2:43from heaven.
70. 2:45This is a theme that Paul introduced to
71. 2:48us in Romans 8. He said, "We who have
72. 2:51the first fruits of the Holy Spirit,
73. 2:53even we ourselves, groan within
74. 2:56ourselves, waiting for the redemption of
75. 2:59our bodies."
76. 3:01In that, he told us that just because
77. 3:02you have the spirit doesn't mean you
78. 3:04don't go through things. It doesn't mean
79. 3:06you don't hurt. You groan.
80. 3:08People who have the first fruits of the
81. 3:10spirit groan.
82. 3:11The first fruits of the spirit means
83. 3:13that when you receive the Holy Spirit,
84. 3:16you are receiving the first picking of
85. 3:18eternal life.
86. 3:20The first peaches out of the orchard
87. 3:22is the the one you rejoice over most,
88. 3:25but it's the smallest. You got six
89. 3:27peaches in a bowl and you say, "We've
90. 3:29got peaches. This is so great."
91. 3:32But that's just the first fruits.
92. 3:34There's a whole harvest of eternal life
93. 3:36that is coming
94. 3:38that the outpouring of the spirit just
95. 3:40gives us a taste of. So, the spirit is
96. 3:43our pledge, the spirit is our first
97. 3:46fruits, the spirit is a foretaste of the
98. 3:49eternal life that is coming. But just
99. 3:51cuz we have it doesn't mean we don't
100. 3:53hurt. We groan.
101. 3:55We groan within ourselves.
102. 3:58For and here again he picks up this same
103. 4:00theme. He says, "For indeed, in this
104. 4:03house of our fallen human body." Cuz
105. 4:06your body is not redeemed. Your soul is
106. 4:09redeemed. Your spirit is redeemed. Your
107. 4:11new man is redeemed. But, we are waiting
108. 4:14for the redemption of our bodies. That's
109. 4:16when they won't hurt anymore. That's
110. 4:18when they won't die anymore. That's when
111. 4:20we won't suffer anymore.
112. 4:22For indeed, in this house of our human
113. 4:24body, we groan longing to be clothed
114. 4:28with our dwelling from heaven.
115. 4:32Sickness makes you feel naked.
116. 4:37Disease,
117. 4:38death, makes you feel naked. Like you're
118. 4:41out exposed in the howling winds of a
119. 4:44hostile world.
120. 4:46And we groan. We wish it wasn't this
121. 4:48way.
122. 4:49And we are longing to be clothed with a
123. 4:52house from heaven.
124. 4:54In as much as we, having put it on, will
125. 4:58not be found naked.
126. 5:00Paul is saying, "Only in heaven will we
127. 5:02escape this feeling of vulnerability."
128. 5:07Did a cold come through? Well, you got
129. 5:09it.
130. 5:10Did COVID sweep through? People suffered
131. 5:13from it.
132. 5:14Does cancer come through? You'll get
133. 5:16that, too. Some people will.
134. 5:19That's a nakedness. That's a Why is this
135. 5:21happening?
136. 5:23Why did the disease come to my family?
137. 5:25Why did it hit me?
138. 5:27Well, that's part of living as a
139. 5:29redeemed believer
140. 5:32in a body that is still under the curse.
141. 5:35And that curse will only be put away
142. 5:37with the resurrection.
143. 5:39The final resurrection.
144. 5:41And when we have put on our new bodies,
145. 5:44we will not be found naked.
146. 5:47For indeed, while we are in this tent,
147. 5:50we groan.
148. 5:52He repeats himself.
149. 5:53Being burdened because we do not want to
150. 5:56be unclothed, but to be clothed.
151. 6:00So that what is mortal will be swallowed
152. 6:03up by life.
153. 6:04Be enveloped, embraced by life.
154. 6:08We don't want Mortal means it's going to
155. 6:09die. We don't want this mortality to be
156. 6:13the end of our story.
157. 6:15Now, he who prepared us for this very
158. 6:19purpose is God, who gave to us the
159. 6:21spirit as a pledge. It's the identical
160. 6:26theme that he ministered to the Romans.
161. 6:28You've got the spirit, but you still
162. 6:30groan. Here he is again. He gave us the
163. 6:32spirit as a pledge.
164. 6:35A pledge is when
165. 6:36when God is going to give someone a big
166. 6:38gift, he gives them a small gift as a
167. 6:41reminder and a promise that the big one
168. 6:43is coming.
169. 6:45Does that make sense? It's like if he
170. 6:46wants to give you a library,
171. 6:49he gives you a book as a pledge that the
172. 6:51library is coming.
173. 6:53Well, God has given us the spirit not as
174. 6:55a means to
175. 6:57evacuate us from pain or to rescue us
176. 7:01from all groaning, but as a promise that
177. 7:03something better is coming. It's a
178. 7:05pledge.
179. 7:06Now, he who prepared us for this very
180. 7:08purpose is God, who gave to us the
181. 7:11spirit as a pledge. Therefore,
182. 7:13being always of good courage,
183. 7:16and knowing that while we are at home in
184. 7:18the body, we are absent from the Lord,
185. 7:21for we walk by faith, not by sight, we
186. 7:24are of good courage, I say, and prefer
187. 7:27rather to be absent from the body and to
188. 7:29be at home with the Lord.
189. 7:32So, he's saying as long as we're in this
190. 7:33body, we're not present with the Lord.
191. 7:35We're not in heaven with him.
192. 7:37So, we would almost prefer to be absent
193. 7:40from the body
194. 7:41and at home with him.
195. 7:43Cuz the body is the nakedness. The body
196. 7:45is what's vulnerable.
197. 7:47The body is what gets sick and breaks
198. 7:49legs and fallen down.
199. 7:52Therefore, we also have as our ambition,
200. 7:56whether at home or absent, to be
201. 7:58pleasing to him.
202. 8:00So, just cuz you're living in a tent
203. 8:02doesn't mean you can't be pleasing to
204. 8:03God. You can be of good courage and you
205. 8:06can serve and please the Lord.
206. 8:09For we must all appear before the
207. 8:11judgment seat of Christ so that each one
208. 8:14may be recompensed for his deeds in the
209. 8:17body according to what he has done,
210. 8:20whether good or bad.
211. 8:23Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord,
212. 8:25we persuade men,
213. 8:27but we are made manifest to God, and I
214. 8:30hope and I hope that we are made
215. 8:32manifest also in your consciences. So,
216. 8:36in this, he says,
217. 8:37we're going to be pleasing to God.
218. 8:41We acknowledge that we wish we lived in
219. 8:43a house,
220. 8:45but we live in a tent.
221. 8:47A tent vulnerable to hardship, but in
222. 8:50our hardship, we will not give way and
223. 8:52give the devil what he sought
224. 8:56bring God glory. We will please the
225. 8:58Lord. Now, we know that without faith it
226. 9:01is impossible to please the Lord. So,
227. 9:03faith is the means by which we are
228. 9:05pleasing to him. So, you could say
229. 9:08in our tents, we will not lose faith.
230. 9:11We wait for our houses, but we will not
231. 9:13lose faith.
232. 9:15And then he says, we're all going to
233. 9:16show up before the judgment seat of God,
234. 9:18and we're going to get
235. 9:20our reward
236. 9:22based on what we did in our tent.
237. 9:26We're going to be judged at the judgment
238. 9:28seat of God based on how we acted
239. 9:31in our weakness.
240. 9:34How we acted when we felt naked to
241. 9:37disease or hardship or persecution. How
242. 9:40we behaved, how we kept the faith in the
243. 9:43face of life that didn't go our way.
244. 9:46We don't postpone our faithfulness until
245. 9:49we get into our new house.
246. 9:52We are going to get our new house
247. 9:54after we are recompensed for how we
248. 9:56behaved
249. 9:57in our
250. 9:58tent.
251. 10:00And then he says, "We're going to be
252. 10:02manifest to God."
253. 10:06We are made manifest. That means we are
254. 10:08known. We are revealed. God knows who we
255. 10:12really are.
256. 10:14And then he says, "We also hope that we
257. 10:16are manifested in your conscience. We
258. 10:18hope that you have a heart that can see
259. 10:21what's really going on in our life."
260. 10:23Paul's going through hardship. Paul is
261. 10:25groaning.
262. 10:27And there are people who could interpret
263. 10:28that hardship and persecution
264. 10:31as his failure or God's rejection. He
265. 10:34hopes that that's not how they take it.
266. 10:36If God is all-knowing, how or why does
267. 10:39Paul say that we are made manifest to
268. 10:41God?
269. 10:42If he knows everything about us, what's
270. 10:44being made manifest?
271. 10:46When we are made manifest to God, it
272. 10:48doesn't mean that
273. 10:50we were a certain way, but then God
274. 10:53figured out that we were that way.
275. 10:55It means that we were changed and our
276. 10:58change was evident to God.
277. 11:02So,
278. 11:04when
279. 11:05God tells Abraham to offer his son
280. 11:08Isaac,
281. 11:10it's a test of whether Abraham is going
282. 11:12to trust his own feelings, his own
283. 11:14interpretation, his own affection for
284. 11:17his son, or whether he's going to trust
285. 11:19God as the source of all of that first.
286. 11:22So,
287. 11:24when Abraham
288. 11:25offers up Isaac, of course God stops him
289. 11:29because the point was never to kill the
290. 11:30boy, but to test whether Abraham
291. 11:33allowed Yahweh to remain the source.
292. 11:36So, when he offers up Isaac, what does
293. 11:38the Lord say to Abraham? He says,
294. 11:41"Now I know
295. 11:44that you trust me." I'm paraphrasing,
296. 11:46but now I know
297. 11:48that you trust me and and and will obey
298. 11:50me in this way.
299. 11:52So, does that mean that before Abraham
300. 11:56had that trust, but God didn't know it?
301. 11:59No, it means that before Abraham did not
302. 12:04have the trust. The trust was formed
303. 12:07in his obedience.
304. 12:10The trust was enacted and created in his
305. 12:13obedience.
306. 12:14So, when when we go through something,
307. 12:17we can say
308. 12:18that we will never leave him or forsake
309. 12:20him,
310. 12:21but we don't know that that is true
311. 12:24until we go through a trial that feels
312. 12:26like it's tearing our world apart.
313. 12:28And then when God says, "Now you're
314. 12:30manifest to me,"
315. 12:32it's not that we were righteous and now
316. 12:35he knows it, it's that we hadn't enacted
317. 12:38that trust until we went through the
318. 12:40trial.
319. 12:42And the trial proved what our words had
320. 12:44said before. It created the metal of
321. 12:47character, and as soon as it was in us,
322. 12:50God knew it. It was manifest to him. We
323. 12:52are not again commending ourselves to
324. 12:54you, but are giving you an occasion to
325. 12:58be proud of us.
326. 13:00It's what he said in the earlier
327. 13:01chapters. He wants to be proud of them
328. 13:03and he wants them to be proud of him.
329. 13:06So that you will have an answer for
330. 13:07those who take pride in appearance and
331. 13:11not in heart.
332. 13:13So, there are people who don't have
333. 13:15Paul's persecution. He they don't have
334. 13:18people slandering them and lying about
335. 13:20them.
336. 13:21But he says, "Those people are taking
337. 13:23pride in their appearances. Those are
338. 13:25super apostles.
339. 13:27Those are the big phonies, the
340. 13:29charlatans.
341. 13:30But he says, "We want you to be able to
342. 13:32give an answer to people
343. 13:34who take pride in appearances, when God
344. 13:36wants you to take pride in what he's
345. 13:38doing on the inside, on the heart."
346. 13:41Because that's what's going to stay, and
347. 13:43the appearances are going to blow away.
348. 13:44They are light.
349. 13:48For if we are beside ourselves, it is
350. 13:52for God.
351. 13:53If we are of sound mind, it is for you.
352. 13:57For the love of Christ controls us,
353. 14:00having concluded this, that one died for
354. 14:03all, therefore all died.
355. 14:06And he died for all, so that they who
356. 14:08live
357. 14:10might no longer live for themselves,
358. 14:15but for him who died and rose again on
359. 14:18their behalf.
360. 14:21What is that weighty change that they he
361. 14:23Paul wants them to see in his heart? He
362. 14:26wants them to see that he doesn't live
363. 14:28for himself.
364. 14:30That if he's beside himself, if he
365. 14:32preaches with fire, if he says crazy
366. 14:35things, it's for God.
367. 14:38It's to live for him who died for them.
368. 14:40And if he's of sound mind, and he
369. 14:42explains things, and he's patient, it's
370. 14:44for them.
371. 14:46He says that the love of Christ controls
372. 14:49us. We're not controlled by what you
373. 14:51think of us.
374. 14:53We're not controlled by what the devil
375. 14:55does to our body. We're controlled by
376. 14:57what the love of God wants from us.
377. 15:02Because we're living and serving someone
378. 15:04who died for us.
379. 15:07And he who died for all, so that we
380. 15:09might no longer live for ourselves, but
381. 15:12for him who died and rose again on our
382. 15:14behalf. Therefore, from now on,
383. 15:17we recognize no one according to the
384. 15:21flesh, even though we have known Christ
385. 15:24according to the flesh, yet now we know
386. 15:27him in this way no longer.
387. 15:31So, how would they have known Paul
388. 15:33according to the flesh?
389. 15:35Well, Paul tells us. There were
390. 15:37charlatan apostles
391. 15:40who were trying to take Paul's place in
392. 15:42the church.
393. 15:43And they were looking at the outward
394. 15:45things of these people. They were rich,
395. 15:48they were healthy, they were doing well.
396. 15:51They were knowing these charlatans
397. 15:53according to the flesh.
398. 15:55And he was a say He's saying, "There was
399. 15:57a time when we knew Jesus this way."
400. 16:00There was a time when Paul looked at the
401. 16:02cross and said, "He couldn't be God's
402. 16:04servant. He couldn't be the Messiah.
403. 16:06He's cursed of God."
404. 16:08But that's knowing based on what the
405. 16:10outward appearances tell you.
406. 16:13That's knowing based on the tent and how
407. 16:15it's billowing in the wind.
408. 16:17That's not knowing based on what God's
409. 16:19doing in the heart.
410. 16:22That's not knowing based on whether
411. 16:23they're serving themselves or serving
412. 16:26God, controlled by love or controlled by
413. 16:29self. Do you understand?
414. 16:31So, what does it mean to know someone
415. 16:33according to the flesh? It means to
416. 16:35judge not their heart or how they're
417. 16:38controlled by love and the Holy Spirit,
418. 16:41but it means to judge by what their life
419. 16:43looks like on the surface.
420. 16:46That's knowing according to the flesh.
421. 16:50But when you know according to the
422. 16:51spirit, when you know according to the
423. 16:53truth,
424. 16:54you know what God is doing in their
425. 16:55heart. You know that they are controlled
426. 16:58by love. You know that they are beside
427. 17:00themselves for God's sake and of sound
428. 17:03mind for your sake.
429. 17:05You know that they're not worried about
430. 17:07what's happening to their tent.
431. 17:09They're looking toward the reward
432. 17:11they're going to get for
433. 17:13how they honored God in that tent.
434. 17:16Now we recognize no one according to the
435. 17:18flesh.
436. 17:20Even though we have known Christ
437. 17:22according to the flesh, yet now we know
438. 17:24him in this way no longer.
439. 17:27Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
440. 17:31a new creature.
441. 17:32The old things passed away. Behold, new
442. 17:34things have come.
443. 17:37And what that really means is if you're
444. 17:39in Christ,
445. 17:40you get to share
446. 17:43in his creation. You are part of the new
447. 17:47and resurrected creation of Christ.
448. 17:50You are part of the resurrected Christ.
449. 17:53That's the new creation. Doesn't mean
450. 17:54that you're a new individual. You got to
451. 17:57be in him, and then you get to share in
452. 18:00his new creation.
453. 18:03Now all things are from God, who
454. 18:06reconciled us to himself through Christ,
455. 18:09and gave us
456. 18:10the ministry of reconciliation.
457. 18:15Namely, that God was in Christ
458. 18:20reconciling the world to himself,
459. 18:24not counting their trespasses against
460. 18:26them,
461. 18:27and he
462. 18:28has committed to us the word
463. 18:32of reconciliation.
464. 18:34Therefore, we are ambassadors for
465. 18:36Christ, as though God were making an
466. 18:40appeal through us.
467. 18:42We beg you on behalf of Christ, be
468. 18:45reconciled to God.
469. 18:49He made him who knew no sin to be sin on
470. 18:53our behalf,
471. 18:54so that we might become the
472. 18:56righteousness of God
473. 18:58in him.
474. 19:00What does this mean?
475. 19:02He says
476. 19:04that
477. 19:06all things are from God, who reconciled
478. 19:08us to himself.
479. 19:10How did he reconcile us to himself?
480. 19:13Jesus on the cross
481. 19:16paid the debt and removed the barrier
482. 19:19that stood between us and God. We
483. 19:22couldn't come into the Father's presence
484. 19:24because our guilt made us believe that
485. 19:27we would die if we entered that
486. 19:29presence.
487. 19:31Our sin, our barrier
488. 19:34held us outside the door of his
489. 19:37presence. There was a veil between the
490. 19:39people and the glory of the Father.
491. 19:43But at the cross, Jesus, who knew no
492. 19:46sin, suffered as if he was the sinner.
493. 19:49He who knew no sin became sin on our
494. 19:52behalf.
495. 19:53So that we could draw near to God
496. 19:56having our hearts sprinkled clean from
497. 19:58an evil conscience. We could walk
498. 20:00through this new and living way.
499. 20:03The debt that made us shy away from the
500. 20:05Father was removed and paid at [music]
501. 20:07the cross.
502. 20:09If you did something mean to someone
503. 20:11and you never got their forgiveness,
504. 20:13every time you came into their presence,
505. 20:15you would avert your eyes because you
506. 20:17wouldn't want to be reminded of your
507. 20:20unpaid debt
508. 20:22of unkindness.
509. 20:24If you promised someone to repay them
510. 20:26$100 and you didn't pay it back to them,
511. 20:29every time you were in their presence,
512. 20:31you would avoid them because you had
513. 20:33made a promise that you hadn't kept. You
514. 20:35would have a debt that was keeping you
515. 20:37from their presence.
516. 20:39And our sin was keeping us from God's
517. 20:42presence in exactly that way
518. 20:44until one day
519. 20:46God showed up in Christ. God was in
520. 20:51Christ reconciling the world to himself.
521. 20:55God robed himself with human flesh and
522. 20:57said, "I'm here to pay that debt that
523. 21:00you owe to justice.
524. 21:03I'm going to write you on the palms of
525. 21:04my own hands.
526. 21:07I'm going to pay this debt. It wasn't
527. 21:09God in heaven killing Christ instead of
528. 21:11killing us. It was God in Christ
529. 21:13reconciling [music]
530. 21:14the world to himself, not imputing their
531. 21:17trespasses to them.
532. 21:19And then, he said to the church, "I'm
533. 21:22committing to you this ministry of
534. 21:24reconciliation.
535. 21:26I want you to be the ones who speak what
536. 21:30Jesus has done. I [music] want you to
537. 21:32tell others what he's done.
538. 21:34I'm giving you the word of
539. 21:35reconciliation. [music] And not just
540. 21:37that, I want you to live
541. 21:39a life of sacrifice for others in the
542. 21:41same way, so that love can continue to
543. 21:44tear down the barriers and allow people
544. 21:47to come into the presence of love, the
545. 21:49presence of God, the glory in the
546. 21:51presence of the Father."
547. 21:55>> [music]