Now and Not Yet
| Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2Corinthians5:6-10) |
But Paul is wise enough to know that one can't neglect the "now" for the "not yet." There are some key principles in his thought process:
- We live by faith and not sight: When we look at the chaos around us, it is tempting to give into fear and negativity. When we live by faith then we know that God is at work in unseen ways in the seen world.
- We have confidence in our eternal home: Our longing or preference for "home" helps us to be brave and courageous in the midst of trouble.
- We aim to please Him in all we do: Whether we are "home" or "in the body" it is God's glory that matters most.
- There is a reckoning: What we do with our time matters. We will account for the things done while in the body. This is not a heaven or hell judgment (i.e. salvation by works) but we will answer to God about how His Kingdom has manifested in our lives.
There is both encouragement and challenge in this passage:
We can live by faith and confidence, but there is also a seriousness to life - how we live really does matter.
Let's live HOPE-FULLy :
We live with HOPE and we live to the FULL because it's all for God!
