Are you ever displeased with your home / station / circumstances? It’s easy to be affected or effected by a desire for pleasure in our palace.

2 Corinthians 5 begins, “we know if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling, not made by hands, in the heavens“

When I grew up, my father was the pastor of many churches. His ministry meant that I lived in eight places in four states before I was 18 years old. I have been in seven places in the last 42 years, but that has included two states and a foreign country. That’s perhaps much more than most.

We have said, “home is where the Lord says.”

Certainly, when we think about earth and eternity, if we believe what we do, heaven is the place to be. But Look at the comparisons Paul uses:

  • Earthly Tent
    • we “live” in – exist, do life
    • we know it will end – be destroyed
    • we make our way
    • we groan
    • we are desiring the heavenly
  • Building From God
    • a fixed structure
    • not made with human hands
    • an eternal (aionios = age long) dwelling (oikia = home/house)

The Honest Truth is that sometimes we over focus on either of those. Sometimes we hold too tightly to earth or focus too much on our desire for eternity.

Notice the reminder and clarifier in v5 – We have been given the Holy Spirit, as a down payment. So, what we feel/experience of The Spirit in our lives is but a “foretaste of the divine”.

Because of sin, our destiny was destroyed. Death became our destination. But IN Christ, we are prepared for a new purpose, an eternal purpose. So, v6, we have confidence – always, know (oida)=appreciate / aware that when we are at home – endemeo = to BE at home. That word is though not a passive reality, but is in present active tense. We may not BE home, but we must actively BE AT home. We aren’t in our eternal dwelling, but we choose to be at home away from home.

v7 FOR / because – we need to live “because” or “for” lives… What is the “because”? We walk by faith, not by sight.

We have faith, fed by the Holy Spirit within us, knowing that the fullness of the promise is coming. This world is not my home, but I’m going to be at home, wherever God has placed me for the purpose he gives me.

I have faith in the future, but I live BY faith, FOR faith, IN faith, to the things I am here for.

Certainly, v8, we would prefer to be away from this broken, imperfect body. It’s just a tent, I can camp, but I don’t want to live there. We want to go home to be with the Lord. But “home” is where God says, so today, this moment, every moment…

v9…we make it our aim…

…wait, back up, whether home or away, present or absent…

we make it our aim – fun word there – philotimeomai = have as one’s ambition – My ambition is not to have heaven today… in Christ having heaven will take care of itself… that’s NOT my ambition today. My ambition, in every circumstance, every season, every location is to be pleasing to him

  • Know what pleases him
  • Know my purpose here
  • Know what’s important today

Home or Away – Pleasing – driven by a desire for the Lord’s Approval… that’s the only thing I can control.