The ministry of Christ through our body is pleasing to God-1

Verses today, actually, I must say, of a lot of verses that I've taught about, these were pretty difficult, and I think you'll see as I go on that why they might be, because as I studied, I discovered that, well, some of these theologians and people I really admire have different opinions about things. You know, they don't all agree, so.

To set this up, I've decided that we'll, again, it fits in to go back to 16 and say, therefore, we don't lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, and that's the word, decay, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For the momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond any comparison. While we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

So when we get to verse one of chapter five, For we know that if the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The New King James maybe says it, I like it a little better. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Well, I want you to understand, the reason I read, we read 4.16 through 5.4 is because there isn't a break here, even though your Bible has a chapter break. He's still on the same subject. He's gonna show that our outward man is decaying. Our earthly tent, our earthly house is gonna be dissolved and torn down, it's gonna go away. But we have another house. and this other house is eternal.

And the thought of what is eternal links the verses together. Eternal things are brought within the sight of our faith. As we talked about last week, the way that we see the unseen things of eternal life is by faith. And it produces an eternal weight of glory as compared to our light afflictions. And we need and we shall need a resurrection body which shall be eternal in order to sustain the eternal heavy weight of glory without being crushed by it. I don't think we realize how heavy the eternal weight of glory is. It's absolutely certain though that such a resurrection body shall be ours and already is ours.

So if you look at this verse four, for we know that our earthly tent, the word for continues the contrast between the things that are presently seen and the things not yet seen. Oida here, for we know, the word know or knowledge means knowledge that you've obtained through intuition or just revelation. So here Paul's gonna contrast our present body with your future body. So it sets up a couple of things.

One is in ancient times a tent was a familiar symbol of what was transitory. Some things don't ever change. We have homeless people all over our city in transitory dwellings. The tent in and of itself denotes, is a transitory symbol. Means you're always on the move. Never any place to settle down. It doesn't have any foundation. You know, campers are designed to move. They're not permanent. So, Chesh McCauley says, we need to understand as believers that we are to have a pilgrim mentality while we're on the earth.

Now Paul was a tent maker and he compared the human body to a tent. But Jesus referred to his body as a temple. And he predicted that God would raise it up again in Mark 14 and John 2. And since God has raised up Jesus' temple, Paul believed from that information that God would raise up his tent, our tents.

We could say that our present tents are tabernacles, they're temporary houses, they're kind of flimsy. Jim was complaining when he came up here about being old. I'm older than him. I know about flimsy structure, you're looking at it. Easily taken down, no foundation.

In my neighborhood, we have a lot of Hasidic Jews and they have this feast of tabernacles and they all build these tabernacles in their backyards. And really what they are is they take their patios and put walls around them, but they have to leave the open to the sky, and they're supposed to go out there and live for 10 days or something. I don't know if any of them ever do, but it's interesting to see, because they're trying to make a patio in a permanent house look like a temporary structure.

Our physical bodies are only temporary structures, though, and God is preparing new bodies for us that are superior to anything that human hands can produce or maintain. Our bodies are spoken of as houses in which we dwell, and I think that's appropriate. And so we, I think we need to accept our body as under God's judgment.

It is to be torn down and destroyed at some point. But we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. It's not visible to the human eye because it's an unseen and it's visible to faith only. And it's eternal and it's in the heavens. Our future body will be divine in origin, it will be eternal in duration, and it'll be heavenly in adaptation.

It'll be suited out for where we are. And all of this is in the present tense. It's already done, it's already there, and it's eternal, and we can be confident in that. Through grace, we will receive, we've had a great discussion on grace this morning in Sunday school. Through grace, we will receive another body, as the apostle says, a building of God, a house not made with hands. So here grace, the salvation of God really begins. all the work of man could not remove the judgment of God according to J.B. Stoney.

It is that our hope that when we die, let me put that in a formal question. Is it our hope that when we die that we're gonna go to heaven? Is that where our hope is? Or is it something else? If you study God's word, it says that our hope is in being glorified with Christ. That's the real hope. It isn't the fact that we're gonna go to heaven. If that were the only hope we have, then we would be thinking of things in terms of place.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, Paul says, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall always, we will always be with the Lord, therefore comfort one another with these words.

So if what we're really looking forward to is glorification, then you have to ask the question, what is it? What is glorification? I think, as simple a definition as I can find, it's the manifestation of Christ through the body, the soul, and the spirit of a believer. At death we go to be with the Lord, and where does the tent go? In the ground. So, which of these do we hope for? To go to be with the Lord, or to go to be in glory? glorification of the total man, including the body.

Our future bodies in the resurrection world will be so different in order. We'll learn that they're not made with hands. That is, they weren't formed like the Lord Jesus formed Adam's body and then he breathed into it the breath of life. but it's spiritual and it's not earthly. It's a heavenly body. And it's not of earthly human order. It'll be eternal. For in them shall enter the eternal scene. And they'll also be heavenly and the present bodies are natural earthly and they only abide for a time. Now here's the problem. If indeed, If for indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. So how do we react living in these decayed tents?

What kind of a complaint do we have? Well, groaning is a great word. Groaning means I complain, a deep sigh, grief. I grow weary, and it's interesting. It's indicative, present, active, which means we're groaning all the time. So if you're groaning all the time, you're fitting right in. But God is gonna clothe us with a new and better garment. Until we groan, until then, we groan because we feel, one of the reasons is we feel the pain associated with mortality. We have physical limitations. We have sickness. And for guys like Jim and I who are older, we have an increasing disability that accompanies advancing age. You've seen me go up and down these steps.

So when we read of being clothed or being unclothed or clothed upon or being naked, the point is is that we will dwell at present in an earthly tent and be clothed in bodies that we are now clothed in bodies of humiliation, but soon we're gonna be clothed in a glorified body of a spiritual, eternal, and heavenly order. And as much as we have as we, having put on, will not be found naked. Here's where it gets interesting.

Constable says that the Christian does not groan in his or her present body because he or she wants to get rid of it. I take issue with that. At least that wasn't what Paul meant. He says we groan because we long to receive the immortal body that God will give us. God's promises of something better makes us dissatisfied with what we have now. I think that's pretty good logic. We long for the time when immortal life will in a sense be consumed and our mortality will go away and we'll be sucked into life. So it's a paradox.

Paul was confident that in death would destroy his present body, he would certainly receive a glorious body that God would provide. He was confident of that. But he didn't want to be found naked. This verse supposes that these are believers, they're Christians, no thought about losing any rewards or anything. Naked is simply what Adam was before God put clothes on him.

That's all that word means. So when we get to this verse, we bring in the whole idea of death. I'm groaning and I'm burdened. But then I have seen such power in Christ that I am not weary seeking to get out of it all. That was a quote from John Darby. Does this new covering await us immediately after death and before the resurrection? That's where the dilemma came in.

Lewis Perry Chaffer says in his Systematic Theology, it is therefore probable that we will have an intermediate body. Have you ever heard of that? I never have heard of it either, but I started studying this and I thought, oh, that's kind of neat. Constable says in agreement with him, even though there is no specific instructions concerning an intermediate body, and its characteristics in scripture, its existence seems beyond doubt. That's not very persuasive to me. Reference to believers after death and before resurrection suggests that they have bodies.

If you go to Luke 16, 19, he talks about Lazarus. He says, but there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But then there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed, with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

And being in torment and Hades, he lifted up his eyes and he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am in torment in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good deeds and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and you are tormented. The point that he's making is, was Lazarus in a body? Was a man able to recognize him?

How about Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration? In Matthew 17, he says, for now, after six days, Jesus took Peter and James and John, his brother, led them up to the high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared with them, talking with him. And y'all could look at Revelation 6, 9 and Revelation 7, 13.

Talk about the martyred dead in heaven. These have bodies. Eventually will not be suitable for external existence since God will replace them with a resurrection body. Now, what I'm quoting from is Constable and Chafer and people that think there is an interim body. And the other guy that fits in this group is John Wolvard, who is a contemporary. But there are other views, that heaven is a place and not a body, that you go to be in a place. Or we talk about a building or a dwelling as a heavenly home rather than a body. Another thing that contributes to this Verse three is really a parenthesis, and I'll explain how that fits in a minute.

Paul clarified that believers who die are not disassembled spirits, I'm sorry, disembodied spirits until the resurrection of their bodies. Another interpretation sees believers as unclothed without intermediate bodies between their death and resurrection. Constable said those who hold this view understand Paul to be saying that he did not look forward to being disembodied in a disembodied condition. He anticipated the time when God would clothe him with an immortal body at his resurrection. More arguments. Constable says, I believe that one of the strongest arguments that will We will never be disembodied spirits is that the Bible constantly views human beings as unified beings.

It does not describe the body as merely a house that the real person lives in. That's kind of a platonic idea or concept. and it's also a Gnostic concept and deals with a dualistic anthropological doctrine that's held. Rather, the Bible describes people as consisting of material and immaterial parts. If we were to lack material substance, either mortal or immaterial, immortal, we would seemingly be less than human beings.

In other words, if we're body, soul, and spirit, if we have two out of three, we're not really complete, okay? So, the bodies described in this passage is said to be from heaven rather than from the grave. Being of heavenly origin, it belongs to those realities which are eternal. that it belongs to things eternal does not require that it be employed forever.

Certainly the final body of glory is secured only at the coming of Christ, and as certainly the body of 2 Corinthians 5, 1 through 8 is provided, that there may be no moment of disembodiment. These two factors seem to compel the conclusion that there is an intermediate body. Those two paragraphs are from Chafer, okay?

Now, verse four says, and I'm gonna, actually I'm gonna show you in a minute five slides from what Hal Malloy thought about this 10 or 15 years ago, so it'll be kind of interesting. Verse four says, for we who are in this tent we groan being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up in life. That is the power of life comes and swallows us up entirely, so that all that is mortal is lost in life. And it's a great word, swallow, is a word that means to devour or to drown or overwhelm.

What you find is in verse two, the way Paul structured this, in verse two is a statement. And verse three is a parenthesis, and verse four explains the parenthesis. So verse two says, indeed, in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling. That's a statement. Verse three says, gotta find it. inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. That's kind of a parenthesis.

And then verse four here explains, for we are in this, we who are in this tent grown, not being burdened, but because, being burdened, but because we want to be, we don't want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up in life. So what he, Saying to us is, look, you're wanting to be clothed has nothing to do with being tired or weary.

Wishing to be unclothed and done with all the trouble that you're having. But what I'm looking for is that mortality might be swallowed up in life. Schaeffer again says, over against this as scripture teaches with clearness that man Though a unity is composed of three parts while the immaterial part of man resides in the body, the sense of unity in all of that means all that is experienced at death, these elements are separated for a season only to be reunited in God's appointed time. No problem with that. And thus, it demonstrated that those two parts are separable. The thought here expressed is that Redeemed do not desire a disembodied state, which state is inevitable if there is no intermediate body. Their desire is to be clothed in life. The two facts seem to compel the conclusion that there is an intermediate body. Okay, so let's see what Malloy had to say about this.

He starts out by saying, and this was done in what, 2004, so almost 20 years ago, 18 years ago. He goes through various interpretations. He said the first one is, our eternal heavenly house is referring to a dwelling place or our abode in heaven. And he quotes John 14, he said, in my father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place, topas, a dwelling place for you. This interpretation essentially substitutes the word place for an earthly house.

See the difference? Okay? And he says, here's the problem with that. If you compare it, if the comparison of 5, 2 Corinthians 5, 4, 5, 1 through 4, between our present physical body and our future glorious heavenly body, and it's not a place, it's a body. Not being found naked, verse 3, is not having a body to clothe our spirit and soul. in dwelt by the Holy Spirit as opposed to a place for them to dwell, heaven. Okay, one argument. Two is, oops, stay here.

Our eternal heavenly house is referring to our heavenly life. When we go to be with the Lord, this interpretation essentially substitutes spiritual life for a building of God. Eternal in the heavens, spiritual body. The interpretation also substitutes physical life for earthly house. It says our present earthly house is referring to our present tent, life on earth which will be taken down and dissolved.

Continuing on, here's the problem with that. Am I okay on the slides? Yeah, it is true that there is a physical life associated with our physical body and a spiritual life associated with our spiritual body. However, it's incorrect to equate life with house since the word life is not in the text.

Also note that we have eternal life right now. And what is eternal life? It's to know the Lord Jesus and the one who sent him. So we are not groaning or longing for spiritual life. We are groaning or longing that this mortal body be swallowed up or devoured by the life. Christ's life, which is our present possession and experience in our glorified bodies, which is our present possession, but our future experience. Also note that scripture never uses the word mortal to refer to life. It only uses that word to refer to a body. Third view, our eternal heavenly house is referring to a temporary body, which is what Schaeffer and those people think, which houses a soul, our soul and spirit from the time of physical death to the time of the rapture.

There's only one problem with that. He said, how is it possible to equate temporary with eternal in the heavenlies. That was the one problem he saw with this view. Next view, our eternal heavenly house is referring to our future glorified spiritual body. This is his explanation, and this is the one that he hangs his hat on. It is the residence of our soul and spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, made by God, eternal in the heavens.

No problem with that. We are having this resonance. He says it's a futuristic present tense, indicative mood. What it means is this present possession of future reality. It's this absolute certainty. We don't have it yet, but it's a certainty. So in Greek, it's portrayed that way. It's a positional truth and will become our condition immediately. And I think that may be the key to understanding here.

It isn't saying that we have spiritual bodies floating around in heaven at this present time. But it is saying that it is a certainty that we will have them in the instant of time when the Lord so determines. There are two kinds of bodies associated with two kinds of life. There's a physical and spiritual body. There's an earthly and a heavenly body.

Our earthly house, God formed out of the dust of the ground in Genesis 2-7. It's suited out only for this earth and associated with soulish life. It is sown a natural body and it's energized by natural instincts. Our heavenly tent or house, it's a building of God made without hands, eternal in the heavenlies. It is suited out for heaven and associated with spiritual life.

It is raised a spiritual, energized by the Holy Spirit. Christ will change our lowly body to have like form with this glorious body. And his footnote at the bottom there, he says, we believe that this to be the more accurate translation. This is what he liked. So he said, well, there's some questions he asked. Is there a difference between our earth, our eternal heavenly body and our resurrected body?

Question two, are church age believers who are now with the Lord possessing their spiritual bodies right now? Or are they waiting for the resurrection to possess them? Third question. If believers who are asleep do not possess their spiritual bodies until resurrection, then their souls and spirits are without bodies, aren't they?

I love his answer. This is the dance right here. These are tough questions. Because scripture doesn't specifically address many of the details. However, scripture does address truths that are certainties. And the two references that he makes is 1 Corinthians 15, 42 through 58, which talks about the body is sown in dishonor, raised in honor, and like that.

And Thessalonians passage has to do with the resurrection. So certainty, at the rapture, every church-age believer will possess his or her spiritual body, either by resurrection or by instant change. Those who are asleep in Christ will be resurrected to their spiritual bodies. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, with a trump of God, and the dead shall rise in Christ first. 1 Corinthians 15, 52, at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. At the rapture, every church-age believer will possess his or her spiritual body, either by resurrection or by instant change.

Those who are alive will be instantly changed in the form of a physical body to a spiritual body. And I'm not gonna read, you can look at those scriptures yourself. Our heavenly spiritual body will be just like Christ's glorified body, which will take on the characteristics of a physical body.

And then he quotes 1 John 3, 2, Philippians 3, 21, et cetera. And then Hal closes out by saying, are you sure that God has done what he has said for you? Do you have the confidence? He says, God has given you a guarantee. God is the one who has fashioned or wrought or prepared us for a heavenly home.

It's a cumulative aorist tense which sees the action as having already occurred. But the emphasis is on the end of the action. It's how I would say it's a done deal. God has made us fit and suited us out for our heavenly home. He was given us a down payment as a certainty of his truth about this, about us. His down payment or earnest pledge of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, who has also sealed us and given us earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. So, at the end of the day, or the end of the week, after spending a lot of hours, trying to figure out the truth, here's what I came up with. I can agree with Lewis Barry Chafer and I can also agree with Hal. You know how I did it? When I leave here, if I were to leave here right now, one of the things that happens is that I leave time-space and I go to eternity. How many minutes are there in eternity?

Is Hal Molloy in glory now waiting for Courtney to show up? Or me to show up? Or Bob to show up? No, he isn't. He has entered into eternity, which means everything is right now. It doesn't spread out. So I think you could say that when I leave here, yeah, I'm never gonna be a disembodied spirit. I'm gonna have a resurrected body right away.

Why? Because when I get there, you're gonna all be there because there isn't any time. Now I recognize to try to wrap your mind around what eternity looks like is something you can't do because you have a time-space mind. You just can't do it. You can say the words, but you don't really get it, how eternity works. But I think that that's how it's gonna go together. I don't think we are gonna have intermediate bodies. I think we get the real one right away. And it's because there isn't any time. You don't need a watch. When you go to eternity, it's all right now.

And what's cool about these verses is that God, very carefully through Paul, shows us what's waiting for us. And the only way to see it is by faith. You trust him about that. And then you start to see, oh wow, look what the Lord has in store. Here comes my time mind again. Look what God has in store for me then. but for those that are there, what God has in store for them right now. So, let's close.

Dear Father, how we thank you for your grace. We thank you, you've done so much. It's hard to even begin to comprehend how wonderful your grace is for us and to us, and that those of us who believe the destiny that has suited out for us in all eternity, the greatest thing of which is to be able to just behold your Son face to face. We thank you, Father, we pray in your Son's name, amen.