2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (NIV)
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Paul’s life as a Christian, an apostle, had been difficult, and he knew that further difficulties lay ahead of him. But that did not lead him to despair. Instead, he lived in the knowledge that this life is not all there is. He knew that after all his physical body had gone through, and after all it would still have to go through, he would be clothed with a new, deathless body.
Understandably, that idea was very attractive to Paul. The idea of a body that would be free from pain and free from aging and death drew him rather than repelled him, even though he understood that, unless the Lord returned quickly, it would require his physical death to get the new body he had been promised.
But even though he had not yet received this new body, Paul had no doubt that it would happen, because he had received a solid promise from the Lord himself. And he knew that that promise was going to be kept. He could live in faith knowing that he will not be disappointed.
But at the same time, Paul understood something that is not often taught today, and that it’s frequently discounted by modern Christians. It is not enough to merely die in order to receive the resurrection body. Every person, including Paul, including every Christian, must ultimately stand before the judgment seat of Christ, where we will receive what is due to us, not for what we have believed or professed, but for what we have done while in our physical bodies, whether good or bad. Armed with that understanding, Paul always was careful to only do that which would please the Lord so that in the end his confidence would be well-founded.
Father, this is a good reminder. It is easy for us to believe that we can live any way we want, and as long as we profess to follow Jesus, we will be fine. But Paul didn’t believe that. If anyone would be a shoo-in to get into heaven, we would think it would be Paul. But he was careful to be faithful and obedient, because he knew that between this life and the blessedness of living in your presence forever in his new resurrection body stood the judgment and the accountability for all that he had done and for how he had obeyed. And he didn’t want to blow it! Help us all, Lord, not to live in fear of your final judgment, but to live in the knowledge that it will happen, and to live our lives here and now in such a way that we can be as confident as Paul about the outcome of that judgment, because we have lived as faithfully as he did. Amen.