Unless Christ rose from the dead, I am wasting my time writing this and you are wasting your time reading. Thankfully, He lives! There are so many implications to that truth. For one, it establishes eternal hope and provides an everlasting home. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10.
Life is relentless—it just keeps coming at you, like the waves of the restless sea. At times, those waves become tsunamis of trouble. It is easy to lose heart.
Yet, we need not. Paul reminds us here that although the pain of earth is real, the promise of eternity is far superior. Outwardly, our strength and health will decline over time—this physical frame eventually grows frail and will fail. Inwardly, the real person that is housed in a body, can grow stronger and stronger, and with it, the magnetic appeal of heaven overcomes the bonds of earth and we are lifted up to real home in glory.
Paul knew what it was like to suffer. Do you hear him whining? His tone is one of triumph. Far from affliction overwhelming him, he sees how pain aids him—the knowledge that God uses the sorrows of this world to shape us into Christlikeness—that the weight of glory is incomparable when placed on the scales of our soul, in relation to the lightness of difficulty. What we see is temporary, as this material universe passes away, while what we know by faith concerning the spiritual, invisible Kingdom of God is eternally fixed.
For now, we groan. Today we abide in a tent—a temporary structure that houses our souls. Someday it will be exchanged for a permanent dwelling in a resurrection body. Our groans give way to glory! Our homesickness for heaven will eventually be met with a happy homecoming. God’s Spirit within the child of God gives us that tug heavenward and His presence assures us of ultimate arrival.
So, let us walk by faith, and not by sight. Looking around us will burden us. Looking above us will bless us! The moment we die, gazing into the face of Jesus will make every heartache forgotten.
Some have accused Christians of, “being so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good.” Not so! Paul tells us that a correct perspective of eternity brings a compelling passion on earth. Living in light of eternity makes us into difference-makers! We labor for the Lord as those who must give account at the judgment seat of Christ. Lord, make us faithful that in the judgment we may be declared fruitful!
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