Twin City church of Christ Blog
“June 10, 2024 - A House Not Made with Hands”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsA House Not Made with Hands
Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5
Because the gospel promises such great glory, Paul refuses to be ashamed of it, even when he suffers. The more he suffers to preach, the greater the glory God receives and the richer the blessing the hearers receive. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen”(2 Cor 4:16-18). Though Paul is suffering physically, his spirit as renewed as he looks forward to the hope he will receive when he receives the superior, immortal body that awaits him.
He uses the image of tents and houses to describe the difference in his current body and the glorified body he will receive. “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”(2 Cor 5:1). This “house not made with hands” is not a place, but the body we will inhabit eternally. Instead of living in a tent (our current physical bodies) that is temporary, we will have a house (our glorified, immortal bodies) that is permanent. “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life”(2 Cor 5:4). The promise of a body that will never die, wear out, get sick, or suffer makes us groan, acknowledging the weakness of the bodies we currently inhabit.
Christians anticipate the time when we are transformed and embrace true life. As we experience the weakness and frailties of our bodies—particularly as we face worldly opposition—we groan all the more for something lasting. God has promised us a house—something permanent and eternal—that he has made so that we can live forever in his presence.
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One Thing to Think About: What events, feelings, or relationships make me groan for immortality?
One Thing to Pray For: The daily renewal of the inner man
