Topic: What is Your Aspiration in Life?
Second Corinthians 5:5-9
Paul is full of confidence toward life, death and the hereafter (vs. 6, 8) because God has provided believers with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that we will receive resurrected spiritual bodies (vs. 5). The enabling Spirit gives convincing witness to the indescribable glory that awaits those who are in Christ. We can be assured that death leads to a closer and more meaningful relationship with Christ.
But what happens when this life is all over? Does it make any difference how you lived or what you did for the love of Christ? Do we have any responsibility to please God? All are under grace by which we are saved, right? Yes, but how we lived on earth will affect our eternal existence in Heaven
Ultimately what matters in light of eternity, we should live to please the Lord. The faithful Christian's desire, whether on earth or in Heaven is to please God. We are to live each day with eternity’s values in view.
Verse six indicates that the residence of the Spirit, who confirms our eternal existence with God, should fill the believer with confidence and courage. Therefore, with the enabling deposit of the Holy Spirit (vs. 5) Paul is confident, or “of good courage”—because of the indwelling Spirit, we can live courageously. This courage is not a mere temporary feeling due to passing excitement. The word “courageously” indicates a permanent state of mind, on all occasions and under all circumstances even amidst the dangerous discouragements of which Paul spoke and will speak. The ground for this bold confidence is not natural courage or the strength of convictions but it is a courage produced by the indwelling Spirit. It is the natural consequences of following His leadership.
Verse seven tells us not to focus on the present but on eternal realities, not on the seen but on the unseen, is to live by faith, not by sight. Paul was sustained in life by realizing it was a temporary transitory state (4:18). He focused not on present conditions, not on the seen, but the unseen. To live this way is to walk by faith, not by sight. It is to live in the light of the ultimate rather than immediate realities (Rom. 8:24-25), to be obedient to God's Word despite the hardships that such love produces. These hardships help produce the groans for heaven not because we long to die but because we long to live. Until then we must walk by faith not sight.
Verse nine encourages believers to make their time on earth profitable. The word “Therefore” means that this strong longing, this groaning to be at home with the Lord, motivates an aspiration... to be pleasing to Him. What Paul aspired to was that his life and work were pleasing to the Lord. As believers, our noble aspiration is to be well-pleasing to Jesus Christ.
See you Sunday,
Dr. Scott Kallem