Text: “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV).
Another version of the Bible puts it this way: “We live by faith, not by sight” (NIV).
Another version of the Bible says, “For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight” (Today’s English Version).
Each version talks about the same two words; namely, faith and sight.
What is faith and what is sight?
Hebrews 11:1 states: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Did God give each of his children a certain amount of faith?
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, while talking about how one should think of themselves, he says, “….in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Romans 12:3).
This indicates to me that all of us have a “measure of faith.” God has given each of us certain spiritual gifts. He did not give all his children the same gift.
For example, some are called to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and some teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Whatever gift we have been given, God expects it to be used for His glory and honor.
God refers to these gifts as “a measure of faith”. Each of us has been given a share of faith. You do not have a greater share than me and I do not have a greater share than you. If I thought my share was greater than your share, there would be a tendency for me to place myself above you and I would become conceited.
The gifts and abilities God has given us should bring us into a closer relationship with Him and his children. We are each a part of the glorious body of Christ. Just as each part or member of our human body has a certain function, we as parts or members of the body of Christ are to do our part to build up the body of believers which is the body of Christ.
We are to use our God-given gift; preaching, teaching, serving, encouraging, comforting, helping, or whatever it might be to bring others into a right relationship with God the Father, God the Son, with the help of God the Holy Spirit.
Now that we have an idea of what faith is, let’s see what is meant by sight. When we see or hear the word “sight” it indicates to us the ability to see something through our earthly eyes.
We use our sight to see objects and people. We use our sight to see an event that is taking place. We use our sight to see the TV or the movie on the big theater screen.
Sight enables us to see material things, while faith goes much deeper and gives us insight. Insight allows us to comprehend the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Insight permits us to really understand God’s idea of love, compassion, truth, courage, caring, sharing, and so on.
Insight helps us understand why God sent His Son into the world to pay our sin debt. Insight helps us comprehend the life God wants us to lead. The Holy Spirit gives us insight when we live contrary to God’s Word.
Now that we know a little bit about “faith” and “sight” let’s look into why Paul even brought up these words.
Paul wrote this second letter to the people in Corinth for several reasons. One reason was that the church was weak and sinful things like idolatry and immorality were running rampant.
Also, some people were having a difficult time understanding and accepting bodily resurrection. Paul talks about the bodies we now possess and about the bodies we will possess.
Paul writes, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed….” (2 Corinthians 5:1). The earthly tent Paul is talking about is the earthly body we have.
There is no question that at some point our earthly life will end. He realizes that in his own life, death is a reality.
Death is an experience that is mysterious and difficult even for the individual who has a strong faith. People do not accept the fact of dying with composure and calmness. Most people don’t like to think about it. They like to think it will not happen to them. Those who think about it at all consider it a step into the outer space of darkness.
There is a future for each of us. The future is a blessed one. By faith, you and I and all other Christians look forward to spending eternity with our Lord and Maker. Listen to the words of a dying child:
Story: “The Blessed Future”
The doctor did not think the dying daughter would hear when he said to the mother, “Poor child; she has seen her best days.” But she heard him and said, “No, Doctor, I haven’t seen my best days; my best days are still to come when I shall see the King in His glory.”
From The Man Nobody Missed, by W.E. Blederwolf
Paul is trying to impress upon the people that the body we have is only a temporary residence for the “spirit” or the “breath of God”. The body is weak and insecure, but the “spirit” living in the body is real and will live on in “….a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (v. 1).
I believe you would agree that there are issues with the body we now have. There are aches and pains. They don’t function like they used to. The bones are fragile and susceptible to breaking. There is sickness and disease in some of them. One does not have to be elderly to have bodily problems. Young people also suffer with various issues affecting their earthly tent.
When our time on earth comes to an end, we will enter a new region, a new realm, and that will be our heavenly home. This new home will be substantial, lasting, permanent residence “….an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (v. 1). There will be no disease, no death, no decay and no tears of sorrow.
In verse 2 Paul says, “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.”
As we understand, Paul’s body was not in real good shape. His earthly tent or body was frail, it hurt, and it had problems and issues just as we have. Paul had a physical handicap, although we are not exactly sure what it was, but it probably placed some restrictions on his physical movement or maybe even his thought processes.
There are people today who are in such pain that they are waiting for the moment when they can shed this old tent and be clothed with their new spiritual clothing. God assures us that we will not be left naked. Our spirit will pass from the earthly tent to a new spiritual body.
When we are hurting, we turn to God for relief and help. Paul did the same thing. God spoke to Paul with these words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Our weakness, our hurting, our cries to God for help brings us into a closer relationship with the Father and at the same time deepens our worship and asserts God’s strength and power upon our life.
We have talked about two tents or two different bodies. The earthly body we have been talking about is visible to us. Faith is not a large issue here because we see what we have. We know how we look. We know the members present; hands, arms, feet, ears, eyes and so on.
The new body, the spiritual body, we have talked about is the one we cannot see. If we cannot see it, do we believe there will be such? Is it a sure thing? Is there any guarantee we will possess one?
I am trying to get you to see that “faith” now enters the picture. Paul was a man of faith and everything God gave him that was not humanly visible, he accepted by faith.
Paul could not see his spiritual body, but he accepted the idea of receiving this new body by faith. In fact, He looked forward to the day when his spirit would depart his earthly tent and take up residence in his new body.
Is there any guarantee we will possess a new everlasting spiritual body? The answer is yes! Paul said, “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (v. 5).
As a Christian, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within our heart. The presence of God the Father in the Person of the Holy Spirit guarantees us everlasting bodies at the time of resurrection.
“He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what it so come” (2 Corinthians 1:22).
We belong to God because He has placed His seal of ownership on us and the Holy Spirit is His commitment to complete the work He has started in us. We have salvation at this very moment, but there is much more for us just down the road. We need not worry. God keeps His promises. We are in good hands.
Paul goes on to say: “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” (v. 6).
We believe with great confidence that as long as we are present in our earthly body or earthly tent God is with us in the Person of the Holy Spirit. This is good, but we are not really with God the way we hope to be.
God the Son is with us spiritually, but we cannot see Him as clearly as we will see Him with our spiritual bodies. In that sense, we are away from the Lord.
Since we are away from the Lord, we must walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is an instrument of this world while sight is an instrument of the world to come. While we are in our earthly body, Paul says, “We live by faith, not by sight” (v. 7).
We do not know when our earthly time will lapse and Jesus will call us home. This will happen at God’s appointed time. While we have the privilege of living in these earthly tents, we should do everything for the glory of God.
We need not be afraid of anything or any circumstance that comes our way because God has given us a “measure of faith”. This “measure of faith” is enough to get us through the rough and smooth spots of life. He will never give us more than we can handle.
We have His assurance that we are never alone because He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (13:5).
Our Scripture reading ends with these words: “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (v. 8).
We should be confident that one day we will spend eternity in the presence of Christ. By faith, we accept God’s Word. By faith, we live each day believing our spiritual body will be one without blemish.
By faith, we believe God sent His Son into the world to pay our sin penalty. By faith, we accept as true that Jesus suffered and died for us so that we could spend eternity in the mansion prepared for us.
By faith, we serve a living God whom we cannot see. By faith, we are able to experience love beyond human comprehension. By faith, we are able to ride out the storms of life. By faith, we have extraordinary power and strength. By faith, we know our destiny.
Story: “If Blind Put Their Hand in God’s”
Helen Keller, shortly before her sixtieth birthday, expressed pity for the real unseeing, for those who have eyes yet do not see. Her long years of physical blindness have given her a spiritual insight which enables her to enjoy life in all its fullness. She says: “If the blind put their hand in God’s they find their way more surely than those who see but have not faith or purpose.”
----Western Recorder
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Amen.
