2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 What We Need according to Paul
1. We do not lose heart we believe God takes care of our basic needs
• We all need and love food, Cant you tell look at my belly its grown.
• We need water Jesus himself commands us to give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty (Matthew 25:35).
• We need Shelter the Psalmist says, “The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.
• I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
• He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield
• We all need sleep The Lord gives Rest The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
2. We don’t only need the basics but we need each other
• One lady I talked to this week told me she was so thankful for her neighbors we all know how important it is to have food, water, shelter and sleep. But its also needful to have others, Because one of our greatest human needs is other people, God has placed us in a community called the body of Christ.
• God in the beginning said, “It is not good that the man be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him
• Hebrew writer believes its vital to be together, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
3. We also Need Newness freshness something that Sparkles Us
• Human need is having something new, original or unusual to pursue.
• Paul tells us to look forward with faith and hope. “We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal” (v. 18).
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4. We also need Resurrection Hope
• Paul wants us to look past these earthly needs and to focus on the resurrection that God is offering us as we follow the path of Jesus. “So we do not lose heart,” says Paul.
• “Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Paul know our outer nature is going to waste away
5. Paul writes, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,” concludes Paul, “we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (5:1). At the end of our life, our body and our home are nothing more than an “earthly tent.” No matter how well it is built, it will be destroyed. At that point, we move into “a building from God … eternal in the heavens.” Let’s look at what God will raise up.
• It’s us: “We know,” he says, “that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus,
• God will bring us : into his presence” (2 Corinthians 4:14). Paul is not focusing on the raising of walls to give us shelter in this life. Instead, he is pointing us toward the resurrection,
• God will raise us unto everlasting; God will raise us into everlasting life.
• we need to realize that everything in this world will eventually pass away, so we should live by faith and focus on the building from God that is eternal in the heavens.
• We need the basics, food, water, shelter, sleep. We also need each other, We need Newness Novelty, We need Resurrection Hope .
• We need to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, We need to know we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
