I was praying about what I should share today, and I was searching for something that would address a wide range of needs, for those who are Christians and those who aren’t; and the Lord led me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Let me assure you that Marshall was a Christian. He had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He may have had his struggles, but we all do; and hopefully our message this morning will help us understand why we seem to struggle so much in this thing called life.
You often hear people say, “I’m trying to find myself,” but they’re really trying to find something greater; they’re trying to find a home. In the movie “Patch Adams,” Hunter Adams said, “All of life is a coming home – salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us – all the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home.” And he continued to say, “I had lost the right path, [but] eventually I would find [it] . . . in the most unlikely place.”
Many of us can feel lost, heading down a path to nowhere. We can feel the darkness of loneliness, isolation, and emptiness, and all we want is a place of rest and security; we want a home. Adams said, “All of life is a coming home,” but he also confessed how he felt lost. How many of us are searching for home, but we don’t know the way?
Adams said that he would eventually find the right path, but in the most unlikely place; and some of you will find your home in what the world sees as an unlikely place – you will find your home in Jesus; and those who already know Him need to understand that, until we reach our home in heaven, Jesus is to be our home. But this longing for home explains so much as to why life seems so hard and why we feel so dissatisfied.
Many Are Longing for Home (2 Corinthians 5:1-10, NLT)
1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God Himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit.
6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
In the movie “Garden State,” Andrew Largeman said, “You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of a sudden, even though you have [a] place where you can put your stuff, that idea of home is gone . . . When you move out it just sort of happens one day . . . and you can never get it back. It’s like you get homesick for a place that doesn’t exist.”
I don’t know how many of you have had the experience of leaving home to go off to college or work, or even get married; and then when you return to visit, whether it be your parents’ house or even your hometown, it just doesn’t feel the same anymore. Perhaps when you return you’re treated more like a stranger. Many of us have had to face the hard reality that the place we grew up in is no longer our home.
Those who become followers of Christ quickly realize that the house of this world is no longer their home. In verse 1, we read how our body is just an earthly house – a tent – just a temporary dwelling place, and not our permanent home. The Bible says, for example, that when Abraham “reached the land [that] God promised him, he lived there by faith – for he was like a foreigner, living in tents” (Hebrews 11:9, NLT). How many of you feel as though you’re living in a tent; a temporary structure that’s always being packed up, moving from place to place? And all the while, you’re searching for where you really belong.
The reason why you feel out of place and like you don’t fit is because no one will ever be truly at home in this world. Our real home, according to verse 2, is found in “our heavenly bodies” (NLT), or as one translation says, our “habitation which is from heaven” (NKJV). It’s the place where, according to Revelation 21, verse 4, there will be “no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying . . . [and] no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (NKJV); and this is the place where Marshall is right now; a place he was longing for; and a place where he’s presently with his Savior.
If you’ve confessed Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, then you’re keenly aware that something doesn’t feel the same anymore; that things have changed. I believe that when a person’s had a real and life-altering encounter with God, that they’re going to be so different afterwards, that they really don’t fit in with the world anymore. They feel alienated and they begin hungering for something more; more of God, and more of His kingdom, and less of this world and this difficult life.
Verse 4 says, “While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh” (NLT). So, in what way do we groan and sigh, and how are we burdened in this physical body other than a longing for home? The answer is we’re burdened by sin. This mortal body, and the sin which is present in our members, no longer feels like home. Our former life before Christ of living in sin, and serving the lusts and passions of the flesh, feels foreign when Jesus does a work in our heart. But even if we don’t know Jesus as Savior and Lord, we’re still bothered by sin, and we’re still made miserable by its devastating consequences, and endless pain and suffering.
This world is full of sin and corrupted by the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), which is Satan. Sin is the reason why life is so hard; and sin is why we suffer; from either our own wrong choices or the bad choices of others. Even though the love of Jesus Christ breaks forth into this sinful world as the kingdom of God advances, His kingdom is not yet fully realized. It’s not yet fully here, and so we can’t be totally at home. We feel displaced, wandering and searching; that is, unless we allow Jesus to create a “new home” when He invades our heart!
We may not be present in heaven just yet, but we’re already present in Christ, if we know Him as Savior and Lord! In John 14:23, Jesus said, “All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make Our home with each of them” (NLT). Some of us have found a new home in Jesus Christ; and for this reason, we can feel at home wherever we find ourselves if we make Jesus our home!
In verses 8-9, Paul said, “We would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Him” (NLT). When Paul said, “We would rather be away from these earthly bodies” (v. 8, NLT), keep in mind that he clarified what he meant back in verse 4, saying, “It’s not that we want to die . . . [but] that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life” (NLT). He was looking forward to the day appointed by God for him to go to heaven. What Paul said in verses 8-9, reminds me of something he said in Philippians 1:21-25, which I want to share with you:
21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. 25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith (NLT).
Paul had been imprisoned in Rome for preaching Jesus, and he was in chains awaiting his trial as he spoke these words. It was possible that Paul could have been found a traitor to Rome and then executed, but Paul’s body was not his own, and his only desire was to magnify Christ whether by martyrdom or in life. He declared that he would rather be at home with the Lord; but then he realized that in living there was a greater purpose.
He was also confident that God would deliver him and allow him to remain alive; and the reason he gave was this: “I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith” (v. 25, NLT). No matter what you’re going through in life, you have a purpose in living if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. God wants you to know Him, and then He wants to use you to tell others of His love.
There’s one last thing we need to look at that Paul said, which is this: “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (v. 10, NLT). Some of us might feel ready to leave this world, because it’s a tough place in which to live; but keep in mind that when we do depart, we need to be prepared. Hebrews 9:27-28 says, “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. . . . to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him” (NLT).
Jesus came to bring salvation, which is the forgiveness of sins by means of His death on the cross. We must have our sins forgiven through Jesus Christ before we face death, so we can be prepared for the judgment. Confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord is how we make preparations to receive our heavenly home. I want to share one more passage before we close, which is John 14:1-6:
Jesus Is the Only Way Home (John 14:1-6, NLT)
1 [Jesus said], “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”
In his book Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote, “Not all who wander are lost.” If you know Jesus you’re not lost, just sojourning. Our inner yearning for heaven causes many of us to feel as though we’re wandering, when in reality we’re on a “quest” to see Jesus. We’re “pilgrims on the earth” (NKJV) and “foreigners and nomads” (NLT), as Hebrews 11:13 states. 1 Peter 2:11 says that we’re “temporary residents and foreigners” (NLT). We’re not wandering aimlessly, and we’re not lost. We’re on a journey, just passing through this life, and we have a Guide for the journey, which is Jesus the bright and morning star (2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 22:16).
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (v. 6, NLT). He’s not only our Guide, but He is the “way,” the “road,” the “path,” and the “gate” (Matthew 7:14). Jesus is “THE WAY.” Perhaps that’s why the first followers of Jesus were called “followers of the way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14). He’s the “only” road to our homeland in heaven. There is no other way, and no other religion, and no other work that will get us there. Jesus said, “No one can come to the Father except through Me” (v. 6, NLT). If you don’t know the Guide, Jesus Christ, then you’re lost. If you’re lost then you need to trust the Guide to lead you home, and the Guide is Jesus Christ!
Time of Reflection
Daniel Handler, also known as Lemony Snicket, said, “One’s home is like a delicious piece of pie you order in a restaurant on a country road one cozy evening – the best piece of pie you have ever eaten in your life – and can never find again.” This is how many of us feel right now; like we’ve had a taste of home, but can never find it again. I’m here to tell you that you “can” have a piece of the pie! Marshall’s got a piece of the pie right now! You “can” have a home, and it’s found in Jesus Christ! Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me . . . My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23, NKJV). We have a home in Jesus, when He makes His home in our heart.
In Revelations 3:20 Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Do you hear Jesus knocking on the door to your heart, asking to have dinner and commune with you? If so, let Him in! When He comes into your heart, you will find in Him a new sense of home; and then one day you will gain a heavenly home with the Lord when you pass from this life to the next.
