Earthly Tent
Our bodies are is what Paul is referring to as an “Earthly Tent”
Inspiring eh, we are not even a small semi detached, but a thread bear, patched up, letting in the rain and blowing in the wind tent, causing more grief than bringing shelter type tent (or at least that’s how I might see me as a tent!)
Remember Paul was a tentmaker by trade so I’m sure he held tents in high regard, the fact that they got thorn and ripped was good for business anyway
Tents are not permanent structures, you have to take care how you pitch one, they can be flimsy and blown away, ripped up, burnt and host of other calamities can occur to a tent
I can remember well while fishing overnight on a lonely island, my tent was hit by a freakish wind and rolled onto its roof and kept rolling towards the water, I awoke in shock and just got out in time, but my tent was ripped and battered beyond repair, that’s why I have little faith in tents
Our bodies are not made to last forever, the clock is definitely ticking in every cell and strand of DNA is plotting its ultimate end and ceasing to be, these are mortal clothes we wear
I believe in each of us are the seeds of eternity, my metaphors get confused at this point, but I do feel that the purpose of life is to chose how you plant those seeds
To me it is an amazing comfort to know that God himself as prepared an eternal house not made by human hands (Thank God), but by the creator of all things himself, now that’s the kind of structure I have faith in
A true house built on rock! A body design and created for eternity
Notice we are never naked our earthly clothes are covered by our heavenly ones
On death we step from one room to the next
I do not know what this is like, none of us do, but those of us who have put their faith in Jesus Christ have a hope eternal, unseen but true
I believe it will be like a blink of an eye, one second here next there, the choice of where there is up to us will it be heaven or hell?
Me I chose Jesus it’s the only way, I want to blink so to speak and open my eyes to see the Lord and praise him forever!
Guaranteed!
Believers in Jesus are sealed in the Holy Spirit
Nothing can take that away once given, not even ourselves and our ways, once saved always saved
We are not saved by our good works, we are saved so that we can do good works, works that please God and God alone!
We are not saved for our own glory and gratification, we are saved to bring God glory and God alone!
Remember and never forget God has a perfect plan for each of us, he has a purpose for each of us and he will help us every step of the way to succeed in that the Lord has planned and breathed for us
The presence of the Holy Spirit in us fuels the longing and groanings for our heavenly dwellings, the Spirit knows what heaven is like, has experienced the perfect creation and wants away from this imperfect fallen world
The Holy Spirit is the deposit the guarantee, an engagement ring, pledging and guaranteeing the marriage day when we step forth perfect creations in the divine city
Therefore we are confident
Always confident!
We who have faith in Jesus should always be confident
Striving to be like him while here in this earthly body, this jar of clay, moving forward step by painful step
Its not easy, we would rather be with Jesus in the heavenlies, but we not we here on this earth called to follow him, called to tread the stony path, called to give our all and move forward for our King and his Kingdom
Its not easy, its not pain free, it hurts, its lonely, its dark and it will take our last breath
But we follow, we move forward as we have a hope so sure, a faith so strong we live by it
We live to please our Lord, to please Jesus with acts of Love, sacrifice and kingdom service we should aim always to please God and God alone
In obedience, in love, in service and bringing the glory to him
We are not here to serve our selves, a religion or church
We are here to serve Jesus, our King who died on a blood soaked cross, who suffered the cruelest of tortures so don’t expect a life of comfort, we serve a suffering servant King and we ask to be like him and join him in his sufferings
Judgment Day!
And one day all will come before his judgment seat, all believers, all sinners, every knee will bow and every tongue confess
Each will be judged as to what they did with their mortal life
With the things God gave us, our bodies, money, homes, processions, gifts and so forth
Remember we are justified by faith alone and faith that is justified is expressed by love and obedience
Paul took this very seriously and said “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.”
Many feel that a healthy fear of judgment is a true motive in every believer as they serve the Lord in the spreading of the gospel
I always remember the parable of the servants given the talents and personally I strive to bring back more than was given
Or the parable of the of the sower, “Still other seed fell on good soil where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown, He who has ears let him hear.”
I want to hear the words “Well done good and faithful servant” when my time comes to bow down before the throne
Christ’s Love compels us
We do not share Christ and his works and words for our benefit
We share for loves sake
I pray that people when they come to church, hear a message or experience worship do not leave saying wasn’t he great, she sang so well and focus on the just the people
No folks its not about us, I pray that people leaving church will be saying “We met God there, I was with Jesus”
That’s why we meet and speak, sing and pray together, not for our pride and egos, but for the sake of God and his beloved Son
Notice the verse “so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart”
All around us and even in Churches are people who take pride in what they see, numbers, offerings, fixtures and fittings, having a bigger car, a better job, more money, fit and intelligent children, beautiful Hollywood style spouses and so on
No that’s not the point
The real treasure is in our hearts, the real strength lies in humility, the ones God takes pride in are those with humble servant hearts, these are the ones that will be used mightily, these are the trusted servants
Consider Moses, spoken of by God as the meekest man on planet and the one most used by God, spoke and lived in Gods presence, God judges by the contents of a heart not the bank balance
Consider as well that will survive for eternity, not the material things, they are gone with the coming of the new earth and heaven, they are gone when those who believe in Jesus step forth into the new creation as new creations
No, the eternal things are the people around you that’s the treasure of God, thats were the only harvest is, that’s what you can bring with you, that’s why we strive to bring back more than was sown in us
We must share the good news, we must share the love of Christ, we must be like our Lord and store up the true treasure for eternity
One Died for all!
We are convinced that one died for all
Think again of what Jesus did
The perfect sinless one died for the imperfect sinners like me!
Why? For love such a true and perfect love, a love that saves at the cost of self
How can we not respond but in love
Love for Jesus is what drives us
The cross means substitution, Christ takes our place, takes our punishment
Here we see the connection between God’s love and man’s sin, bridged by his son Jesus who stretched out across the chasm with outstretched arms and blood soaked hands giving his all for all, the only human who was perfect and sinless enough to go to heaven by merit, turning from the heavenly gates to the earthly pain and hurt, giving his all for the most vilest of offender and for us
The one died for all, all we need to remember that next time will think ill of someone, lose our temper, lose sight of Christ and God’s love of all people, all people
Paul is saying here “the Son of God ..Loved me and gave himself for ME”
Christ’s love is seen in either the immensity of the numbers loved (every human that has had life) or the intensity of his love
Every one, even the un born, the un heard, the most hated, the most loved, every, every human he died for, no exceptions, what amazing love!
Lets us live no more for us, but for him who died for all
Gods Reconciliation
God is the force of creation, his breath is life itself, at the moment of the death of his Son Jesus that life force is ignited
The sinners the fallen are restored are made clean by the precious blood of Jesus, washed clean in the crimson tide
God is reconciling creation, restoring paying the price. Reconciling the world to himself not counting mans sin against them
The God of endless mercy, forgiveness and love. The holy one who cannot simply say of evil “It does not matter, lets forgive and forget”, God cannot do this as God is God. This is why Atonement a way of removing the sins from God’s sight is necessary
This is what Jesus did, him who had no sin, sacrificed himself for us who are full of sin, as Paul said “God made him to be sin for us”, God substituted his son Jesus for us, what Love is that
Believers in Jesus are made new creations, God and sinful humans brought together the chasm closed the veil ripped in two, the door open to his presence
Thanks to the righteousness of Christ
Forgiven and remade in Christ’s image
This does not mean “happy ever after”, being a new creation does not immunize you against trouble or pain, sorry it just does not, we live in a hurting world
The full force of this new creation will come when Jesus returns in his full glory at the end of times, when those who are heaven bound are separated from those who are not
At conversion we become ambassadors to his kingdom, we have to share the good news of this reconciliation to all, so that all who could be saved will be saved, we cannot let one drop of that precious blood that was shed be wasted, God himself appeals through us
Become the righteousness of God
Consider Jesus sinless and holy
Jesus had no sin, no sin, think of it, I wonder if we could get through a day, an hour sometimes a minute without sinning
Our thoughts should be holy, are they?
Mine are not
Consider again that all of our thoughts are known to God even before they are formed, how can we ever be Holy
I stand with Isaiah and say “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5)
God is perfection, Jesus is sinless, his moral purity serves to magnify our impurity
We can receive the same assurance that Isaiah spoke “Behold. your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” (Isaiah 6:7), in Christ by surrender to him confessing Jesus is Lord and being sealed in the Holy Spirit, we are redeemed and reconciled to God
We start the process at the initial point of salvation, saved and sure, then the Holy Spirit starts his work, making us aware of our need for holiness
It is then that we all need to keep in mind and cling to the righteousness of Jesus, our righteousness, the rightness of God freely given to us by God’s amazing unearned grace
Never forget no matter how much Satan tempts you to despair once you turn to Jesus you are accepted by God, saved forever, Satan will attack you trying to convince you that you are not a Christian, not with the thoughts you have how could you be saved a true Christian would not think such evil thoughts
We do unfortunately and YOU are saved once you are in Christ, hold firm to the Rock of your Salvation, cling to that blood soaked cross
I identify with Paul when he said “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15), you’re not alone brother here I stand to
Remember “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God”
We Groan in our faith, but we are firm on the Rock of our Salvation and we move forward for our King, for his Kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven, who is the King, Jesus, Jesus is his name the friend of sinners like me! He is the King we serve
So remember, God loves you no matter what you do all can be forgiven when you turn to Jesus, God the Father is waiting with outstretched arms for the lost to turn for home, consider eternity and what is truly important and we should walk as humbly as we can cause its not about us it is all about God and his son Jesus, move forward and share the news of creation the news of life eternal, the news of Gods only son who saves sinners for eternity
Amen.
