2 Corinthians 6:1-2 (The Only Reason I Beg)

"As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.  For God says, 'At just the right time, I heard you.  On the day of salvation, I helped you.'  Indeed, the "right time" is now.  Today is the day of salvation."  -- 2 Cor. 6:1-2

I beg you...Why are you waiting to follow Christ with your whole being?  Whether you have accepted Christ but put Him on the back-burner, or you've never made the choice to say, "Yes, Jesus, You are my God, and I will follow and serve You.  Forgive me of my sin, for I am unclean and lost without You.  Thank you for this gift, Lord.  Take control of my life, and make me the kind of person You want me to be"...no matter where you are, it's never too late to start going a different direction.

Today is the day.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (Are You on God's Team?)

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  At the end of last week, we talked about our bodies, and how we are thankful that the Bible addresses our bodies, but we now know that our bodies were never meant to be the focus (as is prevalent in our culture).  So, as we continue in this verse with that mind set, we are reminded that we no longer look at people from a worldly point of a view.  That is, we don't judge people by the way they look.


Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Paul reminds us that to look at Christ and judge Him mere by what we see, we would not have thought highly.  Isaiah 52:2 tells us that "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."  Can you believe that?!  Did you know that Jesus was probably not the handsome character that we see painted all over the place?  Nothing about Him physically would have been attractive to us!  Yet, He was God!  I can't point fingers at the people back then, because I'm sure I would've dismissed Him, too, based on looks alone.  How sad.  But that's why it's about SO much more than just looks.  God didn't want us to come to Him based on His looks!  He wants us to come to Him based on who He is and what He did for us.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  Anyone who is united with Christ through faith in Him and commitment to Him can be reconciled to (at peace with, on the same team as) God, and a total renovation happens and continues in us.  We are no longer identified by our past, our looks, or anything else -- we are identified as His.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  And God initiated this.  This struck me in a fresh way this morning!  We didn't even have to ask Him to consider to help us, excuse us or save us.  He came up with the idea millenia before we would ever think of it.  This is all from Him!  He chose that He would not count our sin against us if we would trust Him and choose to love and follow Him.  And now, He has asked that we continue to spread this Good News!

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  It is a choice.  We must choose to be reconciled.  He can dangle the carrot in front of us, have person after person tell us what this means, surround us by a church of people who love us, and yet, if we have never chosen to follow Him, we are still lost.  And so I join with Paul, my friend, and I implore you: be reconciled to God this moment.  Confess your sins to Him, believe He is the Lord, and then choose to follow Him from now until forever.  It will be the best decision of your entire existence!

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  This is the sacrifice He made for you and me.  Though it wasn't a lamb on the altar this time; it was God Himself.  He died to pay for my sin and for yours.  God put the wrong on Jesus who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

Become friends with God; He's already a friend with you.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (Beautiful Bodies, Part 2)

⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

 Therefore we are always confident...  Other translations change the word confident to "of good cheer" here, and since we've just talked yesterday about our earthly bodies versus our heavenly bodies, it does make me smile.  We can be "of good cheer" or "confident" about our bodies as they fall apart before our very eyes because of the confidence we have in what's to come.  This is SO not the end!

...and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight.  Being reminded that we are away from the Lord as long as we are in these bodies is not meant to weigh us down, but instead is meant to give us hope -- that one day we will be with Him and in our new bodies!  We keep this faith alive in our hearts, despite what the world around us tells us about our bodies: that they're too wrinkly and shouldn't be, that gray hair is the devil, and that a few extra lumps and bumps need to be exterminated right now or people will find out that we're not going to live forever on this earth!  And most of society believes these lies, or wants to at least.  Instead, we don't focus on what we can see because it means nothing to us.  We are headed for a place that will absolutely blow our minds if we could only catch a glimpse, and we'll be in bodies that will do the very same thing.  The lame will walk, the mute will speak, and the blind will see...and so much more!


We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  And when we really believe this, it changes everything!  For most of my life, I have feared going to Heaven someday because I was just so comfortable right where I am (I say that about a lot of things, unfortunately).  But I wanted the confidence to say that, I really did.  And when my mom died, and I was forced to deal with the concept of Heaven face-to-face, I came to understand that now I, too, am very confident and can say that I would prefer to be away from this raggedy body, yes, and at home with the Lord!  It is this that we don't see that keeps me going even now!


So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  And again, he reminds us that the bodies are not the main focus and concern.  Instead, our sole goal is to please the Lord -- that is our spiritual act of worship.  No matter where I am, what I'm doing, or who I'm with, I want my focus to be that, to be always asking, Am I pleasing you, Lord?  That is what matters most.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.  A reminder that when we do die and appear before the Lord, our lives (our words and actions) will be judged.  We may have eternal life, but we will need to make an account for our actions.  That's not to intimidate, but rather to hold us accountable.  We represent Christ, so we do need to be held accountable that we're representing Him well! 

One question might be: how did you use your body?  

Did we shriek at every sign of age, wear, and tear, or did we thank Him for the body He gave us that shows signs of use?  Did we spend all our time, effort and money making our body beautiful down here, or did we spend some time, effort, and money using our body to serve others, which in turn beautified our heart?  After all, that is the only thing we get to take with us when we go.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 (Beautiful Bodies)

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, ³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

I have a love-hate relationship with my body.  It's not the "oh, I hate the way I look" kind of hate, on most days anyway, though like many of us, I often think I could probably lose a couple pounds.  No, most days I feel pretty okay with the body I've been given because it works.  It does what it was made to do: walk, eat, move, etc, and every little part performs its job fairly well.  But, the dislike has begun in the past year or two, and is most noticeable whenever I suddenly feel a new ache in my leg, see a wrinkle that wasn't there last year, and most noticeably this summer, observed the surprising breadth of the freckles and moles that are beginning to show on my once porcelain skin (okay, let's be honest, it never really was the porcelain kind).  Now, I know, some of you reading this may be thinking, "Oh girl, you ain't seen nothin' yet!  Just wait until you turn ____!"  And, I am aware of this.  I think that's why I don't totally hate my body, because right now its doing well compared to where it will most certainly be some day.

In our society, so much emphasis is placed on beauty and looking young.  I know I don't have to tell you this because you'll see hundreds of images today that will back me up before you close your eyes tonight.  But, that's why I really liked reading this verse this morning.  Because we absolutely do need to pay attention to our bodies, but our current bodies should not be our sole focus.

"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands."   I like how it says "if" we die.  Umm, we're all gonna die, is what I was thinking.  But what if the "if" means sooner than we think -- because we never think we're going to die soon.  But it says we don't need to fret, because it reminds us that if we do die soon, we have a place to dwell that is not built by human hands (thank goodness, because things made by humans always eventually break).  And I like the word "tent" used to refer to our bodies as if we are nomads -- and we are -- moving around from place to place until we are in our final home with the Lord.  But picture a tent with me.  Any tent I have ever stayed in is a cheap one, so it's thin, frail, cramped, cold, and requires mending on occasion.  It is all these things and is not meant to be lived in forever.  It wasn't built that way, right?  Just like our bodies.

Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling... My parents raised us to like camping, or they tried at least.  We would go once a year in the fall as kids.  And I can remember that the entire time I was camping, I was longing for my warm, plush bed and a hot shower.  I really want to like it, but it's just not my favorite.  I would moan, complain, and whine on occasion in my own mind, wishing I could be back home.  Don't we do the same things with our bodies: moan, complain, and whine, wishing they were a little more comfotable?  Again, I think I have only seen the tip of the iceburg when it comes to watching and feeling my body deteriorate, but I've seen it in other people, too.  I watched my mom's body deteriorate in a way I didn't even know bodies could do!  Hers was a very ragged tent by the end, and we longed for her to be in her beautiful, hand-made, perfect body from God so badly.

 ...so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  Mortal, mortality, mortician.  In case you forgot your fifth-grade Greek and Latin roots, mort = death.  Even our name (mortals) signifies that we are not ever-lasting...but we know the One who is!  It's not that we want to be "unclothed" as the verse says, meaning we don't want to die.  But when we know what is to come, we just want these dying bodies to be swallowed up, and we want to be immortal, just like the action-heroes.  Immortal sounds like such a science fiction word to use, but that is exactly how we were originally created.  In the Garden of Eden, we were not created to die, but to live with God forever there.  But sin brought death upon us.  And now we await the day when death is swallowed up and all we ever experience is life once again!

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  There it is: God fashioned us for the very purpose of life.  And His Spirit within us is why we have this notion that we aren't supposed to die...because we weren't originally made to die!  I would imagine that before the fall, Adam and Eve had some pretty awe-inspiring bodies that were perfectly made, functioned without a flaw, and were just beautiful...and someday, that is what we will have again.  Because it is this groaning in our soul, this desire to stay beautiful and youthful and live forever, that God's Spirit stirs in us.  It says, "There's more coming, and it will be awesome...this desire for life and beauty will be fulfilled."

So, in the meantime, we take care of the tent we have been given.  We are thankful for it because it allows us to live on this earth.  And when the aches, pains, sags, wrinkles, spots, bulges, and hairs starts to tiptoe into places where they weren't before, may we chuckle to ourselves and be reminded that this current tent is not built to house us forever; but very soon we will see the bodily home created for our soul as it was meant to be...immortal, beautiful, and perfect...and we'll live in the presence of The Creator Himself.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Fix Our Eyes)

 <sup>For Amy and Ben

16</sup> Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This was the verse that we used at my grandma's funeral, and we liked it so much because it really lead us to the doorway of Hope, that we used it again four months later at my mom's funeral.  My grandma's funeral in December of 2008 was the first funeral of a loved one I had attended that meant something, the first death of someone very close to me who I wasn't "ready" to lose yet.  And I remember thinking, how do people without the hope of Christ make it though this?  What do you have at the end of it all if you don't have Heaven and Jesus?  Thankfully, my first funeral wasn't my mom's, because I'm not sure how I would've made it though that without having watched my sweet grandma pass away first in order to know what to expect when Mom died.  The only people I've watched die both died of cancer, so I can't say what it's like for everyone, but I remember that watching their bodies decline in such unrecognizable ways was almost more than I could bear.  Death is rotten.

There is something about the death of a loved one that just doesn't sit right.  We know that all of us will die, yet it still just feels like we were cheated.  And we were.  It wasn't created to be this way.  "In the beginning," we weren't created to experience death.  But with sin, came death.

But all praise to our Heavenly Father, who chose to make a way for us to live forever with Him!  He sent his son, Jesus, who cheated death -- something no one else in all of history has done -- when He rose from the grave three days after He died!  Now that is worth shouting about!!

So, when we "die" now, we don't really die, because if we have chosen to accept what Christ did for us in his death and resurrection, then "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8), and immediately we walk through an unseen "curtain" (my metaphor) and into God's presence (which will be more wonderful than we can even try to imagine or predict).  So, we are never really "dead".  And in that moment, all the hardship, the disease, the mockery, the ridicule, the poverty, the tears, the stress, the unmet expectations of this world will vanish.  They will mean nothing to us in that moment.  So also will my cars, my house, my clothes, my status at work, my name on plaques and buildings, my Pinterest account, my Facebook account, my Twitter account, all my favorite TV shows and movies, my social status, my stocks and bonds, my vacation rentals, my collection of books, and everything else of material possession -- they will all mean absolutely nothing to me in that moment.

Instead, what will matter in that moment and the moments to follow will be how I loved God and people, how I served God and His people, how I trusted God enough to persevere through tough circumstances, what I did with the material possessions and money He gave me, if I made time for people, if I lived a life worthy of His calling, if I was interruptable, if I told the truth in all things, if I was humble, if I was loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, compassionate, gentle, and self-controlled, if I loved my neighbor as myself and if I loved the Lord, my God, with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Because if I did, I am going to have some major celebrating to do with the people whose lives God impacted through me and the people whose lives God used to impact me, and I don't know what all the rewards will be, but if God (the One who owns everything in the entire universe) is in charge of the party-planning, it is going to be one mind-blowing party to kick-off the rest of eternity!

And so, my dear friends, we may be watching those we love as their bodies are outwardly wasting away, but my prayer is that we are equally crying out to God so that we can be renewed day by day in the process -- today and for the next few decades.  Our momentary troubles (and oh, how they hurt) are developing in us characteristics that we could never develop if it weren't for these troubles, and the characteristics and trust and faith that these difficult times create last forever.  Forever.  Even into Heaven.  So, we must keep our hearts focused on what we can't see (our God and His Heaven and the work that He is doing in us) because those are the things that will last for all of eternity.  
And we will be there soon, too.

I love this from The Message:

^16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Keep pressing on and leaning in Him, my brothers and sisters.  God brings light from darkness, life from death, and He is working in you in the midst of your grief.  I promise you, because I know so! We are almost there, and it will be magnificent, and all of this will be worth it.  He promises.

2 Corinthians 4:11-15 (Speak Up)

¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ¹² So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.
¹³ But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” ¹⁴ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. ¹⁵ All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.


 ¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus  Okay, we may not live like our Chinese brothers and sisters, and countless others around the world, who might actually die for their faith today, but what about the death of other things?  Have you had a family member or friend turn their back on you because you chose to trust in Christ?  That's the death of a relationship.  Have you had to change the course of your occupation or perhaps struggled at work because of your relationship with Christ, ending in the death of a job?  How about the death of a dream?  The death we experience as a result of trusting Christ may not always be in the form of physical death.

So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.  We may face deaths and persecution, but it's because of these beliefs that we are receiving eternal life.  And though we may think we are at the end of our rope, we never are.  Christ has victory over ALL deaths -- all our risks, humiliations, and trials are opportunities for Christ to demonstrate His power and presence in and through us, for us, and to the watching world.  We know how it ends -- those who trust in Christ receive Heaven!

But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you.  Paul faced more hardship because of his desire to preach about Christ than any of us can say; yet, he continued to speak the truth of Jesus Christ because of the importance of salvation, and knowing that one day he would obtain God's rest and rewards.  Look at the cause and effect there:  I believed, so I spoke.  We believe, but how often do we speak of it to others -- believers and non-believers?  Is speaking about God something you do on a daily basis?  I'd wonder if it's fair to say that we speak about what we think about most, and if that's true, am I speaking about God to the people around me?  Am I telling others (Christian and non-) about my hardships and my trust, what I'm doing at church this weekend, and who Jesus is to me?  I want God to be part of my everyday speech!

And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.  How hard is it to not think about ourselves?  Umm...very.  Yet I see that Paul's goal here is toward others -- that more and more people would come to know Christ and that God would receive more and more glory.  I feel convicted today that so often what I do is for myself, and yet everything I do should be for God's glory, not my own!  I know my heart, and 95% of the time it is concerned about me.  But if I'm concerned about God, people knowing God, and God receiving all the praise for everything good, then I will have the perspective and passion to keep speaking the Word, even in the face of hardship.  It's amazing to me how quickly things that are solely about me can lose their steam, but when the focus of my work is about God and others, that's when I have the supernatural, God-given motivation, desire, and strength to press on!

But there's one little but big phrase we skipped...And all this for your benefit (vs 15).  All what?!  All the death, trial, hardship, persecution.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again, God does His greatest works in our lives during our trials and hardships and anguish.  It's true!  I am a living testament to that!  It is in these times that we will stretched beyond our own capacity to a place where we know we've become a little more like Christ, we will question in ways we never have before to a place where we have a little more faith than we did before, and we will have a compassion for others that is deeper and more meaningful than any word that ever passed our lips or any action that graced our fingertips before.  All I can tell you, my dear friend, is that whatever trial you may be facing right now, keep your feet planted where you are, because God is doing something good in your life.  You may not see it now because all you see is darkness ahead, but I promise you, and these verses promise you, the light is coming!  God doesn't use us up like a pen and then throw us away when we have completed a task and are no longer useful to Him -- no!!  He sees you, and He's with you, and He promises if you stick it out with Him, you will come out more complete on the other side.  He is not wasting your pain.  There is purpose in it if you will hold on long enough to catch a glimpse of it.  He loves you, and He only works for your good (Romans 8:28).  Only for your good.

And when you do catch a glimpse of the benefits...speak up!

James 1:17 (Good Gifts)

Once again, I must veer away from where I "should" be going in 2 Corinthians this morning to something that was so powerful to me last night as I was doing a little reading.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  James 1:17

I have the pleasure of studying the great book of James with about 15 other amazing women right now, and this was the verse for yesterday's study.  I was so filled up by it that I just have to share it with you this morning!

Here's the key word: EVERY.  Every single good thing in your life comes from your Creator, who loves you so intensely.  He's like a father wanting to give good gifts to His kids!  If we've got some good stuff going on in our lives right now, He's the one to thank!  That's just the kind of gift-giving God He is.

However, we often associate our temptations, our diseases, our lack of _____ with God's punishment.  We are often are like Proverbs 19:3,  "A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord."  Umm....yes, that's me.  How many times have I made foolish choices, but then blamed the poor result on God?  But even in the midst of those choices, God blessed me with the gift of "getting caught" so that I could be more perfect, more complete, as His child in those stages of my life.  That was a "perfect"gift for me at the time, and I am much better for it now.

But sometimes, He lavishes us with gifts that we might more readily think of as "good".  For instance, the author of this study had us take our age and divide by four (to represent the four quarters of our lives) then begin listing gifts that we received in each quarter.  In my first quarter of life, I was over-whelmed with the gifts God gave me: two incredible, Christ-following parents, three younger sisters to play with, a woods in our backyard for amazing adventures, leading me to come to know him at the Little Lamb Preschool and Kindergarten at the age of 5, a large and loving extended family on both sides, and the list goes on...and though there was not much hardship in the first quarter, there was in the other quarters, and even hardship has been a gift to me.  I can say that with 100% honesty.

So, I challenge us today to think of all the "good and perfect gifts" you have received, the gifts you readily receive, and the difficult experiences that you can look back upon now and see how they actually were a gift.

Take some time with me to thank God for these things.  Don't you see how He's been working in your life all these years?  And He doesn't change...He will keep giving you gifts, so keep your eyes open to that today.  I'm sure He's getting 'em lined up right now...

Whatever is good in your life, thank Him for it today.

Thank you, Lord.  You are so incredibly much more than we could ever deserve.