2 Corinthians Chapter 5 Part 1

[Music] shalom and welcome to via hafta israel a hebrew phrase which means you shall love israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr baruch shares his expository teaching from the bible dr baruch is the senior lecturer at the zehra avraham institute based in israel although all courses are taught in hebrew at the institute dr baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in english to find out more about our work in israel please visit us on the web at loveisreal.org that's one word loveisreal.org now here's baruch with today's lesson death is a subject that is relevant for all human beings because we will leave this body in one of two ways we will either die and our soul will go elsewhere or if we're a believer and if we're alive at the time of our blessed hope this body will be changed and our soul will inhabit a new body a kingdom body and we're going to be speaking about death tonight because paul says some most encouraging words to the believers concerning this subject so with that said take out your bible and look with me to second corinthians and chapter five second corinthians and chapter five in this study we're going to look only at the first half of this chapter the first 10 verses and here paul speaks clearly he speaks with the authority of the holy spirit in order that we might know the truth concerning death and what happens after one dies so let's get started let's look at verse 1. and a very important word that is contained here in this passage is the word we so paul is speaking not to the world but he's speaking about an experience that only believers will have so this scripture is most relevant to those who are believers in messiah these promises this good news this hope that we have is one that is reserved for those who have accepted messiah yeshua into their life let's begin verse one second corinthians chapter five verse one he writes for we know that if our earthly house now the earthly house that he's speaking of is not where we reside what address where our home is located he's using figurative language when he says our earthly house he's not speaking about our home our apartment where we dwell but rather he's talking about our body where our soul resides and this is going to become very obvious it's not an interpretation i can be dogmatic and very very strong in that view because i've read the other verses in this section it's clear that he's speaking about our body because later on he'll say our body and when we look at verse 1 let's press on he says for we know and this is a word that has to do with knowing in the past knowing now and nothing will change this in the future we can be assured of this see we always have to pay attention to the vocabulary there is a difference between the word gnusko for knowing something and the word for knowing that and that's why if we're going to enter into a discussion about the scripture the vocabulary that paul the authors of of a particular passage we need to know the language the words that they chose and the implications for why they chose one word rather than another word they both mean no but they have some very serious implications to them and therefore he says for we know that if and we see the subjective and this is important because he's speaking here about a possibility something that will happen but we don't know necessarily when so that's why it's in the subjunctive i said that wrong the first time the subjunctive so he says for if our earthly bodies and that's what he's speaking about our earthly house and then he has a phrase to this is the but it's in the sense of of and then we have a word if i said the word skin you know the body's covered with skin and this is a word here skinos which is the word translated tent so he says a person for example dwells in a tent that was very common at one time now our souls we have an earthly tent and what is that as he's going to tell us it's our body so now he's using terms in order to clarify to his audience what he's speaking about let's look again at this first verse for we know that if our earthly house of the tent of the skin should be and this is what is the subjunctive should be destroyed now it's going to be but we don't know when so whenever this happens whenever our our earthly body what he calls our dwelling place our home at the present time when our earthly body should be destroyed he says a dwelling place and he uses a similar word but it's different where the first one was speaking about a a house a dwelling place this is speaking about perhaps a building it is to contrast and speak about something that is greater something that is larger having more significance and he says a building from god we have so we can have assurance he tells us that if our earthly body is destroyed and it's really when it will be destroyed it's going to be no more it's going to give away but this should not cause us anxiety uncertainty fear dread for we here again only to believers for we have and that's what he says a building from god and now he's going to describe this building and he goes back to the word house a place of intimacy a place of safety a place of of security he says a house but then he has a phrase being made by hands and he has a prefix in front of it which means not made by human hands so if something exists in the scripture that is not made by human hands normally we assume it to be and rightly so that it's made by god and this is confirmed we've already saw where it says a building from god we have a home not made by human hands but one and because god makes it we know something look at the next part of verse 1 at the end where it says eternal in the heavens now the term heavens here is also connected to god it also heavens is also word that's frequently in the new covenant connected to the kingdom we have the kingdom of heaven and we have the kingdom of god so heaven is frequently a kingdom word so once more we know something we know that if our earthly house of of skin of a tent should be destroyed a building from god we have a house not made by human hands but rather he says one that is eternal in the heavens verse two now before we look at this second verse that's good news so i don't need to be fearful if i'm a believer about my body what ultimately is going to happen to it because we see something when my earthly body should be no more of destruction of decay of of no more inhabitable then i have something i have a building that god has made that's eternal and it's in the heaven it has a kingdom connection that's what undeniably verse 1 is saying now let me point out that we're going to see later on that there's not a a time period between these two things meaning there's no evidence here that when one dies that they go into a state of sleep paul says nothing about it here now does the bible talk about sleep yes but it's speaking about sleep as i've said so many times simply using that term to say are you afraid of sleeping no one's afraid of sleeping therefore we shouldn't be afraid of death why aren't you afraid of sleeping because you expect to wake up you have that assurance i take a nap i go to bed at night but in the morning or when i wake up i do just that i start again my life i just took a rest it's not the end sleep isn't an end it's simply rest and what he's saying here in the same way death isn't an end death is simply a transition this is what paul's going to emphasize and i believe has he says if our earthly body has been destroyed we have a heavenly body one that's not made with human hands but by god and it's connected to the kingdom now when we go to verse two it's going to get more specific for also in this now what's he referring to when he says in this well the word this is a demonstrative pronoun now we all know what a pronoun is if we're talking about reuven we can say ruin this ruin that and then we can say he he is a son of yakov who is reuven so he is simply a pronoun that that relates to reuven in this example well a demonstrative pronoun is not he but this and it's demonstrative because it points out it is a strong indicator so whenever we have a demonstrative pronoun we need to realize that something something is being pointed out in a very demonstrative way in regard to the subject the subject of the pronoun and what is that this house so he says here for also in this meaning this house which is referring to this body so as long as we are in this body this earthly body dwelling in skin in this tent as paul says what do we do we groan and this is a word that expresses sorrow it can express pain it can express discouragement and when we live in this world we have those things some days how are things going very well but it's not too long until we have something that interrupts that that joy that that peace that happiness we hear something we experience something we learn something whatever it might be that causes us to have sorrow to have feelings that are are not pleasing and this what he says he says for also in this this body we groan now we're groaning currently and we also desire something what is that well notice what he says he speaks about once more this this building this building which is from heaven and notice what he says not just any building but he uses our building from heaven to be clothed and then he says we yearn for we and it's a word for a strong passionate intense desire now we know something paul is laying the foundation to teach a principle he's already alluded to it and that's this when i'm in this body i have things that are not pleasing that are not comfortable that are full of stress anxiety sorrow pain all of those things and it's for this reason paul says however our building from heaven our heavenly home he says we're going to be clothed with now that's important because there's a word here that speaks about a change a transformation whereby we were in a tent this body calls in verse one a tent using the word that we get in english the word skin from we have this skin that usually we think of our body and he says i long for i strongly desire i want desperately i'm passionate about what he says about our dwelling place from heaven to be clothed meaning to put this on to have a new body a new covering and this covering as we have seen is a kingdom covering it's a kingdom body that we're going to dwell in for how long well it tells us at the end of verse one for eternity the word the last word in verse two is this word for yearning desiring in a very strong thing so paul says we yearn for we desire intensely this heavenly body now why would we have such a strong desire for it if now we're in a earthly body very simply it's this new body this one that only believers will receive it is far superior it is better and it is superior in every way that's what he's trying to convey to us verse 3. for if we also are clothed now he's talking about again this future this new body we're going to have a covering so he says if or we could translate it since also since also being clothed and the implication is with this new body he says not naked we will be found so in the future when that first body goes away decays disappear is destroyed returns to ashes and dust he says we're not going to be naked but rather he speaks about being clothed and what's very important is we are going to be found to be clothed not naked now the term naked in the bible is frequently associated with shame one who has nothing pleasing to god is naked or he has dirty clothes filthy garments that speaks about unrighteousness but ones that are clothed properly says in the scripture that the clothes are the righteous acts of the saints in regard to the bride of messiah and this is what this is alluding to that we won't be naked we won't be ashamed because we are going to be clothed and this is how we're going to be found and the implication is found by god verse 4. for also the ones being in the skin it's that same word for tent the first time he used it it was this earthly tent what we dwell in right now what's we the very essence of a human being it is that neshema that soul the spirit of man and that dwells currently in this body and as long as it's there what does he say very carefully verse 4 for also the ones being in the tent he says it a second time what do we do we groan it is a word of of relating to expressing pain sorrow grief sadness suffering that's what this body experiences now we can know joy and happiness and pleasure but more often than not in this body what does paul say elsewhere in the body you're going to have trouble and that's why and we'll see this paul if given an option a choice just for himself he'd rather leave this earthly tent and put on that new body that kingdom body that's what heroes desire is for he said that at the end of verse 1 we are passionate about this therefore look at verse 4 for also the ones being in the skine skin in the tent we groan why being burdened and then he says unto which we do not want we do not want not to be clothed we don't want to be without clothes but he says that we want to be clothed in order that in order that the the death the mortality be swallowed up by life so he says it's not that we just want to dissipate not exists this world is full of pain and suffering and sorrow we know it's going to get worse it's going to get much much much worse and a believer does not say well i just want to die and be done with it just end one who wants to end life one who wants just to escape to cease to be this is not someone who has faith we're passionate about a new body because that new body is connected to and i hope you know where i'm going it's connected to the kingdom so paul says here it's not just because we groan and we're burdened he says unto which we do not want to be unclothed but clothed in order that this body of death this mortal body that it be swallowed up and i love this next phrase by life now we see there is that that consistent throughout the scripture this consistent relationship between a kingdom experience and the life i have life now i'm breathing my heart's beating but i don't have the life life in that new existence of the kingdom this is what should excite us this is what should motivate us and drive our behavior in this world so paul says it's it's not that i want to be unclothed meaning die but i want to be clothed in order that the mortality and that word mortality is simply where death in hebrew comes from the same origin that that the mortal body should be swallowed up by life verse 5. now he's going to tell us who brings that about there is only one source that gives us this life the life the kingdom life and that's why it says look carefully at verse five we have a participle begins but the one who is working this out for us it says this this very thing the same thing what he's talking about who's the one that works it out he says god the greek word theos god does he works this out for us why we could never do it ourself we are a recipient what does messiah say he says if i go away i will prepare a place for you a dwelling place this is what he's referring to this this place and also a new body for specifically designed for that kingdom experience once more verse five but the one who works this out for us this very thing is god and he gives to us and this is the proof he gives to us the guarantee of the spirit now we know that there's something called earnest money that is i want to buy something let's say a house and i i want the deal to go through i'm serious so i give the seller money i give a down payment a token of my sincerity that i'm going to follow through and pay for it all so this is what the spirit one of his purposes there are many but we can be assured of a new body a kingdom body everlasting life all that goes with it because we have the holy spirit so the fact that we are recipients of the holy spirit shows that we are in a new covenant relationship it's only through a new covenant relationship that one can receive the spirit of god the holy spirit we see in the book of isaiah chapter 59 verse 20 and 21 that this new covenant experience that that begets our receiving of the holy spirit that causes us to receive the holy spirit is a covenant of redemption so he writes not only is he working this out for us we can be assured because there's evidence of that there's the earnest of that and that is the spirit the holy spirit because of that look now verse 6. because i know there's nothing uncertain i experience the work of the holy spirit in my life i am tempted the holy spirit tells me this is temptation this is not something that you want to do we see other times that the holy spirit supplies he gives in order that god's will can be done so because we experience the work the ministry of the holy spirit we can have assurance and that's why look now at verse six therefore being confident some of the times no what is that word pantote pon is all every tote is is a time so at all times we are confident being confident why we have confidence because we're basing our expectations our hope is founded in the promises of god so he says therefore being confident at all times and knowing that and then we have a very important word the mayo now this word demeo it's a word for being at home located at home and that home can be broader it can be part of a population or society but in this case he's talking about being in a body at home in the body that's how he's used this he's not talking about being part of a community now he's talking to the individual a group of believers and he says to each one you have this earthly body this tent that you dwell in so he's using a word that speaks and it's the same word some will say present and absent it's the same word the only difference why we translate them differently is the prefix one is n n is the greek preposition which means in or at and then we have the word ech which means out of or from so we have a word for home so you're either at home in your home or you're from your home or out of your home these are the two words that's going to be used here of great significance and what what bothers me because this is a issue that has uh some strong theological differences and when i discuss this with individuals and i said well let's talk about the significance of this word how's it translating your bible oh present and absent and they have all types of explanations i said well what is the origin what is the meaning the base meaning of this word they don't know they've done no study of the original language what this word means and you don't have to have a a phd a master's degree or anything all you have to do is have a smartphone or a good library but a smartphone and do some study you go you can click on this word you see it in english you can click and it gives you the greek origin and then you can click on that and find how this word is used other places inside the bible outside the bible the the etymology of the word all of this so that you can understand what it's saying so it's only after spending the time investing doing the work the due diligence that you have a right to express an opinion there's many people that have all types of theological ideas they have no right to express them because it's based upon what they've heard what they want what they think rather than thorough study and the reason why i say you have no right i'm not speaking of that from a right in society many places have free speech so you have an earthly right you just don't have a right before god because if you're going to share something in regard to the scripture you have had to study previously to show yourself a proof you have to do the work you don't want to share something that you really don't know about that's why i say you have no right to do it so let's look at this word verse 6 and knowing that and it has this word to be at home he says knowing that to be at home in and now it gets very clear the body the word suma here it's the word in a different construction but it's being at home being located in the body so notice what he says knowing that being at home being present in the body is means something it means that you are out of your heavenly home he says you're not at home you are apart from the lord so what do we know here as long as i'm in this flesh this tent this body at home located in that my soul i am apart i am absent from the lord i'm not present with him not present absent not at home in this new body because in order to be with the lord i have to have this this new condition now we need to be careful because we see that there's the soul the soul can be in the presence of god but he's talking ultimately ultimately of a kingdom experience now one of the things we need to realize is that there's a difference between present day heaven and the kingdom of god now why do i say that well for example we know something we know that heaven is not eternal now i say that and many people they're surprised by that but we can look at the scripture for example in in second peter chapter 3 verse 13 peter is speaking and he says nevertheless according to the promise i like that he's basing his hope upon the promises of god and he says nevertheless we based upon the promises of god we know something he says we know that that we're going to be in the position the place of righteousness so we know that according to the promise of god there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells second peter 3 13. also we know for example in matthew chapter 5 and verse 18. messiah is speaking and he says that the relevance the significance of the law the torah will not give away will not become obsolete will not pass away not one one jot not one tittle to use the language of the new covenant until heaven and earth pass away so it it foreshadows it it teaches us there's going to be a new heaven and earth and likewise in revelation chapter 21 verse 1 it speaks about there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and the first earth pass away so when we're talking about our our eternal dwelling place the kingdom of god we're going to see that that believers are going to have a new body and that new body enables them to be in the kingdom of god now i realize that when we look for example in the scripture there's no indication that those who come to faith after the rapture that they're going to have a new body they might but there's nothing that specifically says that they're going to have to one interpretation is eat the the leaves of the trees why they're for healing so for them not to dissipate dissolve decay they're going to have to out of obedience take from those leaves of that tree you can read as well in revelation 21 and 22 about the new jerusalem but in a general sense we find that it's this new body that enables us to dwell in the presence of god and that's why he says let's be very specific verse verse 6 and knowing that being at home in the body we are absent from the lord and because of that what do we do through faith for through faith we walk and not by sight so he says as long as i am not in this new body not in the presence of god i walk by faith not what i see in this world seeing is not believing seeing leads us to be deceived things are not as they appear we see things only in one dimension the spiritual dimension we don't perceive we don't know the angelic realm what's going on the battles that are taking place around us we do not see properly therefore we don't make decisions solely on what we see but we base them upon truth that's what it means when it says we walk by faith and not by sight verse 8. he says again and we being confident and it has a word here for for thinking in a good way so he says but being confident and and seeing or thinking well having the right perception so being confident and determining what is right what is good we conclude something and what is that he says it's preferable now it's a word malone malone here is rather so he's seeking speaking about something that is profitable that he rather would have and what is that it's not hard to to interpret this he says rather to be absent from the body that is the word to be out of home from this body so he says here it's profitable we prefer i'd rather be absent absent from the body and what do we know to be absent from the body is to be at home with to be at home what's his home this new home to be present with the lord so we learn something we see no time period in between these things paul is saying two things we are either going to be at home in this body in this tent or we're going to be in a new experience a new home ultimately and when we die we will go there's nothing sleeping there's no rest period this time it says to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord to be at home with the lord there's two alternatives either to be in this body if you're a believer or to be present with the lord at home with him that's what he's saying very important that we see this simple message this simple truth so once again but be confident and thinking well thinking in a right way we prefer we'd rather be absent from this body and to be present with the lord verse nine now nine the key word in verse nine is a word of in modern uh thought this would be the word ambition having an ambition what it speaks about is a strong strong strong desire a passion about something and this is why he says look again verse nine therefore also being being passionate desiring he says rather whether we are at home in the body or absent from the body regardless he says i am desiring i am ambitious to what he says to be well pleasing to him meaning the lord so regardless of my circumstances paul says what i desire regardless of if i'm in this body or i'm away from this body with him regardless what is his desire what is he passionist for what is he ambitious of he says to be well pleasing to him and i would encourage you to do a a study of this word it's a word pleasing and then the prefix you which is a particle which means good instead of good we would say not good pleasing but well pleasing if your bible says as many bibles translated to be acceptable not to be acceptable but to be well pleasing to him last verse verse 10 for all of us and it's speaking here when it says all of us there's the definite article before all of us and what does that mean he's speaking to a specific group all believers so we write because non-believers are not going to to appear before this judgment see the bhima of messiah no we find that non-believers are going to and this is found at the end of revelation chapter 20 they're going to appear before the great white throne judgment true believers we don't go to the great white throne of judgment we go to this judgment and it's entirely different for a different purpose this is a judgment of rewards and we find the great white throne judgment is a judgment of condemnation everyone who goes the great white throne judgment will be tossed into the lake burning with fire verse 10 for all of us it's necessary to appear before the demon the judgment seat of messiah in order that each of us and then the word here refers to a payment an outcome so we have to go there because there's an outcome our actions our deeds are going to produce a kingdom result and what does he say in order that each of us that we receive that we be compensated for what the things through the body and speaking about what we've done what we have done in this body while we were in this body so the things that were through the body according to everything each one that he did so we are going to be compensated there's going to be an outcome messiah is going to render judgment in regard to all of the things that that one has done in the body whether these things be good or whether they're bad what do we know about that well in our study of first corinthians 3 we had some some commentary on that and here's what we learned everything that we have done in the body in the flesh that's displeasing that the scripture says is bad messiah went to the cross for that we are going to understand the consequences of those actions in this world and for eternity but but messiah has paid the price everything that's good that he did through us he gets all the praise and honor but we're going to be rewarded so we will suffer a loss of rewards i've given the example and we'll close with this given the example that that messiah he's created we have a purpose a plan for a life and all the rewards if we were to faithfully carry out that plan those rewards are waiting for us and we're gonna see see them but but those things that were done that were evil bad not according to the will of god we're gonna see them being lost talks about in first corinthians chapter three how they suffer loss those things that were remain that were good we'll go to get the reward so we're going to understand what our life could have been and what it was when we were not faithful what that faithlessness cost us what's the result of it this is the purpose of the bema seat the judgment seat of messiah that every believer is is going to go before it is not the great white throne judgment those who go to the great white throne judgment they are all all of them are non-believers and they're going to be condemned eternally to that lake that burns with fire so the message here is very simple we're going to have a dwelling place now the dwelling place ultimately is the kingdom of god it is our new home for those who take part in the rapture we're going to have a kingdom designed body for that for those who do not but that come to faith there's nothing that says that they're ever going to receive a kingdom body perhaps they will but there's no evidence of that what we see is that there's a group of people in the new jerusalem that are going to partake of the leaves of that tree of life that that's going to give them healing for the nations so there's much to be learned about this subject but one thing that we can be assured of to be absent from this body is to be present with the lord not in some state of unconsciousness asleep in some condition we don't see anything that speaks of that in the bible well i'll close with that until next week when we complete the second half of 2nd corinthians chapter 5 until then shalom from israel well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love israel.org again to find out more about us please visit our website love israel dot o-r-g there you will find articles and numerous other lectures by baruch these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the lord bless you in our messiah yeshua that is jesus as you walk with him shalom from israel

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Length: 48min 9sec (2889 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 25 2021