this world is not my home

This World Is Not Our Home

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18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. – Romans 8:18-25 ESV

Paul has just told us that we need to accept the reality that, in this life, we will suffer with Christ “in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17 ESV). All of us would love to avoid suffering; that is only natural. But Paul seems to indicate that suffering is part of the process that leads to our future glorification.

Much of the suffering we experience in this lifetime is related to our sanctification, God’s work of transforming us into the likeness of His Son. He is constantly refining and purifying us, making our behavior comport with our status as His sons and daughters. And Paul confidently tells us, “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT).

We are works in progress, and are not yet what we will be. Part of the problem is the earthly bodies in which we are required to live. Paul compared man’s earthly body to a tent, which emphasizes its temporary nature. It is not meant to be permanent but was designed for this world, not the next.

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. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 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. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NLT

As we experience our time-bound existence in these temporary bodies, it is easy to become one-dimensional and focused on this life, all the while forgetting that there is a life to come. But this life is not all there is, and is not all we should think about. As we endure the suffering and distractions of this world, Paul would have us keep our eyes and our faith firmly focused on what God has in store for us. Which is why he said, “What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later” (Romans 8:18 NLT).

As followers of Christ, we need to constantly remind ourselves that no matter how bad things may get in this life, something unbelievably better awaits us. And even the good things we may experience during our time on this earth are nothing when compared to the glory that awaits us.

Again, what makes focusing on the future so difficult is our earthly bodies. When we suffer, our bodies convince us that nothing good can come from it. We become incapable and sometimes unwilling to consider that God can and does use suffering to sanctify us. Which is why Paul adds the following word of encouragement later in this same chapter:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. – Romans 8:28 NLT

Whether we realize it or not, our struggles in this life are proof that there is more to come. We will never be fully satisfied with life in this world, and the pain and suffering we experience cause us to long for relief and rescue. Even blessings that come in the form of material or physical things leave us empty because they are temporal and nothing more than a cheap imitation of what is to come. Everything in this world is prone to destruction and decay and will ultimately leave us disappointed because it cannot deliver what it seems to promise. That is why Jesus warned His disciples against placing too much hope in temporal treasures.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” – Matthew 6:19-21 NLT

Our hearts will find no lasting satisfaction or fulfillment in the things of this earth. In fact, if we’re not careful, the temporal treasures we think will bring us happiness and contentment will actually produce coveteousness, lust, greed, selfishness, and a host of other far-from-righteous characteristics. It is this reality that led Paul to warn the Galatian believers, “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:26 NLT). He also admonished them for living like they were citizens of this world rather than the one to come.

You are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? – Galatians 3:3 NLT

Living one-dimensionally can only lead to one thing: an overemphasis on this world. But we were made for glory.  He reminds the believers in Rome that, as children of God, they have an eternal future awaiting them, including glorified bodies that will allow them to live forever. 

We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.) – Romans 8:24 NLT

When Jesus rose from the dead, He did so in a glorified body that is no longer susceptible to death, and He remains in that glorified body at this very moment. And it will be in that glorified body that He returns one day. The apostle John reminds us that when Christ returns, we will see Him in His glorified human body and recognize that we, too, have been transformed into His likeness. 

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. – 1 John 3:2 NLT

Paul provided the believers in Corinth with further details concerning this future glorification of our earthly bodies.

…our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?” – 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 NLT

We are to live with our hope set on the future, not the here-and-now. We cannot see what God has in store for us, but we can hope in it and for it because He has promised it to us. These bodies will decay and die, but we will receive new bodies, redeemed, resurrected bodies that will no longer experience pain, suffering, the process of aging, or the future prospect of death. Our future glory needs to become a present reality for us as God’s children because, as the old hymn states: 

This world is not my home
I’m just a-passing through
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me
From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore.
– Jim Reeves, This World Is Not My Home lyrics © Sony/atv Tree Publishing

Father, what a timely reminder. I woke up this morning to a temporal, time-based world. I didn’t sleep well but the alarm went off and I got up anyway. It didn’t help that my temporal, age-bound body ached and my back kept me awake most of the night. As I read through this passage, my sleep-deprived mind was fuzzy, making it difficult to concentrate. Even as I write this prayer, it’s difficult to put a sentence together. But Paul has reminded me that all of this is temporary. There is a new, glorified body awaiting me in the future. I don’t know exactly what that body will look like, but You have promised that it will be pain-free and death-defying. In it, I will experience the glory of Your Kingdom and without the debilitating effects of sin. Thank You for reminding me that “what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later” (Romans 8:18 NLT). Continue to give me the endurance to wait patiently for what You have in store for me. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Future Glory.

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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. – Romans 8:18-25 ESV

Paul has just told us that we need to accept the reality that, in this life, we will suffer with Christ “in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17 ESV). All of us would love to avoid the suffering. That is only natural. But Paul seems to indicate that the suffering is part of the process that leads to our future glorification. Much of the suffering we experience in this lifetime is related to our sanctification, God’s work of transforming us into the likeness of His Son. He is constantly refining and purifying us, making our behavior come into line with our status as His sons and daughters. And Paul confidently tells us, “ I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT). We are works in process. We are not yet what we will be, and part of the problem is these earthly bodies in which we are required to live. Paul described man’s earthly body as a tent, which emphasizes its temporary nature. It is not meant to be permanent. It was designed for this world and not the next. And he tells us, “if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5 ESV).

It is so easy for us to become one-dimensional and focus on this life, all the while forgetting that there is a life to come. This is not all there is, and this is not all we should think about. In the midst of the suffering and distractions of this world, Paul would have us keep our eyes and our faith firmly focused on the next. Which is why he said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” As followers of Christ, we need to always remember that no matter how bad things may get in this life, there is something unbelievably better awaiting us. And no matter how wonderful things may appear to be during our time on this earth, they are nothing when compared to the glory that awaits us. Again, the biggest part of our problem concerns our bodies. When we suffer, our bodies tell us that nothing good can come from it. We become incapable and sometimes unwilling to consider that God can and does use suffering to sanctify us. Which is why Paul writes just a bit later on in this same chapter: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT).

Whether we realize it or not, our struggle with this life is proof that there is more to come. We will never be fully satisfied with life in this world. Pain and suffering causes us to long for relief and rescue. Even blessings, in the form of material or physical things, leave us empty because they are fleeting and a cheap imitation of what is to come. Everything in this world is prone to destruction and decay, and will ultimately leave us disappointed, because it cannot deliver what it seems to promise. That is why Jesus encouraged us, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:19-21 NLT). Our hearts will find no lasting satisfaction or fulfillment in the things of this earth. In fact, if we’re not careful, the temporal things of this earth can lead us to covet, lust, exhibit greed, selfishness and a host of other less-than-righteous characteristics. It is this reality that led Paul to warn the Galatian believers, “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:26 NLT). He had also told them, “you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?” (Galatians 3:3 NLT).  Living one-dimensionally can only lead to one thing: an overemphasis on this world. But we were made for glory.  Paul tells us, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24 ESV). We are to live with our hope set on the future, not the here-and-now. We cannot see what God has in store for us, but we hope in it and for it because He has promised it to us. These bodies will decay and die. But we will receive new bodies – redeemed, resurrected bodies that will no longer experience pain, suffering, the process of aging or the future prospect of death. And the apostle John reminds us that God “has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2 NLT). Our future glory needs to become a present reality for us as God’s children. 

This world is not my home
I’m just a-passing through
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me
From heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world anymore.

 

 

Numbers 33-34, John 8

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Our Ultimate Inheritance.

Numbers 33-34, John 8

So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” – John 8:21 ESV

The Israelites had traveled a long and winding road to get to the land of promise. Chapter 33 of Numbers recounts the circuitous route they took to arrive at the border of the land of Canaan. They had covered a lot of miles and committed their fair share of sins. An entire generation of them had died in the wilderness due to their disobedience and refusal to enter the land the first time they had had the opportunity. And more than 40 years later, as they stood once again on the border looking into the land promised to them by God, He had to remind them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places” (Numbers 33:51-52 ESV). And He had to warn them, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them” (Numbers 33:55-56 ESV). The land before them was to be their inheritance. It had been promised to them by God Himself. But without even reading any further, it would be easy to assume that these people were going to have a difficult time keeping God’s commands regarding the land. They had a track record of disobedience and a knack for doing things their own way, rather than God’s. They would eventually make it into the land, but things would not go well for them.

What does this passage reveal about God?

There is a real sense in which all of God’s interactions with the people of Israel were a glimpse into the future. They were a foreshadowing of something yet to come. In a way, the events of the Old Testament were a temporary or partial outpouring of God’s more complete plan to come. God’s promises to them were real. His love for them was complete. But His plan was far more reaching than just their initial entrance into the land. God’s call of Abraham extends far into the future, all the way to the coming of Christ and even into the distant future where He will return and establish His Kingdom on earth. As we are all prone to do, the Israelites focused on the hear and now. They were short-sighted, suffering from limited vision and looking only for the more immediate benefits of their relationship with God. Even by the time Jesus appeared on the scene, the Jews were still looking for a Messiah who would provide them with immediate relief from their subjugation to Rome. They wanted a king who would rule and reign like David of old. They were looking for a political Messiah, not a spiritual one. Even Jesus’ disciples kept wondering when He was going to set up His earthly kingdom. They even argued about which one of them was going to get the privilege of ruling by His side. But God’s plan was far greater than a short-term, earthly reign of yet another human king.

Jesus told the Jews of His day, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come” (John 8:21 ESV). His words confused them. They assumed He was threatening to commit suicide. But Jesus clarified His statement by saying, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” (John 8:23-24 ESV). At that point, Jesus establishes the primary difference between the people of Israel and Himself. While He stood before them as a man, He was not one of them. He was “from above.” Jesus was “not of this world.” He was God. His Kingdom was not of this world. Later on in the book of John, we will read these words spoken from the lips of Jesus: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about man?

But the Jews couldn’t see beyond the reality of their present circumstances. There vision was myopic and limited. They were not looking for a future, yet unseen Kingdom, they were wanting an immediate kingdom that was of this earth and ruled by an earthly, human king. They had turned the grand plan of God into a petty, me-centered, now-focused, short-sighted plan that focused solely on their own selfish desires. They had long lost sight of the reality that God’s plan had always been far more encompassing than their own selfish desires. He had allowed an entire generation of their ancestors die in the wilderness and lose out on the blessings of the Promised Land because of their unbelief. He had refused to allow Moses or Aaron to enter into the Promised Land because of their failure to treat Him as holy. The Jews of Jesus’ day claimed that God was their Father, but Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me” (John 8:42 ESV). They couldn’t recognize Jesus for who He was because He didn’t fit their expectations. He was a spiritual Savior and they were looking for a political one.

They had lost sight of God’s plan. In fact, Jesus even accused them of being children of Satan, not God. “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is not truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (John 8:44-45 ESV). They had learned to listen to the lies of the enemy. And one of His greatest lies is to get us to believe that God’s plan is all about us. He wants us to believe that we are the stars of the show and that God exists for our glory, instead of the other way around.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Seeing God’s greater plan is difficult when we are constantly surrounded by the more immediate concerns of this temporal world. it is so easy to make it all about the here-and-now. When the Israelites were standing on the edge of the Promise Land, God told them there were going to have to remove all the nations that lived in the land. There was a long-term strategy to God’s command. He was looking at the long-term health of the nation of Israel. But they would suffer from short-sighted convenience and compromise. They would refuse to do things God’s way, and they would suffer the inevitable consequences. But I can do the same thing. By focusing on short-term benefits, I can lose sight of God’s future-based promise. God’s plan for the Israelites wasn’t limited to getting them into the land. He wanted to make of them a great nation. But He also wanted to bring about a future descendant of King David who would rule and reign for eternity. God’s plan for the Israelites went well beyond just the literal descendants of Abraham. He was going to bless ALL the nations of the earth through Abraham through a descendant of Abraham – Jesus Christ. I have to keep a future focus as I live in this present age. This is not all there is. God’s plan does not culminate with or revolve around ME! There is more yet to come. God has more yet to accomplish. Jesus has work yet to complete. Jesus promised all those who would believe in Him eternal life. He said, “if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death” (John 8:51 ESV). That is a future promise. I must focus on that. The apostle Paul put it this way: “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:14 NLT). I have not yet arrived. God is not yet done. Jesus is not yet finished. My full inheritance has not yet been realized. But I eagerly await God’s future fulfillment of His faithful plan.

Father, give me a future focus. Help me to keep my eyes on the prize. Don’t let me make it all about me. Your plan is far greater than my own selfish desires and petty dreams. What You have planned for mankind is far greater than anything I could ever dream up. Help me to patiently and eagerly wait for the fulfillment of Your plan, instead of concocting my own. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org