“Our Tent”
BIBLE
READING:2 Corinthians 5
In the first paragraph of this chapter, Paul spoke
of the spiritual body which is to replace the earthly body of Christians at the
time of the Second Advent and judgment of the last day (2 Cor 1:10). He then delivered some of the most profound
teachings in Holy Scripture regarding the ministry of reconciliation, of which
Paul, along with the other apostles, was an ambassador (2 Cor 1:11-21).
The word "tabernacle" is actually
"tent," which is as good a symbol of something being transient and
temporary as anything that could be imagined. Paul was a tentmaker, and this is
exactly the type of metaphor that should have been expected from him and, added
to that was the fact of Israel's having dwelt in tents during the forty years
of the wilderness wanderings. No tent would last indefinitely when exposed to the
elements, and the same is true of mortal bodies when exposed to the inevitable
erosion of time.
Our physical bodies are from God, but we have a
greater building. Paul made tents with
his hands, but the glorious resurrection body is far above and beyond anything
human hands might fashion. When the soul
of a Christian is clothed with a wonderful and glorious spiritual body, decay
and death will be no more. The souls of
the redeemed will enjoy eternal life.
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