A House Not Made With Hands!

2. 1For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,  3if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. (2 Corinthians 5)

3. A House Not Made With Hands! When this old body fails is there anything else?

4. “This Tent” • Temporary housing - 2 Cor. 5:1-2

5. 1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven (2 Corinthians 5)

6. “This Tent” • Temporary housing - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Formed from dust - Genesis 2:7

7. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2)

8. “This Tent” • Temporary housing - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Formed from dust - Genesis 2:7 • Return to dust - Ecclesiastes 12:7

9. 7Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12)

10. “This Tent” • Temporary housing - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Formed from dust - Genesis 2:7 • Return to dust - Ecclesiastes 12:7 • The end of all men - Ecclesiastes 7:2

11. 2 Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7)

12. “This Tent” • Temporary housing - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Formed from dust - Genesis 2:7 • Return to dust - Ecclesiastes 12:7 • The end of all men - Ecclesiastes 7:2 • Cannot retain the spirit - Eccl. 8:8

13. 8No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it. (Ecclesiastes 8)

14. “This Tent” • Temporary housing - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Formed from dust - Genesis 2:7 • Return to dust - Ecclesiastes 12:7 • The end of all men - Ecclesiastes 7:2 • Cannot retain the spirit - Eccl. 8:8 • A natural process - Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

15. 1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”: 2   While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;

16. 3In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim;4    When the doors are shut in the streets,  And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low.

17. 5Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.

18. 6Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well. 7    Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12)

19. “This Tent” • This body is temporary housing • Formed from dust • Return to dust • Death is the end of all men • Cannot retain the spirit • Aging is a natural process

20. A New House • A building from God - 2 Cor. 5:1-2

21. 1For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven (2 Corinthians 5)

22. A New House • A building from God - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Swallowed up of life - 2 Corinthians 5:4

23. 4For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5)

24. A New House • A building from God - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Swallowed up of life - 2 Corinthians 5:4 • A spiritual body - I Corinthians 15:35-44

25. 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”36Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.  37And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.38But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

26. 39All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kindof flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

27. 41There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 

28. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.  44It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.  (I Corinthians 15)

29. A New House • A building from God - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Swallowed up of life - 2 Corinthians 5:4 • A spiritual body - I Corinthians 15:35-44 • Flesh cannot inherit life - I Cor. 15:50-57

30. 50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed

31. 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

32. 54So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55“ODeath, whereis your sting? O Hades, whereis your victory?”

33. 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15)

34. A New House • A building from God - 2 Cor. 5:1-2 • Swallowed up of life - 2 Corinthians 5:4 • A spiritual body - I Corinthians 15:35-44 • Flesh cannot inherit life - I Cor. 15:50-57 • But we do inherit! – I Peter 1:3-4

35. 3Blessedbe the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, (I Peter 1)

36. A New House • A building from God • Swallowed up of life • A spiritual body • Flesh cannot inherit life, but as God’s children in our spiritual bodies we have an eternal inheritance.

37. So ….. • Set your house in order - 2 Kings 20:1

38. 1In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’” (2 Kings 20)

39. So ….. • Set your house in order - 2 Kings 20:1 • Be saved - Acts 2:36-41

40. 36“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

41. 38Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

42. 40And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. (Acts 2)

43. So ….. • Set your house in order - 2 Kings 20:1 • Be saved - Acts 2:36-41 • Seek things above - Colossians 3:1-4

44. 1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  2Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3)

45. So ….. • Set your house in order - 2 Kings 20:1 • Be saved - Acts 2:36-41 • Seek things above - Colossians 3:1-4 • Be serious about heaven - 2 Pet. 1:10-11

46. 10Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;  11for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1)

47. So ….. • Set your house in order • Be saved from your sins • Seek things above • Be serious about heaven

48. While death is a reality that we must all deal with, we must learn to look beyond death to that which is eternal. For the Christian this means a home with God, eternal in the heavens, far beyond all the struggles and trials we face in this body.

49. So, have you “set your house in order?” Have you been saved from your sins and begun living with heaven as your goal? Now is the time to prepare to meet our Lord in judgment! Won’t you start now?