ALLISON VAN EGMOND | GUEST
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him (2 Cor. 5:9).
There have been times in my life when I longed for my earthly future. I remember longing to start high school, to move out of my parent’s house, to find a husband, and to have kids. In nearly every phase of my life, I have had my eye toward what comes next.
These days, as my kids get older, I’m also starting to long for the past. I remember when they were snuggly babies who would sleep on my chest, when our days were filled with tutus and toy swords, and when we would spend hours at the playground with friends. When my Facebook memories pop up and show old pictures and videos of my kids, I can’t help but grieve a little for those years that are long gone.
I also find myself longing for the body of my youth. As the wrinkles and grey hairs start to become more prevalent, and as my aches and pains increase, there are visible and physical reminders that my body is “wasting away,” as Paul says in chapter four of 2 Corinthians.
Looking to a Heavenly Future
As humans, we often long for what we don’t have, whether it is something we want in our future, or the life we once had in the past. We can struggle to be content in the present.
But as Christians who have been given new life, we are told to have our eyes on our heavenly future instead of our earthly future. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God,” that is “eternal in the heavens.” Our bodies are breaking down while we are here in the fallen world, but one day we will have resurrected bodies that will no longer groan or age, no longer wrinkle or decay. And yet, until that day comes, “we make it our aim to please [God]” (5:9).
It is tempting to make it our aim to move onto the next great thing that life has to offer. Preparing for a wedding, college, buying a new house, retirement, or grandkids can all take our focus away from our true aim if we aren’t careful. We can become so focused on our earthly future that we forget to please God in the here and now. We can forget what (or who) we’re truly living for, and we can forget that we have been given new life. The things of this world will ultimately fail to usher us into the glory that is promised to us in Christ.
Our New Purpose
Just as we can make it our aim to chase our future, we can also become consumed with preserving our past and holding onto our youth. We are bombarded with messages from the health and beauty industries trying to convince us that their products will turn back the hands of time. Face creams, protein powders, hair dye, red-light therapy, collagen…I could go on and on. These products might help prolong our youthful glow for a little while, but none of them will bring us to glory. None of these products will help us be pleasing to the Lord. And for those who do not know Christ, outward transformation will never solve the problem inside their hearts. What we all need most is not physical, but spiritual change. It is good to strive to take care of our bodies, but not at the expense of our eternal hope. Red-light therapy is not our true need; Gospel-transformation is.
So how do we please God while we await our future heavenly home? We tell people about Jesus. “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (5:11). And we proclaim the riches of His glory, instead of grasping for our own earthly glory. We should be quicker to tell people about the benefits of the Gospel than we are to tell them about the benefits of collagen. We are not to be people who “boast about outward appearance,” but instead, we boast “about what is in the heart” (5:12). We boast about the Lord and how He has transformed us from death to life. Jesus “died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (5:15).
We have been made new (5:17), reconciled to God (5:18), and now He entrusts us with His message of reconciliation (5:19). We are new creations who have been reconciled and sent forth as ambassadors. As we wait for our heavenly home, our purpose is clear: to please the God of all glory.
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
