Eternally Adopted

1) What is the building from God versus the earthly tent? (verses 1-5)
The citizens of Corinth were well known for their incredible architecture. Their magnificent acropolis, the most popular of all then-current city-states, towered over 2000 feet tall and had access to inexhaustible springs, making it a prime location for safety during times of battle. Corinth also boasted several sprawling temples to false gods like Apollo and Poseidon, but the most popular temple was reserved for Aphrodite, the goddess of love and fertility. Ancient Corinthians had much to boast of regarding their advanced architecture, all built by their own hands. To live in a tent at the time of the Paul and his Corinthian friends meant one thing, you weren’t staying here long. No one would consider living in a makeshift tent in the magnificent city of Corinth; it only meant you were traveling through with no plans to take up residency for long. Paul recognized these realities to the Corinthian citizens, and used these cultural relevancies to point to the greatest architect, God. When Paul speaks of our “earthly tent”, he’s referring to our bodies while we live here on earth. These are the bodies we live and breathe in; we use our bodies to eat, drink, run, and laugh, but these are temporary and will one day be destroyed by physical death.

2) How do tents and buildings relate to being clothed and naked?
When this “tent” of a body is destroyed, one would get the picture that the “soul” of the person would be naked with no housing to protect it and dwell within. Paul says when the tent of the believer is destroyed by physical death, we have no fear of being naked without a dwelling, for God has provided an eternal building. This building, standing in contrast to the ornate Corinthian temples, is not made by human hands at all, rather, this building will last for eternity and is made by God Himself. This “building” isn’t a literal brick and mortar structure, rather it carries the idea of “a place to dwell and call home”. This is the Christian’s dwelling place forever after our earthly bodies die. The main focus on this eternal home is not what the structure looks like, but rather its incorruptible, everlasting quality that stands in sharp contrast to the temporary, sufferable, and half-clothed “tent” of our physical bodies as we live out our days on earth. Paul takes his metaphor a step farther by telling the Corinthians, that even in our earthly “tents” we are still naked, at least partially, even though it looks like we have a dwelling place. While we live in our “tents”, we experience grief, loss, pain, sickness, suffering, and persecution, all of which make the believer long to be fully clothed. We long for home, the eternal dwelling that is incorruptible and made by God rather than flawed human hands. This idea would have been easy for Corinthians to connect with because they viewed someone who lived in a tent as only having a temporary dwelling. Who wouldn’t rather live in strong, sturdy Corinthian-like structure than a flimsy, temporary tent?! A tent may be adequate most of the time, but the longing for a permanent dwelling would be strong! Paul says when the believer’s tent is destroyed it’s as if Life itself has swallowed up Death entirely in one fell swoop. For the Christian, the one who is safe in the salvation of Christ, there is no real “death”, only a physical changing of dwelling places.

3) How does the discussion of tents, buildings, naked, and clothed relate to God’s “purposes”? (verses 5-8)
While it’s deeply comforting to know God not only sees we are “partially clothed” on earth while we live in our earthly bodies, but has prepared a permanent, loving solution to our movement from physical bodies to eternal dwelling, there is so much more to this passage. Verse 5 serves as a transition point for Paul as he describes that this loving forethought of God is anchored in one mind-blowing reality. He purposefully crafted our bodies to die and our souls to transition to our forever home, to fulfill His purpose of dwelling with us for eternity! His heart passion is to be with us! Just as a dear friend or loving, passionate spouse deeply desires to spend time with us simply because they love us and enjoy the company of our presence, so is this the case with the God of the universe except on an infinitely grander scale! In the Garden of Eden at the very beginning of time, God’s intentional design was to dwell with His creation, especially Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3:8) Sin made that impossible, so He has been pursuing us ever since with His grand plan of restoring a relationship with us so we can once again experience what it is to dwell with Him in pure delight. (Ezekiel 37:27-26)While we are in the tent of our bodies, while we are partially clothed, while we are waiting for our forever home, He graciously gives us the “down payment” of all that is yet to come when we go Home by giving us the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us. (Ephesians 1:13-14) God is dwelling within every believing heart who has fully surrendered their will to Christ’s. This is the proof that we are His. His Spirit is our mark of being eternally adopted (Ephesians 1:5) and is our constant reminder that this painfully broken tent will one day be swallowed up by the fullness of Life With God, never again to be interrupted by sin and its devastating effects. Praise God for this indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)