All Articles
“Looking Forward in Faith”
“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. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For 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 Cor. 5:1-4)
In order to live as Paul did, with heaven in view, we must retain focus on our goal. Through trials and persecutions, Paul was able to make himself an example of faith, showing that one’s faith in someday being with the Lord must become a motivator for living life here amongst the things of the flesh. Our faith in one day being with the Lord must move and motivate us; it must become responsible for the way we live. If we have no hope of heaven as our reward, or we do not trust the promises made by our living God, then our belief and walk in Him is wrongly based and fruitless in return.
Living a life of faith and obedience requires that we fully realize and admit that this world and this fleshly realm is not our true home. Anything we might enjoy in this life is temporary and will not last through eternity. One day we will leave it all behind. The Hebrew writer reminds us of the faith of Abraham as he “obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:8-10). What is the single reason Abraham left his home? What was the single reason he dwelt in this land? What was the motivation that caused him to live as a stranger and foreigner? It was the promises God had made to him that Abraham believed. Christians must live as Abraham did, spiritual strangers in a foreign land. We are not comfortable here, we are not satisfied, and we will not accept this as our true home, no matter what fleeting pleasures or enjoyment we find in our time here. We believe God’s promise for a new home, and we wait for a new city.
Peter beseeched Christians as “pilgrims and strangers” to “abstain from fleshly lusts” (1 Pet. 2:11). Only by faith in God’s promises and determination to please Him will this be possible. The lusts of the flesh are strong, but the will of the Christian by faith in God must be stronger. The word for “pilgrim” in the Greek language is a combination of two words; one that means “alongside of”, and one that means “people of a foreign country or city”. There is no better word to describe the blessed ones of Christ who, as citizens in His kingdom must live alongside worldliness while their home remains reserved for them as a resting place after this life. Paul reminds us in Phil. 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” Are we “just passing through”, or have we made our encampment and home here in this realm of the flesh.
The instructions and exhortations of Paul, Peter, and the Hebrew writer apply to all Christians both young and old. We may find at times that there are indications of how strong our faith is in the aspirations and goals that we set out to accomplish. If you are a young Christian, whether young in the flesh or young in the faith, look to those older Christians who have lived their lives as true strangers and foreigners on earth. Do you admire these people? Do you hope to be like them? Are you on the road to becoming more like them? Or are you on the road to becoming more like the people of this world?
