2 Corinthians 5:1-8 We are sealed with promise!

2 Corinthians 1:22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Oh death where is your sting for you have been swallowed up in salvation to the glory of God. In the return of Christ, our risen Savior, all injustice will come to an end and peace will reign forever and ever. For now Christ in us is the hope of the world. Our Faith pleases the Father it is given to us in the gift of salvation and sealed with the promise of Holy Spirit in our lives. Carla

2 Corinthians 5:1-8 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, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 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. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

The believer’s future experience is called life, meaning the full experience of eternal life in Christ. The Holy Spirit’s work in believers’ lives can be compared to a deposit or down payment (1:22). The presence of the Holy Spirit assures believers that God has purchased them. They are no longer slaves to sin, but His children. They will receive all the rights and privileges of children of God when their Savior returns. Because the believer has God’s guarantee (verse 5), he or she can be confident, a word that means “to be of good cheer” or “to be of courage.”

Christ is not physically present, so believers live by faith (John 20:29). 

This is one of the passages in the New Testament that indicates where believers will go immediately after their death; they will be with Jesus in heaven (Philippians 1:23). Jesus’ promise to the repentant criminal on the cross next to Him indicates this: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). The NKJV Study Bible

God provides believers with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that they will receive resurrected spiritual bodies when Christ returns (2 Corinthians  (1:22; Ephesians 1:14). In the body refers to life in the physical human body, not the Church as the body of Christ.

The Greek word used here, ekdidōmi, often translated as “absent” or “away,” can also mean “exiled.” Paul may be drawing on the background of Isaiah 40–55, where God promises to restore His exiled people (2 Corinthians 1:3).

Believers have not seen proof of resurrection and glorification with their own eyes. Paul encourages them to live by faith and to confidently expect God to do what He promised in Christ (1 Peter 1:18).

Absent from the body likely alludes to an intermediate period between a believer’s death and the final resurrection of all people (Revelations 20:11–15). When believers die, they leave the physical body and enter the presence of Christ (Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). Faithlife Study Bible

Romans 8:23–24 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 

1 Corinthians 15:53–54 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So 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.”

2 Peter 1:13–14 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

I can choose to be generous.
I can choose to be inclusive.
I can choose to not demean or shame.
This is not because we get points, or rewards in heaven. We can choose because this is a reflection of who we are, at our core. This little light of mine. Yes, my friend, our choices do make a difference. They matter.

Let us take these affirmations into our New Year.

“The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It’s overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.” Thank you, Leo Buscaglia. Sabbath Moments