davidbowerkingwood

Our Earthly Tent

When I look at you, or you look at me all we are actually seeing is the temporary vessel we are occupying at this time. You and I are much more than the physical bodies that we occupy; in fact, as Christians, our physical bodies are the only part of us that have not been redeemed when we received Christ as Savior.

Let’s face it, you’re eternal, after all you were created in the image of God; your body, on the other hand, was originally fashioned from the dust of the ground and to the dust it will return, it has no part in your long-term future.

While we have been born again spiritually and now have a living spirit as well as a living soul, our bodies still labor under the penalty of the curse and can in no way join us in heaven in their present form. The Apostle Paul spoke to us of this in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 where it is written:

“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. ² We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. ³ For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. ⁴ While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. ⁵ God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.”

I am looking forward to departing this earthly tent and being joined to my heavenly body made for me by God. There will be one generation that will not even see death and that is the generation living at the time the Lord calls His children home; the signs suggest that time may be close. Even so, come Lord Jesus!

But What About that Event Called Death?

Death is nothing more than the time we depart our earthly tent which couldn’t have gone with us anyway; it is the time we begin our journey to bigger and better things. One thing for sure, you will never occupy the inside of a coffin or be placed in a grave! At the point of “death” you will simply depart your earthly tent and as a Christian find yourself face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul continues in 2 Corinthians:

^“6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

While it is true our physical bodies may go to the grave, our immaterial, eternal self will never see the inside of a grave. Those who have died in Christ will return with Him at the home-calling of the church and will be rejoined with their resurrection bodies at that time while those of us who are alive will be instantaneously transformed by the power of God.

What about the Lord Jesus Christ?

In Luke 23:36 it is written, “⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” At this point the eternal spiritual part of the Lord Jesus Christ departed the earthly tent which He had occupied during His life on earth as our Kinsman/Redeemer. Although the Bible does not state specifically where he went, I believe he returned to the Father in Heaven.

His earthly tent was later buried in the tomb and remained there until sometime Sunday morning. It was then that our Lord entered the tomb and was rejoined to a transformed, resurrected body. He then left the tomb and would return later to visit the tomb; all of this without disturbing the stone over the entrance.

The story continues in Luke 24:1-8:

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.”

The stone had been rolled back to let witnesses see the tomb was empty, not to let the Lord in or out.

What about You?

There is a possibility that you will never see death; one generation will not see death but we do not know for certain whether it is ours or not. Should the Lord tarry then some or all of us will experience death; we do not know in advance what form our death will take but we can know with confidence that once it has taken place we will be home with the Lord for all eternity.

Our Death is a Doorway to Christ!