2 CorinthiansSample

A lot is going on in our passage for this week! A helpful way of looking at it is to break it down into two sections. Verses 1-10 refer to our future hope as believers, and verses 11-21 discuss what this means in our relationship with others.

We will start by focusing on the first section. A really important point to note is that since the Medieval period, the image of the afterlife has been souls going to heaven for eternity. This view is much more like Greek philosophical dualism than the message of Jesus and the Bible. Our other reading for today shows us that Jewish hope was also for the dead to rise in the resurrection. This is one of many passages in the Old Testament that point to this (see also Daniel 12:8-13, Psalm 16, Psalm 17:15, Psalm 22:29, Job 19:26 Isaiah 25:8, Ezekiel 37:10).

Paul says we should not long to be “unclothed” from our body after death, but “further clothed” (verse 4) with a resurrection body. Our future hope is that we will one day, after His return, join Jesus in being resurrected. When we think in this framework, this whole passage (and so much of the rest of the Bible) begin to make sense! To “walk by faith, not by sight” (verse 7) means that we have faith in our future resurrection and so therefore the way we live here and now is changed. We realize that we are “ambassadors” (verse 20) for Christ.

As we read the next couple of days, let’s ponder these questions: What is your understanding of the afterlife? Does this passage challenge or confirm it?