Bethel Sunday School 7 MAR 2021
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:1 – 8

THE REALITY OF ETERNAL LIFE

1. To Paul eternal life in heaven was very real!

2. He spoke of heaven with great certainty

“For we know…” 2 Corinthians 5:1

a. When our earthly life ends

i. The earthly house

ii. This tent

b. Our eternal life in heaven begins

i. We have a building from God

ii. A house not made with hands

iii. Eternal in the heavens

3. He desired the eternal life in heaven that God has prepared for all believers!
(2 Corinthians 5:2 – 5)

a. This we groan

b. Earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven

c. Not that we want to be unclothed but to be further clothed

d. That mortality may be swallowed up by life

e. He who has prepared for us this very thing is God

HOW PAUL LIVED HIS LIFE WITH THE REALITY OF ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN

1. He lived with confidence (2 Corinthians 5:6)

a. He lived confidently and courageously bearing witness of Jesus!

b. He was not afraid to die for his faith in Jesus

2. He lived by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7 – 8)

a. He walked by faith and not by sight

b. He did not live by the ways and standards of the world

c. He lived by faith in the Lord and His word

d. He lived with confidence in his faith in the Lord

e. He knew that in death he would be “Present with the Lord”

3. He made it his aim to be well pleasing to God (2 Corinthians 5:9)

a. This was Paul’s aim in life “To be well pleasing to God”

b. Without faith we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6)

c. Paul pleased God in living by his faith fully and fruitfully

4. He was very conscious of the judgment of God (2 Corinthians 5:10 – 11)

a. That all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ

b. This is a reference to believers and not non-believers

c. The Lord will judge each one according to their works in life

d. All believers must one day given an account to God (1 Corinthians 3:10 – 15)

e. That each may receive the things done in the body

i. The faithful will receive their reward from the Lord

ii. The Lord Himself will determine that which is “good and bad”

OUR CHALLENGES

1. To develop a strong faith like the Apostle Paul

2. To live by faith too

a. Confidently

b. Courageously

c. Conscious that one day our works will be examined by God