Different Results

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

DIFFERENT RESULTS

2 Cor 5:6-10

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 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. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

NIV

We are not both, in the body and with the Lord, which is for sure. It is also undisputable that we must live by faith rather than sight as not one of us has actually seen or been in the presence of the Lord. Now there have been some accounts of people visiting, so to speak, someplace and returning to write books about their journey into what they call heaven. Yet the majority of them, if not all, have never expressed their faith in Jesus Christ, being born again. So than where did they go and what did they see, for Jesus said that in order for a man to see the Kingdom of God he must be born again. The fact remains they never left their body and therefore never were in the presence of the Lord. As long as we are here we are not there. Once again we must come to terms with whether we prefer here or there. If we prefer there, then should we not live our life here in accordance with what it will be like there? Should we not be looking forward with great anticipation to our opportunity to leave here so we can be there? Of course that is for those of us who are born again. Now that is not to say everyone will not stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that is all of mankind, those born again and those who are not. For every person will stand and be held accountable for what we have done in the body. This should not be confused with a list of do’s and don’ts that us believers have established and that we think we will have to account for each and every failure to comply correctly to all the do’s and abstain completely from all the don’ts. Which one of us is without sin and could cast the first stone? No, this stands in accordance with other scriptures that teach us Jesus will separate the goats from the sheep, those on his right and those on his left, and the sheep, us who are born again, will be given entrance into the Kingdom, while the goats, those who did not accept him as Lord and Savior while in the body, will be cast out into the lake of fire. This is the good and the bad, or wicked, or evil doers, as the Greek word would imply. For those of us who are born again, our reward is surely to be in the presence of God within the new city of Jerusalem which is established on the new earth under the new heavens which Jesus has gone ahead to prepare this place for us. Although we cannot see it yet, we live by faith in it. We know about it, for God has made sure we have his word on it. He made sure that at least one man, John, saw it all, and was told to write it down, so we would know all about it. In all reality that does not require much faith, when we have the words of a firsthand account, but in a sense we must believe or have faith that account it true. Nevertheless we live for that day, or we live for this moment. We either live to please God, or to please self. The result of each will be very different. We are born again or we are not, this choice will produce different results.