Hearts Shaped For Eternity

Read: 2 Corinthians 5

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 Corinthians 5:1

IN WORD

Earthly versus heavenly. It’s a distinction that isn’t always made in the Gospels, particularly when Jesus implies that the Kingdom of Heaven is coming to earth. Nevertheless, it’s clear that there is a very spiritual realm in which God’s Kingdom is the only one, and a very material realm in which competing kingdoms clash. This difference between visible earth and the highest heaven explains many of our longings—how we know deep down inside that we were made for something larger and greater than what we are experiencing, how we feel stuck in futility in a fallen world, how our natural capabilities seem like a momentary prequel to a supernatural life. All creation groans in expectation, waiting for a revelation of the children of God (Romans 8:19). We do too, knowing the seeds of this new creation have already been planted within us. It’s an aching expectation, but one that is certain to be fulfilled. We don’t mind earth; we just don’t want to be so earthly.

With echoes of Romans 8, Paul gives us a picture in 2 Corinthians 5 of the new creation emerging from a cocoon-like preparation—a struggle for reality that is painful but inevitably rewarded. Our earthly tent is not going to last, even as the Kingdom is coming on earth and a new heaven and earth are created. We become something altogether different, even while retaining our true, God-given selves. We live in the finite but get glimpses of the infinite. And we groan with anticipation.

IN DEED

Many Christians have lost that tension, either because the present is too painful or the promise seems unrealistic. If you have, come back to the place of longing, the aching anticipation where Kingdom dreams are formed and nurtured. There is purpose in these longings; God accomplishes great things through those who can hang on to them. His Kingdom is being built by the faith forged in hearts shaped for eternity.

ADDITIONAL READING: Romans 8:18-25

Heaven will be the endless portion of every man who has heaven in his soul.

HENRY WARD BEECHER