Some Things Do Last Forever
2 Cor. 4:16-5:1
So does nothing last forever? It sometimes seems like nothing does. Favorite stores disappear, products we’ve always loved are taken off the market, TV shows end, and relationships come to a close. Our own bodies get older, and we find they don’t work the way they once did. It does seem like perhaps there is nothing eternal.
Yet Paul says that none of this is a reason to lose heart. Yes, our outer self is wearing away, but something within us is growing that will be eternal. Paul talks more about this in 2 Cor. 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Paul reminds us that this life is temporary, but what awaits us is eternal. He compares our current bodies to a tent, something that hides the better things within. And Paul should know, as a tentmaker himself, that tents don’t last forever. But buildings have a much longer lifespan. And the new bodies that await us at the resurrection will be forever.
This world, impacted as it is by sin, will not last. But a new creation is coming, a building not made by human hands, that will. Jesus Christ has guaranteed that by his death for sins, and his resurrection into his own, glorious eternal body.
Blessed Creator Lord, as we struggle in these earthly tents, remind us to count our afflictions lightly compared to the eternal glory that awaits in Christ. Amen.