So as I said, the title of the sermon is The End For Which We Were Created. And I've been pondering what Jesus says in the first few verses for a while. Jesus said, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house, there are many rooms. So he's talking about a dwelling place with rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. And I want us to ponder what Jesus was saying at this moment. Again, he's saying this before the cross. He's saying this before his death, his resurrection, and ascension. And I think it's key to understand those if we are to understand what he's pointing to. God has promised in his word that the end of our salvation is conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. He's also told us, and we read it in John 17, that eternal life is to know God and to know the one he has sent. So we would argue that we know God, Father, Son, and Spirit, and we know Father, Son, and Spirit by the work and person of Jesus Christ. And so what I want us to ponder, there's much talk about what we're waiting for, and oftentimes our brains go to bigger and better buildings, like cities without trash, and cities without crime, and earthly things. And I think we need to rethink what we're waiting for. Because Jesus is using the analogy of a house with many rooms, but we're also told in other places that we're waiting for our new dwelling, our new abode. And I want to argue this evening that what we're waiting for is our conformity to Christ. And when Jesus says, and I will come again and will take you to myself. So the center of heaven is Jesus. The center of heaven is not better cities, better stuff, better things that we have now, but it's something that's completely different. In other words, for all eternity, the church will be in the presence of Christ, and we will not only enjoy him, but we will enjoy one another, and what we will enjoy about one another is the reflection of his glory that we see in one another. In other words, this is what we were created for. God tells us in Genesis that he created Adam and Eve, male and female, and in his image. But due to the fall and due to sin, instead of reflecting the glory of God, fallen mankind reflects their father the devil, reflects a fallen world. And only when someone is born again do we begin to reflect that image that was lost at the fall by being conformed from one degree of glory to another into the image of Christ. And so what should excite the church is that in glory, we'll never sin again. In glory, we will see him face to face. And as we see him face to face, we will be like him. That's the center of heaven. And I've been pondering this statement. I go to prepare a place for you and asking questions like, is the preparation, His finishing of obedience? His death on the cross that atones for our sin? His resurrection from the grave, which guarantees our resurrection from the grave? See, sometimes when you hear this, I'm going to prepare a place for you. Our mind goes, and Jesus is doing something over there, and we can't go over there until he's finished doing something over there. But maybe when Jesus says, it is finished from the cross, he's actually prepared the place for us. And the place for us isn't a golden high rise in a new fancy expensive city, but it's a body and a soul fully conformed into his image so that we can rightly enjoy him. Because is salvation simply about being forgiven? Is salvation simply about having the righteousness of Christ imputed to us so that we're cleansed from our sins, we're forgiven by God, and we're righteous in his sight? Is that the end of salvation, or are those the means by which we have the right to fellowship with God? See, our fellowship with God now is by faith, right? We have to fight for it. We have to strive for it. It's a work. It's a battle. But I think Jesus is saying, what awaits you is eternal fellowship with no hindrance, with nothing in the way, because there is no more sin, there is no more death, there is no more rebellion. There's no more fleshliness, there's no more worldliness. And so as I was reading 2 Corinthians the other day, these things just started to fall in place as I've been meditating on what Jesus said in these first three verses. So I want to just spend our time tonight walking through a section of 2 Corinthians. And I'm certainly not going to be able to exposit everything that's there. But I hope what I lift out of the text, it helps us to consider what is awaiting us. what we're actually waiting for. Because I think there's a connection with rightly understanding what we're waiting for and the message we preach. Because if all we're worried about is being forgiven and going to heaven and not going to hell, then the Gospel sounds very much like, get your ticket. Make sure you got your ticket. If you got your ticket to heaven, you're good. You don't have to worry about anything. But if our understanding of heaven is complete enjoyment of God, unending, forever, unceasing, always growing, always maturing, always blooming, then our message of the gospel is very different. It has a different weight to it. It has a different glory to it. So turn to 2 Corinthians, and I want to pick up in chapter 4. Because I think the end of chapter four helps us understand the beginning of chapter five. And so let's begin reading in 4.16 and see that Paul, by understanding what's awaiting the church, has the ability to say, we don't lose heart as we press on in this fallen, dark, evil world that hates us. Because remember, the life that Paul is living is a time period where the church is being violently persecuted, being put in prison, being beaten, being crucified, and being abused by the Jews and by the Romans. It's a horrible time for the church in one way, if we look at it in the flesh only, but it's a beautiful time if we understand that death can't separate us from the love of God. So look at verse 16. Paul says, so we do not lose heart. And again, that phrase goes back even further, but let's press on. Though our outer nature is wasting away. What is he referring to? He's talking about our flesh. He's talking about our physical body. The physical body that God gave you, the moment that you're born, you're beginning to die. Sounds kind of sad, but it's actually kind of beautiful if we see that death is gain for the believer, right? Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. In other words, as the Spirit, as at work internally in the believer, working in us desires that please God, working in us the ability to please God, it doesn't really matter if our physical body is fading away. But if we, like the world, think our physical body is all that we are, and we have to spend thousands on making sure it still looks as pretty as it did when we were young, then we miss the whole blessing of our fellowship with God. Now, I'm not arguing that we don't care for our bodies. I think we should. But we should care for them as something that we know is going to die. Care for it as something that's temporary, not eternal. And as we talked this morning, the devil, when he attacks the Christian, he's hunting souls. Why? Because it's the most important thing. So if our body's not the most important thing, then it's our soul that we need to worry about. And I think that's what Paul's pointing to, the inner nature. For this slight and momentary affliction, again, if we get our understanding right, that we've been created by God as an eternal being, that though our body dies, our soul continues to be, And if you're a believer, it continues to be in His presence with joy. And if you're an unbeliever, it continues in His presence under His wrath. So Paul's talking about suffering terribly in the body, but he's calling it slight and momentary afflictions. Why? Because he's looking at the inner man. See, he says, These things, this torment, this affliction, is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. So if we rightly understand what God's doing on the inside as he molds us into the image of Christ to use this body that God gave us for very different reasons than we used it before we were saved, then we don't make the suffering of the body the main thing in this life. And when Paul says, if you get this right, it's an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Whatever blessings we can have in this life, they pale in comparison to the blessing that we have with God in glory. And then Paul says, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. In other words, this eternal weight of glory that's beyond all comparison is not found in navel-gazing. It's not found in worshiping the things of this world, but it's found in looking to the things that are yet unseen. What are the things yet unseen? Our dwelling with God forever, right? In other words, as we eagerly await the return of our King and we make heaven just earth 2.0, we're missing the whole point. But if we're eagerly awaiting the King's return and we're awaiting a sweet unending fellowship with God, that's why we're eagerly awaiting for it. We're not just looking for a better earth, we're looking for sweet fellowship with God. Now I do believe that the creation will be made new. I do believe that the beauty of the earth will be restored. But when the beauty of the earth is restored and we're rightly conformed into the image of Christ, every time we look at anything about creation, our eyes will be lifted to worship God. We won't worship mountains, we won't worship trees, we won't worship anything but God. So the mountains that declare His glory, the heavens that declare His glory will be rightly understood by us. And then he says this, for the things that are seen are transient. If you live your life only for what you can see with your earthly eyes, you're living for something that's transient, fleeting, passing away, brief, temporary, momentary. In other words, it's like holding something that eventually is just going to disappear. And then he says, but the things that are unseen, and he means unseen with physical eyes, and he's talking about looking by faith. Because the things that are unseen with our physical eyes are seen by faith. They're understood by the revelation that God has given to us. He says the things that are unseen are eternal, meaning undying, everlasting, unending, permanent, enduring. So which one do we want to hold on to? Do we want to use our earthly hands and our earthly eyes and gather as much stuff of the earth together and say, look at all the stuff I have. This is where my heart is. Or do we want with the eyes of faith and the hands of faith to cling to our God as we long to be with Christ and we long to be like Christ? Because if we get this right, as we talked about a few weeks ago, the Sabbath day won't be a day of law, but it'll be a taste of heaven. Our fellowship with one another won't be us playing church, but it will be us getting a taste of our eternal dwelling together with God forever. And then Paul says this to begin chapter 5. For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home... He's not talking about your house, your apartment, your condo. He's not even talking about a camping tent. He's talking about the body. For we know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God. A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now doesn't that sound like what Jesus said in John 14.2? In my Father's house there were many rooms. If it was not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? I think Paul is exegeting Jesus' words. I think he's talking about we need to unpack what Jesus meant by what he said so that we can rightly understand what we're waiting for. And if this tent, this temporary dwelling where our soul dwells, is fading away, and we understand that it's temporary, it's fleeting, it's not eternal, this body's not eternal, But there's a day coming when Christ returns that this body that died and decayed in the ground is going to be risen. And that body is eternal. That body is our eternal dwelling. That's what we're waiting for. So this earthly home that's going to be destroyed, if our body is everything that we live for, then death is loss. Death is the end of what we hope for. But if what we hope for is a body and a mind and a soul that we can enjoy God with forevermore, then we're waiting for something very different than an earthly building. Paul describes it as a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. In other words, our bodies, our resurrected glorified bodies, supersede whatever mansion you can see in this world. I mean, there are some houses in this world that you drive by and from the outside you're in awe. And if you get an opportunity to look on the inside, your mind's even more blown away. But whatever man can build with his hands, God will speak into being something that is far more glorious. In other words, in the beginning, God created Adam and Eve. God spoke the world that we see into being. And there's a day coming when the church will be raised out of the ground, and if you're alive when Jesus returns, you'll be translated in a moment, along with the resurrected church, to be in the image of Christ. That's what he's talking about. This eternal body that we will live in. And then he says this, he says, for in this tent we groan. Now you can point to groaning due to illness, groaning to growing old, groaning pain because you worked too hard the day before. But he's not talking about that kind of groaning. He says, for in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. So there's a correlation with eagerly awaiting Jesus' return and can't wait to get this sinful thing off of us. this broken, decaying thing off of us. Not that we hate this body. It's a gift from God. But because of our sin and because of the fall, it doesn't want to do the things that we want to do. Isn't that Paul's whole argument in Romans 7? The things I know I should do, the things that I want to do by faith, I find myself doing the opposite. And the things that I don't want to do by faith, I find myself doing them. Who will save me from this body of sin? Christ Jesus our Lord. So whatever struggles against sin, whatever struggles we have in this world, if we're rightly awaiting Jesus' return and we're rightly groaning for our glorified body, everything becomes slight and momentary. It gets put in its proper perspective. That's why you can meet somebody who's suffering and dying a horrible disease, and yet because they love Jesus, they smile, they worship, they ask other people, how are you doing? And it's like, what do you mean, how am I doing? You're the one that's suffering. So church, are we groaning because we long to be like Christ and to be in our glorified state? And then he says, if indeed by putting it on, we may not be found naked. And I think he's talking about our soul. In other words, when a believer dies, their body goes in the ground, their soul goes to be the Lord, but their soul isn't attached to their body anymore. It's not a human being. It's still a human soul. It is who we are. but God designed us to be a body and soul. That's why Jesus saves not just our soul. We just don't get saved and go soul form up forever. There's a day coming when our body's resurrected. See if that makes sense as we keep reading. He says, for while we are still in this tent, our body, we groan, being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but that where we would be further clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. In other words, this glorified body that Jesus has purchased for us by his life, his death, his resurrection, and ascension is the final clothing of the Christian. So think about it. The day you believe, the clothing that gets put on you is you're justified in the presence of God. And from that day forward, God is sanctifying us, making us more like Christ. But no matter how long we live in this world, none of us will reach glorification in this life. But when we die, we don't lose. It's gain. And what awaits us is a glorified, resurrected body that's perfectly in the image of Jesus. So this eternal dwelling, is life. It's not death, it's life. And then he says, he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the spirit as a guarantee. In other words, he's putting to bed, you didn't save yourself, you didn't choose God. God chose you, God saved you, and God will finish his work. And how do we know he'll finish his work? Because he gave us his spirit as a guarantee. And by the Spirit, what does Paul say in Romans? We cry, Abba, Father. In other words, that relationship that was lost at the fall, that mankind was created to enjoy God and fellowship with God and bear his image in his presence, that was lost at the fall, is now being restored by the power of God, by the grace of God. And then Paul says in verse six, so we are always of good courage. That's why Paul and Silas could sing in prison with bloody backs and with broken bones and bruised flesh. Because even if that night was their last night on earth, it doesn't end the story. It just is the beginning. I mean, wouldn't we want to have day after day being people of good courage because we're so in love with Christ and this world is not our home and we're awaiting his return and our glorified body that whatever the world can do to this temporary body, it's really not that big a deal? He says, we know that while we are at home in the body, we're away from the Lord. Now, by faith, we fellowship with God. But King Jesus is seated in heaven. He's in glory. We're not physically in His presence. By faith, as we worship, we gather around His throne by faith. But at the Second Coming, we're literally going to see Him face to face. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Ask yourself, is that really your desire? Would you rather be in the presence of the King right now, or would you rather be here? That's a test of faith. That's a question we need to be honest with. Because Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is telling us what the desire of the believer is. We would rather be out of here than we would rather be with him. And then he says this, so whether we're at home or whether we're away, we make it our aim to please him. So by faith, we look to be pleasing to God now, but think about it. In our glorified state, we'll be forever pleasing to him, right? So it's not like we're living by faith now to be pleasing to God, but when we get to glory, he's giving us a new body, and we get to go do us stuff. Don't you hear songs like that that are supposedly called Christian songs? We can't wait to get to heaven to play football. We can't wait to go fishing. We can't wait to go hunting. In other words, they just think heaven is just Earth 2.0. Here I go fishing and I don't catch anything. There I'll go fishing and catch everything. Here I play football and break a bone. Oh, there I'll play football and I'll be the best. That's missing the whole point. Missing the whole point. And then he says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Verse 10 is one of the most abused passages in the church. Beloved, if you are a Christian today, what will happen to you at the judgment seat of Christ? What words will you hear? Will Jesus berate you for an hour as he lists the sins you did on one day? Will he berate you for an hour for the acts of righteousness you didn't do on that day? Or will you, as a believer here, well done, my good and faithful servant, enter the kingdom that's been prepared by my father for you? See, beloved, either we believe that Jesus has atoned for our sins and has satisfied the wrath of God, or we should be terrified of the judgment seat. Because I think as every person comes to the judgment seat, this is where the goat and the sheep are separated. This is where the church and the world are separated. And the church is going to hear one phrase, well done, my good and faithful servant. And the wicked are going to hear, depart from me, I didn't know you. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due. For what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. What does the Bible say about fallen man? No one does good, no not one. So who's going to receive good? The church? Revelation tells us that the white robe we put on is our righteousness. And I don't think he's talking about Christ's righteousness at that point. I think he's talking about the good deeds done by us by faith, those good works that God prepared for us to walk in. That's how we lay up treasures in heaven. That as we love and want to be with Christ and like Christ, we live very differently than when we used to live loving ourselves, loving the world, loving the flesh, loving sin, loving wickedness. See, the wicked, unbelieving world will be repaid for evil only, because they do no good. But the church will be repaid for good only because Jesus has already paid for our evil, whether it's not doing what we should do or doing what we shouldn't do. Jesus paid for all of it. When you think of the judgment seat of Christ, It's the day when the King of Glory welcomes you into your heavenly dwelling. It's not a day where your sins will be on a screen for all to see. Do you know when our sins were on the stage for all to see? On Calvary. If you want to know how wicked your sins are and how wicked my sins are, just look at the Son of God suffering under the wrath of God in our place. That's where you see the sins on display. As we read from Isaiah, He bore our sins and our transgressions. And then Paul comes to a conclusion. If we understand what he's getting to, That we're not awaiting a better condo, or a better house, or a better apartment building, or a mansion with gold faucets and gold toilets. But we're awaiting for a body that's prepared for us, a glorified body in the image of our Savior. He says, therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord. What does the Bible teach us about faith? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others." Meaning, if we understand what's awaiting for us as the church, we want others to enjoy the same thing, don't we? We want to preach the gospel. We want to preach, the King is coming! Repent and believe, the King is coming! So we have to ask ourselves, if we're really waiting for the right kind of heaven, if we're really waiting for the right kind of dwelling, we're looking to persuade others. But if heaven is just really about our flesh getting what our flesh wants, what's there to persuade others? They're already pursuing that. Then Paul says, but what we are is known to God. And I hope it is known also to your conscience. In other words, Paul is a servant of Jesus Christ. He's an apostle of the Lord Jesus, and he's doing the ministry of the word. And all he cares about, I know that God knows who I am. And I pray that the church knows who I am. Not to praise Paul, but to know the truth that Paul is preaching. He's persuading them. He's persuading us tonight. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you cause to boast about us. Meaning, by God's grace, Paul was the one that brought me the gospel. By the grace of God, so-and-so was the one that brought me the gospel. So-and-so, help me see God more clearly. So-and-so, help me to break my idolatry of heaven and help me see that we're awaiting sweet fellowship with Christ. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you cause to boast about us so that, here's the conclusion, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance. All you gotta do is turn your TV on for five seconds and every ad is telling you, be in love with your body, spend money on your body, spend money on your body. You gotta boast in your outward appearance because your outward appearance is all that you have, according to the world. And he says, and not about what's in the heart. I think that's a reference to the soul. I think that's a reference to the new man. that we've been resurrected with Christ. So ask yourself again, where do you spend your time talking? Is it about just the temporary, the fleeting? Or is it about the eternal? Is it about your physical body more than it is about your love for God and your love for the church? For if we are beside ourselves, it's for God. In other words, if you looked at somebody living for the glory of God, you'd be like Felix. Paul, your learning has driven you mad. The things that you're talking about, they sound nuts. Why would you live to be beaten, Paul? Why would you live to be put in jail? Just forsake Jesus and be set free. But if we are in our right mind, it's for you. People may call us crazy for living for Jesus, but as we speak the truth in love, it's for their sake. It's for their soul. It's for their joy. It's for their eternal hope. Why would Paul do this? Why would anybody do this? Why would anybody willingly be martyred for Christ? Paul gives the answer in verse 14. The love of Christ controls us. And yet, what's our world tell you? Don't let anybody be over you. Be your own boss. Be your own Lord. Don't let anybody tell you what to do. And Paul's saying, I love Jesus telling me what to do. I love the fact that his love controls me, moves me from place to place, action to action. This is a servant who loves his master. Why can he be joyful like this in the midst of suffering? Because we have concluded this, that one, I wish it was capitalized in the ESV, we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore all have died, and he died for all, that those who live might no longer, might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. If you get heaven right, You don't want to live for self, you want to live for Jesus. You don't want to live for vain glory, the world's glory, temporary glory. You want to live for his glory. When we get heaven right, we understand why Jesus said to Paul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Because Jesus takes offense when the world attacks his body, his bride, his beloved people. Because we're one. If we rightly understand what Paul just said, it's the reason why we're one. Jesus died, Jesus rose, Jesus ascended. Therefore, by faith, when we believe in Him, we can confess, I lived with Jesus, I died with Jesus, I rose with Jesus, I ascended with Jesus, I'm seated with Jesus. And then you read the Bible and Paul says, you're seated in the heavenlies. Yeah, that's what I believe. Jesus rose and it guarantees your resurrection because there's one resurrection. The head's up, the body's coming. And we believe that. Another conclusion. From now on, therefore, when you read your Bible, these transitional statements, for, so, because, therefore, From now on, meaning from now on what? If you got my argument in the verses preceding, you're going to change the way you go forward. That's what it means to be sanctified, doesn't it, beloved? That whatever we are on a Monday, we want to be different on a Tuesday? And whatever we are on a Tuesday, we want to be different on a Wednesday? We want to be more like Christ each and every day. He says, from now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. In other words, as we look at each other, we don't see the fleshly failings. We look at each other and say, there's a child of God. There's the bride of Christ. How should I treat the bride of Christ? How should I treat the children of God, the family of God? And then he says, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, Think about it. When Jesus lived for 33 years a life of absolute perfection, not many believed. Not many looked at him and said, well, there's the Son of God. Let's worship him. The majority of them said, he's out of his mind. He's going to ruin our town. He's going to ruin our city. He's going to ruin our synagogue. He's going to ruin the temple. But the day that Paul met the risen King on the road to Damascus, He realized his interpretation of who Jesus was was woefully wrong. So even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. When we talk about Jesus, he is the God-man. He is the eternal Son of God. That's why when we hear other religions say that Jesus isn't equal with the Father, then they don't know God. When Mormons say, oh, he was just an ordinary man, but by his good works he became God, they don't know God. Because the Son put on flesh. The Son was before the flesh. The Son is eternal. Isn't that what Isaiah told us? For unto us a child is born, for unto us a son is given. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. In other words, if you get saved on a Tuesday, you're not the same person you were on Monday. You have to rethink all of life. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. There it is again. If you get it right, you want to speak. If you understand what salvation is, if you understand what eternity is, if you understand what the glorified body is, you want to speak. Because you know that everybody around you needs Christ just like you need Christ. Do you believe that God gave you the ministry of reconciliation? Some people would argue that's only the apostles. The apostles had the ministry of reconciliation, but the church doesn't. I think that misses the mark. Were the apostles called and used of God in a special way? Yep, just like the prophets of the Old Testament. But the church, according to Jesus, has the keys of the kingdom. What you bind on earth is bound in heaven. What you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. What you forgive on earth is forgiven in heaven. Not because we judge it, but because we speak according to the gospel. If you witness to somebody and they believe in the Lord Jesus, you can tell them your sins are gone. Not in five years when you get more righteous, not in 500 years after you burn in purgatory, but at that moment, at that time, if you believe in the Lord Jesus, you have eternal life. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself. In other words, the church is the only one who can have a ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world. And when he says world, he doesn't mean universal salvation. He means both Jew and Gentile. See, the thinking was the Israelite nation, the physical nation of Israel is the only people of God. And so when John in his gospel says the world, he means Jew and Gentile, the nations. So God is reconciling not just physical Israel, but all the nations, the Jews and the Gentile. See, physical Israel had it wrong. They thought it was all about them. Therefore, they wanted nothing to do with Jesus. So let's read that again with that understanding. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. So if he doesn't count our trespasses against us now, why would he count our trespasses against us at the judgment seat? It doesn't work. I mean, it's a good way to whip people into fear and submission by making them tremble thinking of the judgment seat, but it doesn't set them free. It doesn't honor God. It doesn't honor the finished work of Christ. So first, not counting their trespasses against them, and then he does it again, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. If you've been forgiven, you've been commanded by God to speak, right? But doesn't the church sometimes say, oh no, only the professionals can speak? No, no. If God has saved you, you have something to say. I'm a great sinner, but Jesus is the greatest savior. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. If you don't think the king is coming, then it's really not a big deal to be reconciled, is it? But if we really think the king might come tomorrow, won't we implore people, please be reconciled? Please run to Christ? Please believe before his feet touch the ground? Because when the king's feet touch the ground, it's over for the wicked. There's not a second chance. Jesus doesn't set up a pulpit and preach the final last sermon to get more people saved. No, he's entrusted us with the message of reconciliation. And when he comes the second time, he comes to gather his people and to condemn the world. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, make it yours, understand that this is for you. For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. That's what it means to be an image bearer. See, at the fall, human beings didn't lose being human beings. But at the fall, human beings lost the ability to reflect the glory of God, because they lost their righteousness. See, in Christ, we are reflecting the righteousness of God. We are displaying the righteousness of God by what we speak and what we do. Two more verses, because I think these two verses bring it to a close for this section. Chapter six, verse one and two. Working together with him then, have you ever thought of that? When you go out witnessing to your neighbor that it's you and God working together? Your mouth is moving to speak the truth, but God is the one working internally to change hearts and minds. Working together with him then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, meaning God, in a favorable time, I listened to you. In a day of salvation, I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Doesn't that sound like Hebrews? As Paul wrote to the Jews, his fellow countrymen, today's the day, beloved. Today's the day. Don't harden your heart as your ancestors did in the rebellion. See, what is waiting for us in glory is not an earthly building, but a heavenly dwelling, a glorified body, a body and soul that are perfectly conformed to the image of Christ Jesus so that we will behold Him and be with Him and be like Him forevermore. Therefore, since we believe this to be true, meaning that that's the final work of our salvation, right? We have been justified. We're experiencing sanctification, but we're waiting for glorification. Since we believe this to be true, that there's a day coming when we're going to be glorified as the final act of our redemption, let us speak the truth in love. Let us make our words about Jesus in the gospel for the glory of God and for the good of our neighbors, because that's why we're here. If we're only here to get saved, I hate that phrase, but if we're only here to get saved, then once you're saved, why don't you just, bloop, bloop, bloop, float up to heaven? Because God's leaving you here to be his ambassador. He's leaving you here to speak at the coffee shop, to speak at work, to speak at around your family table, to speak to your neighbors. Know the Lord. Believe in the Lord Jesus. The King is coming. Are you ready? What a great question to ask, right? Hey, King Jesus is coming shortly. Are you ready? They're either going to say, I'm ready because I'm your brother, or what the heck are you talking about? And that's a good way to start preaching the gospel. God has left us here for many reasons, but that's just one, to be his ambassadors, as he molds and shapes us into the image of his son. It's not about us, beloved. Think about it. The more you grow as a Christian, the less you're you. And that's a good thing, right? The you that we were, we thought that was the center of the earth. But the you that we're becoming is in the image of our King, the image we want to behold and enjoy. Let's pray. Father, so many words, so many truths, not enough time. Lord, help our minds to meditate on these things more. Cause us to ponder these things more this week. to wrestle with their consequences, to see the beauty that Paul is exalting by the work of the Spirit in him and through him. And Lord, help us that the same Spirit that led Paul to write is the same Spirit that leads us to understand. Help us, Lord. Help us so that we can enjoy you the way that we were created to enjoy you. Help us to understand that when we're born again, it's Your grace and mercy causing us to regain what was lost, but to regain it in a way that's far more better. Help us, Lord. Help us to be blown away by how much better heaven is than this place, and how much better our glorified bodies are than the ones we have now. Lord, give us a taste for heaven, and give us a distaste for this world, for this world is not our home. Come, Lord Jesus, come. And until you come, may we be about our Father's business, making much of His dear Son. We ask these things in Christ's name, amen.