I don’t know how you respond to events like the assassination of Charlie Kirk – a 31 year old servant of Jesus, father of 2 and faithful husband as well as a political commentator.

I think news like this, wherever you sit politically or philosophically is a harsh reminder of the broken reality of this world.

But it goes beyond that. There’s escalating tensions in global wars, political unrest on the streets of London, rising divides between people and people groups. Even the prospect of nuclear war.

But we also have stuff going on in our own lives. Pain, suffering and loss are a regular feature.

Our lives and the world around us is messy.

In such a time as this, Jesus calls us to be men and women of faith.

And so we need faith to rise up and be salt and light in the world around us.

You can’t talk about being a disciple of Jesus without talking about faith.

But what is faith?

If we’re called to live a life FULL of faith – how does that look?

That’s the goal of this post.

So, let’s first review an important passage of scripture together. 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

📖

1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 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 For 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, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

I’m going to walk us through 3 things I see in this passage that will help us to grasp what God is saying in the Word.

1. Thing one: LIFE NOW → the SIGHT part.

We’re going to look at how this passage helps us to understand what we know to be true about life here and now.

2. Thing two: CERTAIN HOPE → the FAITH part.

Faith isn’t vague. We’re going to see from this passage that we’re not talking about blind, flimsy optimism when we talk about faith but a tangible and compelling hope.

3. Thing three: the WALKING part.

Finally, we’re going to see from this passage how Jesus equips us to live this life full of faith, serving others in love and living through our hardships

Thing one then…

Life now → the SIGHT part

I always admired my grandad growing up. He taught me so much about strength, leadership, resilience and responsibility.

He taught me how to play golf, he built a business from zero to success and used the rewards of that hard work to look after his family.

He’s been a constant symbol of a solid, well-rounded individual.

But now all of that is in decline as he lives through the horror of Alzheimers

This isn’t an uncommon story.

We all know what it’s like to experience suffering.

In the chapter before the chapter we’ve just read, Paul the author talks about the aches and pains of growing older. How life seems to be marked by our bodies falling apart.

Beyond the physical hardships we all experience, I also touched upon the other things that make life here and now – difficult.

We’ll all experience difficulty with the world around us. The newsfeeds and media fill our lives with headlines of desperately sad situations.

It’s relentless.

And even living out an authentic Christian life is hard work – Paul makes that point so clear in 2 Corinthians 4.

Persecution.

Sin.

Our fears and doubts.

Paul describes the life of a Christian as one in which we possess the treasure of Jesus in jars of clay in chapter 4 of 2 Corinthians.

It’s fragile and prone to damage. It will, ultimately be broken.

And yet he contrasts it with hope.

That’s the reason for the tent/building contrast in verse 1.

Here’s verse 1 again:

📖

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

That’s an interesting metaphor isn’t it?

Tents are temporary things.

They can be quickly taken down and packed away.

The metaphor has in view a picture of our earthly bodies.

Walking by faith then is acknoledging the truth that the things of this life are temporary.

The prosperity gospel by contrast is a nasty heresy. It robs us of our ability, by the grace of God, to withstand the hard parts of life.

I don’t want anyone to be under any illusion that Christianity is about a better quality of life here and now. If you follow Jesus – Life will be difficult.

I’ve no interest in stroking our egos – telling you that things will get better.

They might not.

Here’s Charles Spurgeon on this subject, he says…

Many people are in a great fright about the future, yet here Paul is viewing the worst thing that could happen to him (death) with such complacency that he likens it to nothing worse than the pulling down of tent in which he was making shift to reside for a little season.

"No man would find it difficult to die who died every day. He would have practised it so often, that he would only have to die but once more…

Paul contrasts the TENT our bodies – the temporary dwelling – to something else in verse 1. A permanent, eternal HOME with God. A house not built by human hands.

Eric Baker was a missionary in Portugal. He planted churches and led people to the Lord alongside his wife, children, sister and her children. During the second world war there was a call to evacuate his family to the safety of the UK. So he put his family on a boat and carried on with his ministry.

The following Sunday after his family got on that boat, he stood up to preach (as usual)

He opened by saying: "I've just received word that all my family have arrived safely home!"

and then carried on with the service.

The congregation only discovered the full meaning of this announcement later.

Just before he stood up to preach, Eric received a wire that his family’s boat had been sunk by a German torpedo. They had all drowned. Eric knew though that, because of their trust in Jesus, his family had entered safely into the best home.

By the Grace of God, in spite of his grief, Eric continued to serve Jesus on the mission field.

The knowledge that his family was enjoying the bliss of Heaven comforted his heart and helped him to keep his sight on eternity.

Walking by faith and not by sight involves trusting in the promise of a new body.

When we close our eyes on this life – we will open them again in the full presence of Jesus immediately.

The great D Martin Lloyd Jones put it like this, he said:

If a philosophy of life cannot help me to die, then in a sense it cannot help me to live."

So walking NOT by sight involves the full knowledge of what happens to our bodies in this life. It involved embracing the temporary nature of life now retaining hope in the permanent life to come.

I now want us to look at the faith part of this subject.

Faith – not a vague hope

The bible is clear: Faith is grounded in reality.

Faith is an unshakable trust in the promises of God clearly laid out in the bible.

What it means to walk by faith then is to keep that trust at the core of our lives.

Jesus conquered death.

Jesus rose again and is seated in glory at the Father’s side.

Jesus promises those who trust in Him that we too will inhabit a permanent, risen and glorified body where we will be reunited with the dead we’ve loved and lost who are in Christ AND see and enjoy Jesus face to face.

Forever.

But we’re not just given the promise in the form of words on paper. Though, if that were all, the resurrection of Jesus is enough to convince me they are true words.

But we’re also given something else to sure up our faith.

Paul says: “we are always confident” in verse 6. Why?

Verse 5:

📖

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

We have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God residing in us as a deposit, a guarantee of what is to come.

And he can give us a foretaste of that in so many ways. As a continuationist, I believe God brings miraculous healing today by Holy Spirit’s presence.

We’re not all healed in this life, as i’ve said, I think the bible makes it clear that sickness is, among other things, a tangible reminder that our bodies in this life are temporary dwelling places.

But, that doesn’t detract from the fact that God does heal and the Holy Spirit is a sure and certain deposit guaranteeing the faith we walk by.

Life in fullness.

Paul clearly uses this passage as an encouragement NOT a discouragement.

We’re called to WALK.

That’s a verb – an active word.

We’re called to actively demonstrate that faith. Paul rounds off the verses by talking about the great day when we stand before the Lord and give an account for what we’ve done in this life.

I don’t think the point of that is controversial. It’s as an encouragement to live out our faith here and now.

Walking by faith and not by sight causes us to be more engaged with the world around us than anyone else.

Faith helps us to see other people as part of a reality in which there is eternal significance.

Paul warns us not to regard others from a worldly point of view for this very reason. He encourages us to make other people, especially the lost our highest priority.

If you keep reading on in Chapter 5 of 2nd Corinthians, Paul goes on to say this:

📖

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:20

To see life in full definition is to see people through the lens of eternity. Through Jesus’ eyes.

Ironically, walking by faith, not sight means really seeing people for the first time.

So, some challenges to wrap up: Do you see the trappings of this life as evidence of our temporary dwelling place? Or is this all there is?

Do you view your suffering as evidence that God has something more for you or does it cause you to abandon hope?

Do you recognise the gifts of the Holy Spirit and His presence with you now as a deposit to prove to you that you will one day get the full payout – life in glorified bodies close to Jesus forever?

Or do you dismiss the evidence all around?

Do you see the opportunity in this life to live it to the fullest as an ambassador of Jesus – pointing to the great and eternal hope? Or do you chose anxiety, despair or self-indulgence?

J I Packer writes this:

"How many Christians live their lives packed up and ready to go?”