Entrusted with the Gospel

by Guest blogger…Josh Knowlton:

“…so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life…” 2 Cor. 5:4

The very definition of what it means to be mortal is that you have an end. Every mortal thing dies. Vanishes. Is swallowed by…death. For isn’t that what it is to be mortal? That one day, having lived your life, you too will pass away, just like the “flowers of the field”? (Psalm 103:15).

But Paul’s definition of mortality is radically different. What it is to be mortal, Paul states, is to be temporary—a tent. Mortality is merely a state—a phase transition through which one passes. Like the classical definition of mortality, there is still an end—but it might be more accurately described as a phase transition.

Mortality is not something we simply cast off at the end of our time. It is an undergarment that merely gives us a taste of what it is like to be fully clothed. At the end of time, those who have trusted in Christ will dress themselves in the complete garments of life—immortality. Thus, the undergarments of our existence, the tent in which we dwell is swallowed up by life, covered by more beautiful clothing than we could ever imagine—tent transformed into marvelous mansion.

Knowing this, how much differently should we treat people? Paul is simple and radical:

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh” —2 Cor. 5:16a

Eternal beings. Wandering around in a confused mortal world. We don’t belong here. So love one another like you’re going to spend eternity with them—because you are. Better start learning names now.

Scared? Don’t be. Christ will work through you. After all, the “Holy Spirit is our guarantee” (2 Cor. 5:5). Such a high calling is a challenge, but a challenge that we can and will meet, only with the power of Christ working through us.