Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / September 9 - 2 Corinthians 5

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September 9 - 2 Corinthians 5 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Shaun. Here it is Monday, it's the 9th
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  of September and I'm so glad to have your company.
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  Thanks for tapping on play and inviting me in as we begin a new
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  week together. And in this new week, we'll
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  continue reading through the book of Second Corinthians, just
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  where we left off, continuing to hear what Paul has to say and
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  the words that we are going to be sharing.
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  These are from the New Living Translation.
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  And it's been a little while since we changed to the New
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  Living Translation. When I say a little while,
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  what's it been? Probably over a year by now.
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  And I really do enjoy using this translation as it has been put
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  together by biblical scholars from around the world who have
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  poured over the original language texts and done their
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  darndest to work out how do we communicate the intent of what
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  is being said in the original manuscripts using today's
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  English. And so yes, you probably
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  wouldn't use this to pull apart word by word by word to do a
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  detailed exegesic exegetical study.
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  But in terms of listening to these words together in a whole
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  chapter just to hear the flow of God's Word, I don't know if
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  we'll find a better translation. This is just fantastic for
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  exactly what we're doing, reading through God's Word 1
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  chapter at a time. And so that, friends, is what
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  we're going to do today. You ready?
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  Yeah, me too. Holy Spirit, open up our hearts
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  as we hear your words flow through the Airways.
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  May your message ring loud and true as you reveal more of
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  yourself to us today. Well friends, let's do it.
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  Let us continue reading together as we read Second Corinthians
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  chapter 5. For we know that when this
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  earthly tent we live in is taken down, that is when we die and
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  leave this earthly body. We will have a house in heaven,
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  an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human
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  hands. We grow weary in our present
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  bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new
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  clothing, for we will put on heavenly bodies.
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  We will not be spirits with our bodies while we live in these
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  earthly bodies. We groan and sigh, but it's not
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  that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us.
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  Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying
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  bodies will be swallowed up by life.
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  God Himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee, He has
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  given us His Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even
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  though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are
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  not at home with the Lord, for we live by believing and not by
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  seeing. Yes, we are fully confident and
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  we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then
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  we will be at home with the Lord.
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  So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our
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  goal is to please Him, for we must all stand before Christ to
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  be judged. We will each receive whatever we
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  deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body
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  because we understand our fearful responsibility to the
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  Lord. We work hard to persuade others.
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  God knows we were sincere, and I hope you know this too.
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  Are we commending ourselves to you again?
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  No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us so you can
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  answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry
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  rather than having a sincere heart.
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  If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God, and if we
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  are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.
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  Either way, Christ's love controls us.
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  Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe
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  that we have all died to our old life.
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  He died for everyone. So those who receive His new
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  life will no longer live for themselves.
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  Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised
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  for them. So we have stopped evaluating
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  others from a human point of view.
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  At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of
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  view. How differently we know him now.
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  This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a
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  new person. The old life is gone and new
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  life has begun. And all of this is a gift from
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  God who brought us back to himself through Christ.
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  And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
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  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to
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  himself, no longer counting people's sins against them.
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  And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
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  So we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through
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  us. We speak for Christ when we
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  plead. Come back to God.
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  For God made Christ, who never sinned to be the offering for
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  our sin, so that we could be made right with God through
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  Christ our God. What a generous Father you are
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  for us, that here we are living this life, finding it hard day
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  by day to follow the prompting of the Spirit, but we find
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  ourselves getting drawn back into sin again and again, Lord.
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  And for that we truly are sorry. And here we read that we will be
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  judged for everything that we do while we're living here on earth
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  in these broken earthly bodies, judged by Jesus.
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  But that is good news because it's through Jesus perfect life
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  when he was judged even though he did nothing wrong, but for
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  our benefit. And we stand perfect in the
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  light of what Jesus has done for us so that we can share this
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  incredible news with the world around us, that we are a
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  forgived people because what you have done for us, Father,
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  through Jesus, help us hold on to this incredible message of
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  grace, that it can fill us with optimism and buoyancy, and that
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  we can share that which is our mission that you have given us.
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  Empower us for this mission with boldness, with kindness, and
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  with grace. And we ask all of this through
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  the saving name of Jesus. Amen.