⁵Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. ⁶Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— ⁷for we walk by faith, not by sight— ⁸we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Paul’s theology at times proves difficult to follow (even the venerable apostle Peter thought so—see 2 Peter 5:15–16). But at other times, his thinking comes through crystal clear and simple. In the end, the most arduous theological wrestling must lead us to the simplicity of God and our life in Him. That is why Paul so often breaks out into doxologies after lengthy dissertations on the truth (see for example Romans 11:33–36, which follows ten-plus chapters on theology). Here in today’s passage, in the midst of teaching the Corinthians, Paul unmistakably reveals his personal response to the present and anticipated post-death experiences.

First, he acknowledges two unshakeable things that steady his rudder through the sea waves of his present life. First, God prepared him for what is happening to him now and what will happen in the future. This is true for all believers. No matter what our circumstances, we cannot move ahead in faith and hope apart from the rock-solid belief that we are on assignment for God to be His representatives in the present situation (see 2 Cor. 5:20) and therefore He has “prepared us” adequately to do just that.

Second, the Lord has given us “the Spirit as a pledge.” The word means a first installment of what is more to come. In other words, God doesn’t take the Christian home to eternity immediately upon confession of faith, at the point of passing from spiritual death into spiritual life. But His leaving us here is not without His promise of better things to come. We begin the spiritual life here, but it is only a foretaste of what is to come. But what a foretaste! We now have the Spirit of God and all that means to us. We begin eternal life now, and it continues on into the future. What we have now assures us of future benefits. One could compare this to winning a multi-million-dollar lottery and having received the first monthly installment. As great as the benefits are now of being right with the One in whose image we have been created, there is more and better to come!

Knowing all this helps us endure our present situation. While of course the believer would prefer to be with the Lord in the completeness of eternity, “at home” so to speak, we en-“courage” ourselves (to play on Paul’s word) to continue walking faithfully now.

Lord, I will courageously live for You, anticipating my future homecoming.