It is often the misunderstanding idea which people attributes to the rightful understanding of the Scripture and the Gospel as set out by God Himself that is the greatest problem of mankind today and even before, and if this situation is allowed to be without an effective effort to correct it, our true understanding of exactly what God wants us to know with regard to God’s Aims, Plans and Purpose for the New--Man and the New--Earth is surely going to be with us in this generation just as it was with the generation of our Lord’s first advent and the current old earth thus just like in the first advent when true God—Man relationship was first introduced to man nobody is actually going to know real things the way that our Lord God Almighty wants us to know the things that belongs to our peace; just in similar way that prompted our Lord Jesus to tell the people of that time, ‘if you know what belong to your peace…’! For example do you know that much of what the combined Scripture and the Gospel teaches us in preparation for the Second Advent is all about Confident and Hopeful Expectant Courage that prepares or make us live a life fit to be ushered into the bliss of Heaven, that place that our Lord Jesus Christ said that He is going to prepare for us so that where He is there we too will be! So in essence what the Scripture and the Gospel do is to stir up in us the right heaven’s nostalgia because people are always afraid when they start getting close to the point of transition (via death process) that ushers us into this bliss. Nostalgia is a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for a return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. Christians –that is, true followers of Lord Jesus Christ–not only have an assurance that when they die they will go to heaven, but they also have a divine nostalgia, which is a true yearning for a return to heaven. The word ‘nostalgia’ comes from two Greek words: ‘nostos’, meaning ‘return home’; and ‘algos’, meaning ‘pain’. Combing the two Greek words meant, originally, an incurable homesickness –incurable by anything, except, of course, by home, by an actual return home! The whole idea is liken to a situation whereby a Creator created a blissful home for His creatures and after which He realized that His creatures does not know the Actual Precious Worth/Value of the Blissful Home He created for them as expressed in their Bad/Wrong Usage of the Blissful Home; so He decides to temporally remove them from the bliss by transferring them to a temporally designed painful home so that they will Realize the Worth/Value of their blissful home and develop a true and sincere longing--Nostalgia with an in-built readiness to value and correctly handle their Blissful Home once their Creator returns them back there Being Fit. An old legend of the Western Isles tells of a mythical sea king – a Neptune-type figure –who desired the company of human being. One day he heard, from his cavern/chamber under the sea, a baby’s cry –and he rose to the surface, to discover a tiny infant in an abandoned boat. Just as he was about to make for the vessel, a rescue party intervened –and he lost his prize. But, so the legend goes, as the boat was towed away, the sea king threw into the heart of the child a little salt wave, saying as he submerged: ‘The child is mine. When he grows, the salt sea will call him and he will come home.’ Before we continue with our inspirational learning, let us first of all know the story teller used the word: used the word ‘call him’, which is a spiritual call; a Neptune-type figure –who desired the company of a human being. Remember that Neptune is one of the planets, it is said to be very massive and spiritually inspirational in essence and it brings beauty to a higher, more spiritual level than other planets especially the earth. So this Neptune--type figure or being, is likely Giant looking, Beautiful, Highly Spiritual Being and probably Highly Intelligent with some kinds of powers since it can ‘say’ and it be. So with all of this knowledge about the essence/beauty of other planets, is it still surprising that our good Lord and Savior Jesus Christ longs to give us a New Earth and a New Heaven to be inhabited with a New Body. Our Lord God Almighty longs to give us the Best! Have in mind that this story is only a legend (a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but not authenticated), of course, but the story underlines the timeless truth that when God (Holy Spirit) comes into our lives (our heart/mind) like the little salt wave that the sea king threw into the heart of the child, we have not only the assurance that we belong to Him God, but a deep, insatiable longing for Home where He God is. One Church leader claims there are two things you notice about a Christian who is head over heels in love with Lord Jesus: you notice first how natural and ‘at home’ he/she is, and the next thing you say to yourself is, ‘This man/woman is an exile; he/she doesn’t belong here at all.’ Have you ever felt this way in life, that is feel the people you find yourself in their midst does not have the same characteristics/attributes/values as you do, does not behave the way you do, are not truthful and godly to a large extent, are not Christly neither do they have love for Christly things, does not have the same divine longing as you do, does not think and does not have the same thinking and reasoning pattern as you do, their spiritual content is very different from yours, theirs are so tied to this world than have any thought/likening or love for the heavenly. Have you ever observed all/some of these truths in some of the people around you assuming you are very watchful and observant! You can observe this in the life of Apostle Paul: how busy and concerned he was for our Lord Jesus’ affairs on earth (love for Christ and Christly things), and yet he sighs, as in our text today, and longs to be ‘at home with the Lord.’ Whether consciously or not this is the truth about all true sons and daughters of our true God! But just like the issue of the Israelites and Canaan, our God kept us here on this current old earth like He kept the Israelites in the wilderness so as to Sieve out the True Wheat from the Tares, and know that this exercise is spiritual because what went wrong during Creation is spiritual whereby the wrong spirit was mixed with the right spirit and the mixer (Lucifer via serpent/Eve) intends to immortalize this evil mixture of good and bad in one contrary to God’s Will of good and bad remaining separate for easy divine separation at the due time; in order for it not to spell Dome for the Entire Universe if allowed but God has been at Work Separating (the mixture) and Restoring Back His entire Good Divine Creation to as they were in the beginning meeting up His aimed divine performance and accountability in us as explained in all the first underlines of our reading passage below: For we know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed (dissolved), we have from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Here indeed, in this [present abode, body], we sigh and groan inwardly, because we yearn to be clothed over [we yearn to put on our celestial body like a garment, to be fitted out] with our heavenly dwelling, 3 So that by putting it on we may not be found naked (without a body). 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan under the burden and sigh deeply (weighed down, depressed, oppressed)—not that we want to put off the body (the clothing of the spirit), but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life [[a]after the resurrection]. 5 Now He Who has fashioned us [preparing and making us fit] for this very thing is God, Who also has given us the [Holy] Spirit as a guarantee [of the fulfillment of His promise]. 6 So then, we are always full of good and hopeful and confident courage; (2 Corinthians 5:1-5) Can you now fully understand all what we have been talking about that has to do with our good divine expectation and hopeful and confident courage being in Christ knowing that our present old earth life is likened to the wilderness life of the Israelites where we are under preparation to be made fit to enter heaven that is like the combine Canaan part of earth given to God’s people: remember that we have Canaan of the first advent that serves and is still serving as figure and we are expecting the emergent of the Canaan of the second advent that is really flowing with Milk and Honey that will serve the reality of the figure any time from now! Both Canaan will serve for God a place where humans will be truly prepared for heaven’s journey in Christ, using it to teach the whole world how humans are to live their life in order to be fit for heaven’s requirement before the End, only God knows when but it will be when God feels He has given mankind enough time with enough divine education to be made fit! Always guard the purity of your spirit so that it will always help you to be in union with the Holy Spirit of God because this is the only thing that helps us in this divine preparation for heavenly fitness!

Now let us read 2 Corinthians 5:1-15; For we know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed (dissolved), we have from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Here indeed, in this [present abode, body], we sigh and groan inwardly, because we yearn to be clothed over [we yearn to put on our celestial body like a garment, to be fitted out] with our heavenly dwelling, 3 So that by putting it on we may not be found naked (without a body). 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan under the burden and sigh deeply (weighed down, depressed, oppressed)—not that we want to put off the body (the clothing of the spirit), but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life [[a]after the resurrection]. 5 Now He Who has fashioned us [preparing and making us fit] for this very thing is God, Who also has given us the [Holy] Spirit as a guarantee [of the fulfillment of His promise]. 6 So then, we are always full of good and hopeful and confident courage; we know that while we are at home in the body, we are abroad from the home with the Lord [that is promised us]. 7 For we walk by faith [we [b]regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance. 8 [Yes] we have confident and hopeful courage and are pleased rather to be away from home out of the body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth away from Him] or away from home [and with Him], we are constantly ambitious and strive earnestly to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering [c]what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has [d]achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing]. 11 Therefore, being conscious of fearing the Lord with respect and reverence, we seek to win people over [to persuade them]. But [e]what sort of persons we are is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood by God, and I hope that it is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood also by your consciences (your inborn discernment). 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but we are providing you with an occasion and incentive to be [rightfully] proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who pride themselves on surface appearances [[f]on the virtues they only appear to have], although their heart is devoid of them. 13 For if we are beside ourselves [mad, as some say], it is for God and concerns Him; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit, 14 For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died; 15 And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.

In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul, who constantly faced situations that could result in his death just like every one of us today in diverse ways, reminds the Corinthians just as he is reminding us that at the final judgment each person will be paid/recompensed/rewarded according to what he/she has done in the body on earth, whether good or evil,: “10 For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering [c]what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has [d]achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing].”(2 Cor. 5:10) These are unusual words for Paul (though not as unusual as one might expect; also we see Rom. 2:6–10, saying “6 For He will render to every man according to his works [justly, as his deeds deserve]: 7 To those who by patient persistence in well-doing [[b]springing from piety] seek [unseen but sure] glory and honor and [[c]the eternal blessedness of] immortality, He will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and self-willed and disobedient to the Truth but responsive to wickedness, there will be indignation and wrath. 9 [And] there will be tribulation and anguish and calamity and constraint for every soul of man who [habitually] does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile). 10 But glory and honor and [heart] peace shall be awarded to everyone who [habitually] does good, the Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile)”), whom we normally associate with the doctrine of grace, meaning that our salvation is entirely unmerited and not the result of our own works as seen in Eph. 2:8–9, “8 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved ([a]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; 9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.”]. It is, however, important that we allow our picture of Paul to be formed in us by what he actually says, rather than by some caricature. When we analyze Paul’s teaching in its entirety, we find it is in harmony with that of our Lord Jesus, Apostle James, and even the Old Testament. But for all of them, know that faith that does not express itself in good works is no faith at all. Indeed, faith and obedience/good works are so closely intertwined that even Paul can, as he does here, refer to the latter rather than the former when he actually has both in mind. What we do in the body cannot help but reflect what God’s grace has done for us. What pleases the Lord can be described either as faith or, as here, as works of righteousness/goodness made possible by God’s grace. In any case, Paul’s message is clear enough: How we live our lives matters to God because God wants us to live our life according to His Word for it to be well with us. In workplace terms, our performance matters. Moreover, we will have to give an account to our Lord Jesus for all that we have done and left undone. In workplace terms, this is accountability. Performance and accountability are profoundly important to the Christian life, and we cannot dismiss them as secular concerns of no importance to God, No! God cares whether we are slacking off, neglecting our duties, not showing up for work, or going through the motions without genuine attention to our work just like the secular authorities that we are more affined to. This does not mean that God always agrees with what our work¬places expect from us. God’s idea of good performance may be different from that of our manager or supervisor with regard to secular workplace. In particular, if meeting our employer’s performance expectations requires unethical activities or harming others, then God’s review of our performance will be different from our employer’s. If your boss expects you to mislead customers or denigrate co-workers, for God’s sake aim for a poor performance review from your boss and a good review from God. Denigrate means to attack one’s reputation while unethical means not conforming to high moral standard: morally wrong, illegal business practices, immoral behavior. Note the difference between ‘good and poor’ performance! God holds us to a high standard of conduct. One day we will answer for the way we have treated our co-workers, bosses, employees, and cus¬tomers, not to mention our family and friends. This does not negate the doctrine of grace, but instead shows us how God intends His grace to transform our lives. When you hear that God wants us to be transformed to conform to Christ by the acts of His gracious interventions on our behalf, He mean that we should learn from the many things God saved us from and make amends especially to those aspect of us that are bad with which we landed ourselves into diverse troubles He saved us from. But instead, we keep repeating and re-landing ourselves into same troubles that God previously saved us from, is it good? All acts of God, are acts of mercies and grace and He aims at using them to giving us second chances but more often than not we misuse them instead of making amends, too bad! Let us always learn.