DAILY BIBLE LESSON
TO BE ABSENT FROM THE BODY, AND TO BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD: AN EXPOSITION ON PAUL'S WORDS IN 2 CORINTHIANS 5:8.

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Paul longed “to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8. The question is, would this transition take place at the moment of death, or at the Second Coming? Paul clarified in verse 4 that it would occur when “mortality” is “swallowed up by life” (verse 4). When is this? In his previous letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote that “mortality” would be “swallowed up” when the resurrection of believers occurs at the end of the world. “In a moment ... at the last trump ... the dead shall be raised ... this mortal must put on immortality ... then ... Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:50-55. Thus Paul expected “to be present with the Lord” at the Second Coming. He later wrote, “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout ... the dead in Christ shall rise ... so shall we ever be with the Lord.” l Thessalonians 4:16-17. Jesus said we will be with Him when He “comes again.” John 14:1-3. Because death is like sleep, it will seem like barely a moment until we are “present with the Lord.”

To be absent from the body basically means to leave behind our physical bodies in death. Since the righteous dead do not know anything (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10; Psalm 146:3-4; Job 14:20-21), their next conscious thought will be in the presence of their Lord; that is, at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:13-14) at the second coming of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

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