II Corinthians 5

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (v17).  Paul says that when we are “in Christ,” when we become reconciled to God through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are re-born as God’s adopted children.  This is just the beginning of our transformation; Paul longed for the resurrection, the day when “we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (v4).  

“He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (v5).  God’s Spirit reminds us that, whether “at home or away” (v9), we belong to Him.