v1-8: Looking forward is a strength in our suffering, but also a motivation for our service.

v1: Our earthly home, our tent (2 Pet 1.3) will be destroyed. There is the promise of new bodies, 1 Cor 15.44; Phil 3.21. There is a new dwelling place; mansions (John 14.2), a city (Heb 11.10), a home eternal in the heavens; such is the inheritance promised to us in Christ.

v2-3: Our experience today, we groan, enduring human frailty, but looking forward, Rom 8.22-23. Our clothing is the character of Christ displayed in us, this is the treasure in earthen vessels. We already show this in out lives; Paul does not want to be "naked", i.e: displaying nothing of Christ (compare 1 Cor 2.12-15).

Paul uses "we" frequently here, identifying himself with the Corinthians. His concern was that they all share the quality of Christian experience that is being described.

v4: We endure burdens and mortality, decay and uncertainty; all this will be swallowed up, never to be recalled. We have already begun to be clothed, and we will be further clothed; at the resurrection, this will be complete.

Phil 3.11 carries a similar thought, "if … I may attain to the resurrection of the dead". We can achieve something of the glory to come now, we cannot escape the reality of suffering in this life, Rom 8.17.

v5: We have a guarantee that those things will be fulfilled; the Holy Spirit who is given to us; we are made for Heaven, and Heaven is a place prepared for us. We have an inner conviction of the truth of God's word; 1.22; Eph 1.13-14. God has prepared us for eternal life, and we are right to be confident.

v6: Being in the body means we are not with the Lord, but that will be changed; we will be absent from the body and present with the Lord.

v7: By faith we accept these things. To choose to walk by sight not by faith is to reject the teachings of Christ. By faith, we know what cannot be known naturally, and we see what cannot naturally be seen. The unseen truths of eternity are accepted by faith.

This is an important statement in light of our very rationalistic western culture which insists on something that is real being something seen and understood. We must understand that the unseen reality is no less real.

v8: We know that God's will has to be fulfilled, and we are confident that His will will be fulfilled in our lives. Paul here reverses the wording of verse 6; we look forward to being away from the body and with the Lord.

v9: In light of these truths, our desire is to be well pleasing to Him, to live lives that honour Him; we are given every reason to do this, we receive strength to do this also. The key issue is that of obedience, not reward. We obey Him because we love Him, not because of any reward that we receive.

v10: Also, there is the truth of personal accountability, not in regard to salvation, but in regard to service. The Scripture is clear that we are all accountable to Him.

v11: We must have a proper fear (or 'terror') of God, for He is worthy of respect. Since we also will be judged, and all men will be judged, we must serve Him zealously and faithfully. Paul's own life was motivated by this truth, as well as by others; the influence of his life was "plain to God", and plain to others too. His was a clear conscience.

The theme of motivation in Christian service continues through the chapter.

v12: Some glory in appearance (Gk. 'in the face'), in ostentation, in manifestations, but neglect the heart, the reality. Others may mock us, and put us down, because we do not commend ourselves, nor exalt ourselves. We are not to be fooled by the unspiritual attitudes of some that claim to be spiritual. Once the Corinthians had understood the truth that Paul explained, and the things that motivated him, they should properly honour him.

v13: Some accuse us of madness, and Paul was accused of this, Acts 26.24. Unbelievers, and even some believers, do not recognise the spiritual nature of our service, "for God", "for you". We do not serve ourselves (4.5). We find that one moment we are rejected, at other times accepted. Paul knew he was called of God to do what he was doing, and that would carry him through the hard times.

v14: We are driven/compelled by Christ's love. We are fired to witness, to serve, to teach, to encourage, doing what He commands.

Paul brings in another truth, that "all died"; and only through Christ can we live. This urges us to preach the gospel. It also urges us to give our lives for Him.

v15: Our lives are not to be lived for ourselves, but for Him.

Even as Christ died and has risen again, we have died "in Him" and have been raised "in Him". We cannot be the same, we have no life of our own, and we are not free agents, for we belong to Him.

v16: We do not judge according to the flesh (Gal 3.28), nor by appearance (John 7.24), Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, etc. Such things are meaningless, in Christ.

In the same way, we do not know Christ according to the flesh. We do not honour Him for His physical appearance, His height, His handsome features, etc. We honour Him who is the Son of God. The use of idols would encourage such misplaced views; we are not to make any likeness of anything (Ex 20.4).

Those who had known Christ before the Ascension had to realise that they no longer knew Him that way. We can only know Him spiritually, in and with our spirits. If we revert to physical impressions, then false ideas may be introduced. Peter and James and John, who knew the Lord before the Ascension, never refer to His physical appearance; Peter simply says that they were eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Pet 1.16-18).

v17: The new creation; a change, which is spiritual, not natural, and not reversible. We are in Christ, and the change was worked by God Himself.

In Gen 1.3-5, there was total darkness, but God spoke, and darkness was changed to light (Ps 33.6). Children of the night are changed to children of the day, for the light of the knowledge of the glory of God has shone in our hearts in Jesus Christ.

The new creation brings about a change in how we live also. Old things that once filled our lives have passed away. Old attitudes and habits, by God's grace and power, are gone forever. We can now do things that please Him, Rom 6.1-2, 15-16.

Being a new creation makes us part of a new community and a new culture. This has massive implications for our lifestyle and attitudes. The church should reflect this reality of the new creation, not the character of the human society in which it finds itself.

v18: God has taken the initiative, and reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ. The natural enmity has been taken away, and we are made friends and family with Christ.

'There was no reluctance on the Father's part. On the contrary, "God .. reconciled us to Himself."' (John Stott, The Preacher's Portrait)

Quoting James Denney (The Death of Christ); 'The work of reconciliation, in the sense of the New Testament, is a work which is finished, and which we must conceive to be finished, before the gospel is preached. (John Stott, The Preacher's Portrait) 

We have the ministry of reconciliation, bringing others to God. Our message is "be reconciled to God". This applies to unbelievers, and also to believers who have turned away.

v19: On the cross God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, taking away the barrier of our trespasses. The work was done, the message now needs to be proclaimed, Eph 5.2; Col 1.20; Heb 9.22; 1 Pet 3.18. This message is committed to those who know Christ.

v20: We are Christ's ambassadors, representing Him in a needy world, and representing Him to rebellious Christians. We have a responsibility to urge them to turn to Him. This responsibility takes us outside of any church building, and informs our contact with those who do not yet belong to Christ. There remains an ongoing responsibility to be reconciled to God, where sins have crept in.

v21: Christ was made sin for us, the sin offering; this was a single, sufficient, sacrifice of Himself, Heb 9.27-28; 10.12.

We are made the righteousness of God in Christ. We must therefore manifest His character in the world. Being an ambassador is a high and holy calling, the representative of Christ must be like Him.