2 Corinthians 5

v1-5: We groan as believers because of the burden of life.  "The adversities of life are a heavy load," but another burden is our sinful nature "and the many impurities that still remain and rage" in us.  But there is another reason for groaning.  "A groaning of desire for the happiness of another life," that the Lord is preparing us for and which the presence of the Spirit in our lives assures us of.

v6-8: Our home is not this world.  We "are pilgrims and strangers in this world... only visitors here." in our earthly home.  God is with us by His Spirit, but "we are not at home with him as we hope to be." At present we are called to walk by faith, but one day we will live by sight and we see and fully enjoy God.

v9-11: The certainty of God's judgment should increase our urgency in persuading people "to repent and live a holy life, so that when Christ appears fearfully, they may appear before him with assurance."

v12-15: "Love has a compelling power to stir ministers and individual Christians to fulfil their duty.  Our love for Christ will have this power, and Christ's love for us, revealed in his dying for us, will have this effect on us, if it is properly considered and rightly judged." We should live for Christ, who died for us.

v16-17: The grace of God in the life of a Christian transforms them, giving them a new heart and a new nature so they act "from new motives, according to new rules, with new goals, and in new company."

v18-21: "Just as God is willing to be reconciled to us, we should be reconciled to God.  It is the great purpose and intention of the Gospel, that word of reconciliation, to persuade sinners to set aside their hostility toward God.  Faithful ministers are Christ's ambassadors, sent to discuss with sinners the terms of peace and reconciliation; they come in God's name, with his proposal, and act on behalf of Christ." God uses his people to "urge sinners to set aside their hostility and accept the terms he offers, to be reconciled to him, to all his attributes, laws, and providences, to believe in the Mediator, to accept the atonement, and comply with his Gospel, in all its parts and intentions."