- 152. Present with the Lord
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
The promise is that we will be present with the Lord when we die, when the soul leaves the body. Because of this promise we are confident and even willing: we are confident to face death; we are even willing to separate from the body. When we die we (our souls) leave the body and go to be with the Lord. Then we await the resurrection of the body, which is a certainty. This promise says that immediately upon death we are present with the Lord.
We naturally love the body and the survival instinct is strong, but salvation gives another yearning in addition to the desire to preserve life in the body; that yearning is the confidence and willingness to be with the Lord. We are present with the Lord by faith right now while we live in this body, and He is with us always, but the body of sin and death prevents us from enjoying the presence of the Lord in its fullness. Death is the separation of the self from the body and then we are finally free from sin and death.
Sin separates us from God; Grace and forgiveness unites us with God. At death the presence of sin is removed forever and nothing can separate us from God ever again. Though sin is forgiven completely it still remains with us until death. The promise is that at death the body will be transformed and sin will no longer come between God and us. We can be, and we will be, present with the Lord in all His glory forever. We need this change and we look forward to it. We do not seek to die but we are ready for it. When you really think about it this promise could not be improved upon: to be present with the Lord is everything good, beautiful and wonderful. We could not imagine it any better.