Week 19 (Tues), Reading 92 -- A New Creation in Christ -- 2 Corinthians 4:1-6:2
Paul is such a braggart! He just goes on and on about his ministry and all that it has accomplished. He’s a braggart. But (you knew there was going to be a “but”, right?)...reading this section of 2 Corinthians reveals that Paul isn’t a braggart in a selfish, attention-seeking way; he doesn’t brag about himself, he brags about God. Yes, he talks a lot about his ministry, but always in a way that makes it clear that the ministry itself is God’s and that he is merely the “afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down” (4:8-9) instrument through which God executes that ministry. As Paul writes, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (4:5-7).
When Paul does talk about himself it is always to point out his own weaknesses. Talking about himself, and all of the Apostles, he says “We are hard pressed on every side...perplexed...persecuted...struck down...We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus...we are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake...” (4:8-11). So the glory of the apostolic ministry belongs to God, and the salvation that it delivers through the preaching of the Gospel also belongs solely to God.
But if the apostolic ministry to which Paul was called was so injurious to him personally, then why would he continue in it? Paul tells us. The ministry of reconciliation that he preaches is also one that he first believed, and it is the hope, based on the promises of God, of the Gospel which provides the comfort and the power to perform the work of the apostolic ministry. So, while he and the other Apostles may be hard pressed, they are not crushed; perplexed yes, but not in despair, struck down by those hostile to their message, but not destroyed” (4:8-9).
It is specifically the promise of the Gospel that all things will be made new because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection that makes all of his suffering “worth it.” He knows that when Christ returns, as He has promised, then “what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (5:4). Faith in Christ receives all that God has promised us in Jesus -- including “a building from God, an eternal house in heaven” (5:1; John 14:1-3) and the promise of resurrected life: “because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence” (4:14).
To see the glory of God and the risen Christ in perfect bodies in the perfection of the sin-purged creation -- THAT is hope, and worth enduring any hardship that any Christian experiences.
Week 19 (Tues), Reading 92 -- A New Creation in Christ -- 2 Corinthians 4:1-6:2
Paul is such a braggart! He just goes on and on about his ministry and all that it has accomplished. He’s a braggart. But (you knew there was going to be a “but”, right?)...reading this section of 2 Corinthians reveals that Paul isn’t a braggart in a selfish, attention-seeking way; he doesn’t brag about himself, he brags about God. Yes, he talks a lot about his ministry, but always in a way that makes it clear that the ministry itself is God’s and that he is merely the “afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down” (4:8-9) instrument through which God executes that ministry. As Paul writes, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (4:5-7).
When Paul does talk about himself it is always to point out his own weaknesses. Talking about himself, and all of the Apostles, he says “We are hard pressed on every side...perplexed...persecuted...struck down...We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus...we are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake...” (4:8-11). So the glory of the apostolic ministry belongs to God, and the salvation that it delivers through the preaching of the Gospel also belongs solely to God.
But if the apostolic ministry to which Paul was called was so injurious to him personally, then why would he continue in it? Paul tells us. The ministry of reconciliation that he preaches is also one that he first believed, and it is the hope, based on the promises of God, of the Gospel which provides the comfort and the power to perform the work of the apostolic ministry. So, while he and the other Apostles may be hard pressed, they are not crushed; perplexed yes, but not in despair, struck down by those hostile to their message, but not destroyed” (4:8-9).
It is specifically the promise of the Gospel that all things will be made new because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection that makes all of his suffering “worth it.” He knows that when Christ returns, as He has promised, then “what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (5:4). Faith in Christ receives all that God has promised us in Jesus -- including “a building from God, an eternal house in heaven” (5:1; John 14:1-3) and the promise of resurrected life: “because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence” (4:14).
To see the glory of God and the risen Christ in perfect bodies in the perfection of the sin-purged creation -- THAT is hope, and worth enduring any hardship that any Christian experiences.