THE SPIRIT OF FAITH (2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-18)
The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, her host provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room .... just wait.” “That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged…it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it… It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away… just for this time in my life.”
It’s been said, “Believing is seeing,” not vice versa. In the midst of affliction (v 17) and troubles, Paul urges the believers in Corinthians to walk by faith and not by sight, not to give in to the triple threat of doubt, despair and disobedience.
Why are troubles not our greatest enemy? What resources have God given us to combat and overcome the troubles in life? Why is the absence of faith and not the presence of troubles a believer’s bigger problem?
Triumph is Yours in Christ to Claim
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. (2 Cor 4:7-12)
A little boy is telling his Grandma how “everything” is going wrong. School, family problems, severe health problems, etc. Meanwhile, Grandma is baking a cake. She asks her grandson if he would like a snack, which of course he does. “Here, have some cooking oil.”
“Yuck” says the boy.
“How about a couple raw eggs?”
“Gross, Grandma!”
“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?”
“Grandma, those are all yucky!”
To which Grandma replies: “Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way. Many times we wonder why he would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!”
With the spirit of faith active in our lives (v 13), troubles are merely an opportunity for God’s presence, His power and provision to work in our lives.
It’s been said, “A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot. It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain.”
Jars of clay (v 7) are plenty but treasures are priceless. “Treasures” (v 7) is the Greek word “thesauros” (thesaurus), literally a deposit or storehouse of wealth. We are not doomed because of the abundance of God’s riches and resources at work and available to us. This same word describes the “treasures” the magi gave to baby Jesus (Matt 2:11), the kingdom of heaven that is likened to treasure hidden in a field ((Matt 13:44) and the treasures of Egypt Moses disregarded (Heb 11:26). The Bible tells us in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). If you never experienced troubles, you’ll never experienced treasures.
“Jars of clay” is “earthen jars” in Greek. According to Wikipedia, clay exhibits plasticity when mixed with water in certain proportions. When dry, clay becomes firm and when fired in a kiln, permanent physical and chemical reactions occur which, amongst other changes, causes the clay to be converted into a ceramic material. Clay by itself has no use. It has to be placed in the fire or in an oven to become useful.
Treasures and clay jars are a contrast to each other. The last and least expected place for people to put their treasures is in an earthen jar, but God has done so when we are unafraid and unashamed to carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. When you bear in your body the death of Jesus, His all-surpassing power bears you in life.
“All-surpassing” is the word “huperbole” in Greek or for figures of speech students – “hyperbole” in English, which means extravagant, excess or exaggeration – also translated as utterly (Rom 7:13), great/greater (1 Cor 12:31, 2 Cor 1:8), far outweighs (2 Cor 4:17) and intensely (Gal 1:13). God’s mighty power (dunamis), His ability and greatness is shown not in our potency, achievement and success, but in our weakness, meekness and limitations.
With faith, we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. “Hard-pressed” is also translated as “narrow” for “the narrow road that leads to life” (Matt 7:14), crowding (Mark 3:9), distressed (2 Cor 1:6), harassed (2 Cor 7:5), persecuted (1 Thess 3:4), trouble (2 Thess 1:6). That must have been how a piece of clay must have felt when it was placed in the kiln, as if its life is over, but it just a new beginning. After closing its eye to the blazing heat for the longest time, the piece of clay open its eye to discover itself a brand new object, not “crushed” after all – crowded but not crushed; flat but not flattened, squeezed but not squashed.
“Perplexed” or “aporeo” is translated as wondering (Luke 24:4) or at a loss (John 13:22), but “despair” or “ex-aporeomai” means “out of” (ex-) wondering” or “at a loss.” We are baffled, bemused and bewildered about what is going on, but it is never out of range or beyond what we can bear; not to the point of doubt, distrust, or disbelief.
“Persecuted,” the same word Paul is all too familiar with his futile persecution of the church, is simply “pressing on” or “following/going after,” but never catching up. “Abandon” is being forsaken (Matt 27:46), left behind (Rom 9:29), deserted (2 Tim 4:10) or given up (Heb 10:25b). In fact, the only person the forsaken word is used in the Bible is with Jesus (Matt 27:46). God has promised He will never will leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). We are chased but never caught.
“Struck down” (kata-ballo) is “cast down” or “lay” in Greek, but never destroyed (apollumi), which is destroyed fully in Greek. The contrast is with “down” but not “out.”
Thanksgiving is Yours in Christ for Certain
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 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. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. (2 Cor 4:13-15)
A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On that day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. It just seemed to be stuck. Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The moth then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was the way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance.
Similarly, the Chinese say “pulling sprout to help them grow” does the reverse and seal its fate.
Life is not about avoiding troubles but about surmounting difficulties and overcoming obstacles. Those who have never faced problems have never lived.
Practicing the spirit of faith causes troubles to be an occasion for thanksgiving.
Paul argues that the resurrection is the greatest power at work and the greatest promise in life, because God who has conquered sin, death and Satan by rising from the grave.
The Greek for “present” (v 14) reminds us of the picture of Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to Jerusalem to “present” him to the Lord (Luke 2:22); it is also translated as “put at disposal” (Matt 26:53), standing near (Mark 14:47), provide
(Acts 23:24), prove (Acts 24:13), before (Acts 27:24), offer (Rom 6:13), receive
(Rom 16:2), bring us near (1 Cor 8:8). As a child, having your parents by your side is always a big deal on the first day of class and the last day in school.
There are two “with” (sun) in verse 14, the first time Paul uses two times this preposition in a single verse. It is a proud day and a thrilling feeling when you stand with a fellow graduate on your graduation day, but it is the greatest day when you are raised with Jesus and stand with others in His presence.
When one is in suffering the emotional side in us thinks the Lord loves us less, but the truth is that grace abounds more (v 16). We are to live by grace, not by guts. We are to strive for a life of thanksgiving and not succumb to a life of tragedy, and to strive for God’s glory and not one’s greatness.
Transformation is Yours in Christ with Courage
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor 4:16-18)
In 1974, Dr. Clifton Meador, a Nashville physician, treated Sam Londe for cancer of the esophagus, considered fatal back then. Londe died a few weeks later, but an autopsy revealed that his esophagus was fine. He had a few cancerous spots on his liver and one on his lung, but not enough to kill him. Three decades later Meador told the Discovery Health Channel: “He died with cancer, but not from cancer. . . . I thought he had cancer. He thought he had cancer. Everybody around him thought he had cancer. Did I remove hope in some way?”
(“The Nocebo Effect: Expecting the Worse can Hurt your Health,” Miami Herald Oct. 30, 2007)
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/health/story/288052.html
The Chinese say, “There is no greater tragedy than the heart’s death.” The loss of hope, not the loss of health, is the greatest killer in life. It kills a person faster than any disease, disaster, distress and discontent.
The Greek for “lose heart” occurs merely four times in the Bible, twice in this chapter (vv 1, 16) and translated elsewhere as “become weary” (Gal 6:9) or “be discouraged” (Eph 3:13). Lose heart in Greek (ekkakeo) is “out (ex) and evil (kakos), or giving into evil. This generation loses heart at record pace because of the pain of despair, not the presence of difficulties. Whether you come from a broken family or have a bad record, without hope, esteem is unrecoverable and irreparable.
Our greatest hope is in God, who specializes in internal renewal (v 16), not external change; whose aim is eternal glory (v 17), not temporal fix, and whose methods are unseen and not visible. He is the surgeon readying us for the long haul and for deep cleaning. His job is on the inside, not outside – though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day (v 16). His schedule is intense, not instantaneous or immediate - for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (v 17). His methods are invisible, not observable - so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen (v 18). Outwardly, we are wasting away (diaphtheiro), translated as corrupt (1 Tim 6:5) or destroyed (Rev 8:9), but a renewal (2 Cor 4:16, Col 3:10) is taking place inside day by day. The word “renewed” (ana-kainoo) has its roots in the word repetition (ana-) and new (kainos). In Christ, we are renewed, not ruined; we are resolved, not restless; we are refocused, not regressing. God’s work is continual, comprehensive and complete in Christ.
Paul considers our troubles, Greek for “tribulation,” light and momentary in contrast to the eternal glory that far outweighs them (v 17). Momentary – at the very instant - is contrasted with eternal, Greek for “ages.” One is time-bound, the other is heaven-bound.
The light and monetary troubles “work for us” and in our favor – lost in NIV’s translation. The only worker hard at work in this context is troubles. We are not proud of suffering and tribulation – that would be sadism and flagellation– but we glory in God’s word, His wisdom and ways. In the meantime our end is to skopeo (fix our eyes) on that which is unseen. Paul did not use the word “see” (blepo) to complement the seen, but he used “scope,” translated elsewhere as “see to it” (Luke 11:35), not merely “see”; “watch out” (Rom 16:17), not merely watch; take note(Phil 3:17), not merely note; look out, not merely look; the span and not the sight, the field of vision and not the focal point.
Conclusion: Sixth century Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “It is not good for all your wishes to be fulfilled. Through sickness you recognize the value of health, through evil the value of good, through hunger satisfaction, through exertion the value of rest.” Are troubles working for you or against you? Are you traumatized or transformed by troubles? Do you thank God in advance and in faith for the grace that is ever increasing, never stopping or regressing?
