2Cor 4:17 | KingComments | STEP | . If you can see your Christian life with all the difficulties as Paul described it in the previous section surely you will not do lose heart. There is no reason to be discouraged. It can be that our outer man, the body, is wearing out because of our sufferings for the Lord. At all times in Christian history many believers have forfeited many things as they wanted to remain faithful to the Lord. If you want to glorify God in your body ( ), you must reckon with the fact that it is done at the cost of your body. Living for Christ is suffering for Christ. It demands all the available energy in your body. It consumes a prohibitive quantum of energy when you swim against the current, especially as a new believer, in school or at work or may be in the family every day. To be a Christian is not a matter of relaxed life. At the same time this also does not mean that you can be irresponsible or careless with your health. You are the steward of your body. The Lord is the Owner. Here I would like to place a warning against mysticism. Your body is not a prison or a shell which prevents the mind to unfold. Mysticism postulates such a theory and offers all kinds of grotesque techniques to have the body under control so that the mind can have a free movement. Colossians 2:23 condemns asceticism with the utmost and unsparing severity: “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, [but are] of no value against fleshly indulgence” ( ). You should never try to be ‘more spiritual’ by renouncing the natural needs of the body. For instance you cannot sleep less and less every day denying proper rest to the body. Such abuse of the body is the result of a wrong way of thinking. God places high value on the body. In this passage it is made clear that man in his enmity against God can only aim at the believer’s body. But the encouragement is that though the outer man of a servant of God is decaying, there is something present inside of him that never breaks down. The inner man undergoes a continual renewal by its daily fellowship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Decaying means to go backward and renewed means advancement. Each time he is attacked there is an inner awareness and assurance that the power of God is present. The attacks of the enemy and the difficulties you have to go through will bring you closer to God. The new experience you gain with Him each time will empower you to repel and overcome all difficulties. The result is that you receive new spiritual strength to go forward in your spiritual journey. This renewal you can experience every day. In this way is a great encouragement in your service for the Lord. . This verse contains even more encouragement. This verse tells us to see things in the light of eternity. The picture here is a weighing scale. Something is said about “light” (i.e. not heavy) and “weight”. On one side of the scale Paul places “affliction” and on the other he places “glory”. What happens to the balance? Does it swing up and down? Is it such that at one time suffering is slightly heavier and at another time glory? Not at all! Look how the scale on the side of glory goes down. It is incomparable. Of affliction Paul says it is momentary and light in weight. Of glory he says it is “an eternal weight … far beyond all comparison”. Then, was Paul’s tribulation short in duration and light by weight? Sometimes believers have to go through years of bitter persecution; can we then say it is short and light? Is all that you have to bear sometimes really short and light? Paul does not trivialize sufferings here as though they meant nothing. He also does not draw parallels for different grades and intensities of sufferings. What is severe trial for one believer is not so for another. Circumstances differ for each believer. Therefore it is impossible to make comparisons. Paul does not make any comparison between kinds of sufferings. But he does one thing. He compares suffering with which each servant of God has to do in his own unique way with the future glory. Of this comparison each believer ultimately will acknowledge that his suffering, however hard and long it may be, is nothing compared to what he will soon receive. Each suffering works out its glory. That means the more intense the affliction is felt, the more overwhelming the experience and the enjoyment of the glory will be. If you do not have physical pain and you enjoy good health then you will be grateful for that. But will not be the appreciation of your health many times greater immediately after you have experienced excruciating pain and are relieved of that pain? . Of course this is a poor example, but this is how it works in the comparison between affliction and glory. If you consider well the balance mentioned in you will have no desire for the things that are seen. What you see, is all temporal. There is a time coming when everything will perish by fire. Nothing will be left. Would you be excited about the things in the world like the people in the world without God? They possess nothing else. Your eyes have seen other things, eternal things. It is important that your eyes are always focused on them. There are a lot of things in the world which demand your attention. All the visible things in the world try to catch your attention, to bewitch you and to hold you captive. Sin entered the world through the eye: “The woman saw that the tree was good for food” ( ). However it is not enough to turn your eyes away from something or not to look at a thing. As a child of God you need something where you can fix your eyes on. In general terms it is said here with what things you can be occupied. They are the things that are not seen. You are free to be preoccupied with these unseen things. What kind of things are these ‘unseen things’? These are things you cannot see with your physical eyes. You can see them only with the enlightened “eyes of your heart” ( ). With this enlightened understanding of your heart you can see all the riches you have already received from the Lord and all that you will receive further. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ Who is now seated in heaven. God has glorified Him and has made Him “both Lord and Christ” ( ). This means that all things are subjected to Him – He is Lord – and all plans of God will be fulfilled in Him – He is Christ . Is this not sufficient to fill your whole field of vision? Now read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 again. Reflection: How are your eyes focused?

‏ 2 Corinthians 4:17

What Is Temporal and What Is Eternal

2Cor 4:16. If you can see your Christian life with all the difficulties as Paul described it in the previous section surely you will not do lose heart. There is no reason to be discouraged. It can be that our outer man, the body, is wearing out because of our sufferings for the Lord. At all times in Christian history many believers have forfeited many things as they wanted to remain faithful to the Lord. If you want to glorify God in your body (1Cor 6:20), you must reckon with the fact that it is done at the cost of your body.

Living for Christ is suffering for Christ. It demands all the available energy in your body. It consumes a prohibitive quantum of energy when you swim against the current, especially as a new believer, in school or at work or may be in the family every day. To be a Christian is not a matter of relaxed life. At the same time this also does not mean that you can be irresponsible or careless with your health. You are the steward of your body. The Lord is the Owner.

Here I would like to place a warning against mysticism. Your body is not a prison or a shell which prevents the mind to unfold. Mysticism postulates such a theory and offers all kinds of grotesque techniques to have the body under control so that the mind can have a free movement. Colossians 2:23 condemns asceticism with the utmost and unsparing severity: “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, [but are] of no value against fleshly indulgence” (Col 2:23).

You should never try to be ‘more spiritual’ by renouncing the natural needs of the body. For instance you cannot sleep less and less every day denying proper rest to the body. Such abuse of the body is the result of a wrong way of thinking. God places high value on the body.

In this passage it is made clear that man in his enmity against God can only aim at the believer’s body. But the encouragement is that though the outer man of a servant of God is decaying, there is something present inside of him that never breaks down. The inner man undergoes a continual renewal by its daily fellowship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Decaying means to go backward and renewed means advancement. Each time he is attacked there is an inner awareness and assurance that the power of God is present.

The attacks of the enemy and the difficulties you have to go through will bring you closer to God. The new experience you gain with Him each time will empower you to repel and overcome all difficulties. The result is that you receive new spiritual strength to go forward in your spiritual journey. This renewal you can experience every day. In this way 2Cor 4:16 is a great encouragement in your service for the Lord.

2Cor 4:17. This verse contains even more encouragement. This verse tells us to see things in the light of eternity. The picture here is a weighing scale. Something is said about “light” (i.e. not heavy) and “weight”. On one side of the scale Paul places “affliction” and on the other he places “glory”. What happens to the balance? Does it swing up and down? Is it such that at one time suffering is slightly heavier and at another time glory? Not at all! Look how the scale on the side of glory goes down. It is incomparable. Of affliction Paul says it is momentary and light in weight. Of glory he says it is “an eternal weight … far beyond all comparison”.

Then, was Paul’s tribulation short in duration and light by weight? Sometimes believers have to go through years of bitter persecution; can we then say it is short and light? Is all that you have to bear sometimes really short and light? Paul does not trivialize sufferings here as though they meant nothing. He also does not draw parallels for different grades and intensities of sufferings. What is severe trial for one believer is not so for another. Circumstances differ for each believer. Therefore it is impossible to make comparisons.

Paul does not make any comparison between kinds of sufferings. But he does one thing. He compares suffering with which each servant of God has to do in his own unique way with the future glory. Of this comparison each believer ultimately will acknowledge that his suffering, however hard and long it may be, is nothing compared to what he will soon receive.

Each suffering works out its glory. That means the more intense the affliction is felt, the more overwhelming the experience and the enjoyment of the glory will be. If you do not have physical pain and you enjoy good health then you will be grateful for that. But will not be the appreciation of your health many times greater immediately after you have experienced excruciating pain and are relieved of that pain?

2Cor 4:18. Of course this is a poor example, but this is how it works in the comparison between affliction and glory. If you consider well the balance mentioned in 2Cor 4:17 you will have no desire for the things that are seen. What you see, is all temporal. There is a time coming when everything will perish by fire. Nothing will be left. Would you be excited about the things in the world like the people in the world without God? They possess nothing else. Your eyes have seen other things, eternal things. It is important that your eyes are always focused on them.

There are a lot of things in the world which demand your attention. All the visible things in the world try to catch your attention, to bewitch you and to hold you captive. Sin entered the world through the eye: “The woman saw that the tree was good for food” (Gen 3:6). However it is not enough to turn your eyes away from something or not to look at a thing. As a child of God you need something where you can fix your eyes on. In general terms it is said here with what things you can be occupied. They are the things that are not seen. You are free to be preoccupied with these unseen things.

What kind of things are these ‘unseen things’? These are things you cannot see with your physical eyes. You can see them only with the enlightened “eyes of your heart” (Eph 1:18). With this enlightened understanding of your heart you can see all the riches you have already received from the Lord and all that you will receive further. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ Who is now seated in heaven. God has glorified Him and has made Him “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). This means that all things are subjected to Him – He is Lord – and all plans of God will be fulfilled in Him – He is Christ. Is this not sufficient to fill your whole field of vision?

Now read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 again.

Reflection: How are your eyes focused?