2 CORINTHIANS 4, 13-18
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 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. 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.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 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.
The contrast between God and Satan can’t be any clearer than in the creation of the world. God created a paradise for mankind. Peace, joy, everything does what it’s supposed to do. Satan creates absolutely nothing. He only destroys. And because he introduced sin into the world, the world is now filled with chaos, grief, pain, wickedness, and death.
And what was God’s response to Satan’s destruction? Nothing! He tells Adam and Eve, because of their sin, they will continually live in the chaos, grief, pain, wickedness, and death that Satan introduced. You brought this into the world by your sin, and that is what you will live in for the rest of time!
But there was one thing that God added. He gave a promise to them that He would send a Savior who would defeat Satan on their behalf, and even though this world will be filled with chaos, grief, pain, wickedness, and death, they will have peace with God, and an eternal home in Heaven!
And since that day our world has been exactly the same. Chaos! Grief! Pain! Wickedness! Death! Satan seems to be in control of everything. And if you believe in Jesus, Satan puts a target on your back and just keeps attacking you until you can’t take it anymore. So, why should Christians continue to believe in God? Why should Christians find any peace and joy in this world? The same reason Adam and Eve could rejoice and find peace. BECAUSE GOD MADE A PROMISE!
I
In Paul’s days, the world had not gotten any better. It was still filled with chaos, grief, pain, wickedness, and death. And for Christians? An all-out attack and persecution by Satan in hopes of destroying their faith. Just ask Paul. These verses are a continuation of the verses we heard last week, where Paul described his ministry as carrying pain and death every day of his life. Wherever he preached the gospel, the threat of death, the threat of persecution, the threat of violence, hung over his head.
In these verses Paul says, “outwardly we are wasting away.” Look at Paul’s body! Not only was it showing the natural result of age, it was also showing the results of his ministry, or perhaps better, the persecution that went along with his ministry. His back was scared, and maybe even infected because of the whippings he endured! Body a little stiff, sore and in pain from being shackled to a prison cell. Maybe even signs of wear and tear on the body as Paul didn’t get enough sleep, or worked his body too hard, or didn’t always eat right. The years catching up on him, along with the persecution he endured city after city, Paul says, it looks like his body was wasting away.
Then you’ve got the emotional trauma inflicted upon him. Accused by his fellow Jews of being a heathen outcast turning his back on his heritage! Being called crazy by Gentiles. Even people on the street thinking there must be something wrong with this guy if everyone seems to hate him.
But then that’s the world we live in. Look at what had happened to God’s prophets in the Old Testament. They were rejected; persecuted, even killed by the people they were trying to help. Think about Jesus! He heals people, comforts sinners, and gives hope and peace to outcasts. And the religious leaders claim he’s possessed by a demon. His family thinks He’s nuts. And now the same thing is happening to Paul. And it doesn’t get any better for Paul’s life after he wrote these words. His entire life continued to be one of persecution and anguish and pain, and always the threat of death. And God says, “Sorry Paul but that’s just the way it’s going to be. Because that is what Satan and Sin has made of this world. Chaos. Grief. Pain. Wickedness! And Death!
II
And yet Paul says, “Therefore we do not lose heart!” Paul has hope and confidence, even going through all these horrible things! He quotes a psalmist who had peace and joy in his heart even though he was surrounded by his enemies. “It is written, ‘I believe; therefore, I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak.” The psalmist was surrounded by his enemies who threatened all sorts of evil against him. But the psalmist also writes that God delivered him from the hands of his enemies, and brought them to ruin, while God blessed him. So, he could praise God!
Paul says I have the same attitude the psalmist had! And for the same reason. BECAUSE GOD MADE A PROMISE. And for Paul, not only did God made that promise, God kept the promise. “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.” The Psalmist believed in that Messiah that God was going to send. Paul believed in the Messiah that God had sent. Jesus proved Himself to be the Son of God. Jesus was crucified on a cross for the sins of the world. And like every other person who has been crucified on a cross, Jesus died and was buried. But Jesus didn’t stay dead. Just as God promised. God raised Jesus from the dead. And now Paul says, God “will also raise us with Jesus, and present us with you in his presence.”
This world hasn’t changed one bit. It’s still filled with chaos, grief, pain, wickedness, and death. But GOD MADE A PROMISE! And KEPT IT! Jesus came to conquer Satan and give His followers eternal life with God in Heaven. God “will raise us with Jesus, and will present us with you in His presence.” Regardless of what happens to you in this world. Regardless of how you die. God will raise us from the dead! And God will set us up in Heaven with Jesus, enjoying the eternal peace Jesus won for us. That is God’s promise! And that is what gives us comfort, even as this world continues to do all the nasty things it has always done.
That why Paul can say, “though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” Paul doesn’t say “Day by day we get stronger in our faith so we can hang on a little more tightly.” Because that’s not the way it works. Sometimes, we hurt so much, and we grieve so hard and are just so tired of Satan’s constant attacks that our faith gets weak. We don’t know if we can even hang on to God. Our grip is weak, and our hands are sweaty. We are in danger of letting go, and losing our faith.
That’s why Paul says, “inwardly, we are being renewed.” God is renewing us constantly. God is hanging on to us when we can’t hang on to Him. God is strengthening us through His Word, and the sacraments. God reminds us constantly that He has conquered Satan. And on those days when our faith seems to be so weak we can’t hang on anymore, God is strengthening His hold on us! Satan fills this world with all sorts of hurt and filth. But our GOD MADE A PROMISE! And Jesus’ empty tomb proves that God has kept that promise. Not only does God promise to take us to Heaven when we died, He also promises to keep His hands around us while we live in this evil world and will control what things He allows to happen to us.
When Paul calls the things we are going through, “our light and momentary troubles,” we might be offended, and a little upset? Light? Momentary? I’m sorry, but the grief and pain I’m going through is not light! It is very heavy. And some of my burdens, I have been carrying for decades. How can Paul say they are “light and momentary”? Paul is certainly not minimizing your pain. And when we go through the grief and pain Satan throws our ways, Paul says, “It’s Ok to grieve, and mourn and be sad. But there comes a time, as we are going through these things that we raise our eyes to God, and ask, “Why?” Or “When will you take them away?” And once we focus our eyes on our God, we hear Him tell us through His Word, “I need you to go through this pain because there’s something I need you to do for Me. But realize my child, that what I have waiting for you, the bliss I have prepared for you in Heaven, will makes these painful experiences disappear as if they were “light and momentary.”
So, Paul says, “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.” Satan wants us to focus our eyes on what is happening right now and right here! He wants to be afraid of all the things he can do, and all the pain he can inflict! He wants us to cower in fear before him. But the truth is, Satan is a liar! Satan is a conquered enemy! Satan is a chained-up dog who will snarl at you and growl at you, but he can’t hurt you. So, Paul says, don’t look the world and the evil the world does and the threats the world makes. Because soon that threat will be over! Rather fix your eyes on what you cannot see! Fix your eyes on the Lord, Jesus. Fix your eyes on the power of your God! Fix your eyes on the grace and mercy of God! Fix your eyes on the promise that God made. And suddenly the fear, the pain, the chaos, and the death is gone. Because Jesus, not this world, and not Satan, is in control of all things.
The world will continue the same way it has been going since the time of Adam and Eve. We will endure chaos, grief, pain, wickedness, and death. Our outward bodies will be wasting away. But you and I never have to fear! We never have to worry! We never have to doubt. Rather even in the face of persecution we can rejoice. For one reason and one reason only. BECAUSE GOD MADE A PROMISE! And KEPT IT!
