2 Corinthians 4:16-18
We all know that all people, every human being that was created in the image of God has afflictions of different degrees and different forms. These people, however, have different attitudes in responding to their particular pains. For some, it is easy to lose heart and quit. It is easy to be overwhelmed by problems in family, finances, in relationships at home, at work, at businesses, and school. When people are in this predicament, the tendency is to think of putting down the resources and just walk away. As if they can escape the fact that they have a problem. The sad truth is that even Christians who claim to have God in their lives seem to join the club of quitters. On the other hand, there are Christians who are doing the opposite. Instead of quitting and lose heart, they turn to their ultimate source of provisions-and that is GOD!
Paul is one excellent example of this. Rather than run and give up on his situation, he focused on the truth about the God he is serving. Why was Paul able to do this? Why can he easily say don’t lose heart? It came from his pen when he said: “we do not lose heart.” There are three comparisons that he made that I can see in this passage and chooses the things that belong to the principles of God:
- Though the OUTER MAN is decaying, the INNER MAN is being renewed day by day. V.16
Paul was not experiencing an ordinary difficulty in his ministry but a greater one. He is suffering from persecution that wore him down. It causes him both physical and emotional pain, but he relied on the inner strength from the Holy Spirit (Eph.3:16 “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.”). He calls the strengthening of the Holy Spirit as a “daily renewal.” We have the same Holy Spirit working in us, and His work in us is also the same – that is to renew us day by day. Don’t let our adverse situation, don’t let negative people don’t let even our negative perception of our predicament force us off the work that is set before us. Let us allow the ministry of the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, and we can see that the result will be marvelous!
Sometimes the problem is not with the outer man, for it is just physical. Our greatest battle is within the inner man. Once we let our inner man get overwhelmed by outside pressures and hardships instead of focusing on the truths from the Word of God, the tendency will be just to yield and agree that we can do nothing, and we are nothing, and we are doomed to fail all the time. We need to win the inner battle. We need to soak ourselves with the principles of God in His words. We need to be familiar with the word of God. In Romans 12:2 Paul says, “do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but you must be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect.” Once our mind is conditioned with that principle, our inner man is inclined to hear and obey the Spirits prompting, and that will lead to everyday renewal. For sure, our inner strength will contribute to the performance of the outer man as well.
2. Though there is MOMENTARY, LIGHT AFFLICTION, it produces ETERNAL WEIGHT IN GLORY. V.17
All of our afflictions, whatever the degree is in our point of view, two things are common to all of them. Paul said they are all “momentary,” and they are all “light.” In my observation, what makes it light or heavy is our attitude towards it or the way we respond to it. As you can see, some people have tremendous problems and difficulties, and yet they were able to smile and take it lightly. On the other hand, some people have reasonable light problems, and eventually, they end up in misery. It depends on how our inner man is renewed day by day. That’s why it is saying that we must consider all our afflictions as light and momentary because he wants us to focus on a more important truth. What is that? Our momentary light affliction produces eternal weight in glory.
How does our afflictions produce eternal dividends? First, we might as well look into what afflictions produce in us: First, it strengthens our faith. Second, it refines our character as it keeps us from deadly pride. Third, it reminds us of Christ suffering for us as well. Fourth, when we overcome our afflictions, others are encouraged. Fifth, it is an opportunity for God to display His power, and as a result, people will believe. When all these things are happening in us, then that’s the time that eternal dividends are accumulating. That is because whenever those characters are displayed in us, it makes deposits in heaven. And when we receive the rewards, we will find out that they are all far beyond comparison to the afflictions that we have endured! That’s great!
3. Things that are seen are TEMPORAL; things that are not seen are ETERNAL. V.18
As a result of our being renewed day by day, and as we realized that our light and momentary afflictions produce eternal rewards that are beyond comparison to our afflictions, our view on things will change. We are not going to eliminate temporal things because we cannot. As long as we live on these earthly bodies, they are with us. But the difference is that when we deal with temporal things, we do it in light of eternity.We will not look at our situation as it is but as part of the entire blueprint of God in our lives. We have the ultimate hope that whatever we are experiencing here, whether persecution, terminal illness, relational problems, or whatever pain we are in, we have the assurance that life is not all here-it’s just temporal. Someday we will live with God forever in a place where sin, pain, and suffering are not present any longer. PRAISE BE TO GOD!
