2 Corinthians 4:1-18

God shows his Power when we are Weak

2 Corinthians

Philip Smith

Chapter 4

v1 God in his *mercy has given us this work to do. As a result, we do not lose hope. v2 We do not do things in secret and evil ways. We do not try to make people believe lies. We do not give a false meaning to the word of God. The opposite is true. We tell the truth clearly. We know that God sees everything. He sees everything that we do. Therefore, we live in a way that is attractive to everyone’s conscience. v3 Those who are lost cannot find our good news. v4 The god of this world (that is, the devil) has made blind the minds of those who do not believe. The result is that they cannot see the light of the good news of the *glory of Christ. He is the exact *likeness of God. v5 We do not *preach about ourselves but about Christ Jesus as *Lord. We are your servants because we love Jesus. v6 God said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness.’ He has made his light shine in our minds. This light gives us the knowledge of God’s *glory. And God’s glory shines in the face of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s work was different from the work of those who opposed him. He had not visited the Christians at Corinth. They said that he had given up. Paul said that he had not given up. And he had not lost hope. He told God’s message in an honest manner. He did not do things in a way that was wrong. He did not change the message about Jesus. He spoke the truth so that the people could understand. The devil hid the good news. He did this so that some people could not understand it. They did not understand that Jesus was God himself. Jesus said this in John 14:19. ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father.’ Paul did not talk about himself, but about Jesus as God. Paul loved Jesus because of what Jesus had done for him. As a result, Paul served the Christians at Corinth. Those who opposed him attracted attention to themselves. They persuaded the Christians at Corinth to follow them. Paul probably remembered his experience on the road to *Damascus. Then he saw a light from heaven. This light came from the God who created light. When we have this light, we meet God himself in Christ.

v7 It is as if we have *treasure in *clay pots. So this great power comes from God. It does not come from us. v8 We often have great trouble but nothing has destroyed us. We do not understand everything but we do not lose hope. v9 We suffer in a cruel way for what we believe. However, God does not leave us on our own. Things knock us down, but they do not kill us. v10 We always carry around in our body the death of the *Lord Jesus. As a result, people will see the life of Jesus in our body. v11 Because, whilst we are alive, we are always in danger of death. This is because we serve Jesus. As a result, people may see his life in our human bodies. v12 So death is our experience, but life is your experience. v13 The Bible says, ‘I spoke because I believed.’ We have that same kind of belief. Therefore, we believe and we speak out. v14 We know this: He who made Jesus alive after his death will also give us life with him. He will take us with you to where he is. v15 All this is for your advantage. God’s kindness will help more and more people. As a result, they will offer more prayers of *thanksgiving to the *glory of God.

In those days, people often kept valuable things in jars. People made these jars out of earth. These jars were not worth anything. But the things that were in them were wonderful. Paul says that people are weak. They will die in the end. God shows his power as he works by weak people. Paul had great troubles but his troubles would not destroy him. He did not always understand what God was doing. He did not always know what to do. However, he did not lose hope. He had belief in God. He suffered for what he believed. But God did not leave him without any help even if everyone else was against him. He may have lost a battle but he would never lose the war. Paul says that his body and his emotions were suffering. Jesus suffered pain as well. As God helped Paul, people would be able to see the life of Jesus. This life was working in his weak body. God used Paul by these troubles to bring life to the Christians at Corinth.

Paul knew that he could die during such experiences. He had already been near to death, as he tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:9. He repeats the words from Psalms 116:10. He had not lost hope. Even if he died, God would cause him to live again. The fact that God made Jesus alive after his death made this certain. Therefore, death would not separate Paul from Jesus or from the Christians at Corinth. More and more people would come to know what God was doing by Paul. As a result, they would learn to thank God and to give him *glory.

v16 So we do not lose hope. Our *outward physical bodies are dying, but our *inward *spiritual life is daily growing more. v17 Our small troubles only last for a short time. They will help us to reach an *eternal *glory. This is much greater than anything that we suffer. v18 We do not concentrate on things that we can see. Instead, we concentrate on things that we cannot see. Because the things that we can see last only for a short time. The things that we cannot see last for all time.

Paul repeats what he said in verse 1. He would not lose hope. His troubles affected his body. In the end, they would cause death. But as his body got weaker, his *spiritual life got stronger. He could see with his eyes the weakness of his body. But he knew that his *spiritual life was growing. His troubles would help him to reach an *eternal *glory. That would be much greater than his troubles could ever be. The troubles showed that nothing in this world would last. He turned his attention to the *unseen things that would last for all time. He prepared for them.

mercy ~ when someone shows kindness; or, when someone forgives someone who does not deserve it.
glory ~ honour or greatness. Especially, God’s greatness. Or, a special cause for pride in something or someone.
likeness ~ that which is like someone or something.
preach ~ speak in public, especially about religion.
Lord ~ a name that we call God or Jesus; we call God or Jesus Lord when we obey them.
Damascus ~ the capital of Syria. Paul was on his way there when he met the risen Jesus. Later he escaped from the city in a basket.

risen Jesus ~ Jesus, after he died and became alive again.
treasure ~ an expensive object, for example gold.
clay ~ a type of earth or soil.
thanksgiving ~ words of thanks, especially to God.
outward ~ on the outside.
inward ~ inner. Paul means here something that exists in the spirit.
spiritual ~ about the spirit, not physical things.
eternal ~ without beginning or end.
unseen ~ not seen.