Call to Commitment

 

Roman baths in Corinth

  1.     Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.   

  2.     But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 

  3.     But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 

4.     whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 

5.     For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. 

6.     For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

 Ministry means service and it is performed by a servant. Let me amplify the meaning of the Greek words, diakonia and diakonos from the Strong’s Greek dictionary. Diakonia means attendance (as a servant); aid, service; diakonos means to run on errands, an attendant, a waiter (at table or in other menial duties); specifically, a Christian teacher and pastor, deacon, minister, servant.

 “God…who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:6). Paul emphasizes the biblical definition of a minister in Ephesians 3:7, 8: “I became a minister… who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I may preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” A minister must be a humble servant, who serves, by preaching to the Gentiles, riches that cannot be counted or valued by any human measurement. By the Spirit of the Lord, he is involved in reflecting the glory of God in the unveiled face of Jesus Christ. Only God can make a human sufficient for such a task.

 Paul continues to the time that he writes this letter, because God has shown mercy in all the trials that this service has brought to him, and His mercy is enough to give him strength to continue in boldness. He preaches the gospel, more glorious than the ministry of Moses, through which the Holy Spirit acts on the heart of people, so they are justified before God (v. 1).

 In the service of God, there must be a complete separation from dishonesty. All underhanded tactics are abandoned, everything must be done in plain sight, honorably. We must be clearly aware that we are ambassadors of truth, walking in heaven’s light. The best feature of man, his conscience, which is God’s witness within us or others, who hear us, must not be wounded by our testimony in presenting the gospel. It is a terrible contradiction, that there are those, who take the book of absolute truth and tarnish it with lies. (v. 2).

 Even when handling our message with utmost care, we take into consideration its reception in the heart of the hearer. In the last chapter, we learned of the Old Testament veil still unlifted from the faces of those who read and hear the Scriptures. Paul says that those who perish are veiled from the gospel and oblivious to its message (v. 3).

 Satan is called the god of this age, who showed Jesus, “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” (Lk. 4:5, 6), in His temptation of Christ, and claimed, “this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” However, his kingdom is limited by time and place. It is limited to this planet and only during this period of time… this age. In Ephesians 2:3, he is defined as “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” He blinds the unbelievers from the light of the gospel, so that they do not see it and believe. The light of the gospel is the blazing glory of Christ, the image of God, which needs to shine on the human being, so that he can believe (v. 4).

 Every minister of the gospel is also an ambassador. An ambassador represents his government in a foreign country. He is not there to give his own opinions or fulfill his own desires, but is 100% committed to the government that he represents. Paul is an ambassador of Christ Jesus and personal interests cannot play even a small part in his mission. He proclaims Jesus as Lord and Christ and in His cause, he is a bondservant, that is a voluntary life-long slave, to the Corinthians (v. 5, see the qualifications of a bondservant, or a love slave, in Ex. 21:5 and 6).

 God is the source of all light and before He created the sun or the moon, He created light (Gen. 1:3-5). The apostle John tells us that light powerfully conquered darkness in the beginning (Jn. 1:5) and Paul applies that principle to conquer darkness in the heart of believers. The dazzling glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ to give personal knowledge of God upon individual hearts. This is a mighty, spiritual occurrence, outshining any earthly brilliance in its physical sphere (v. 6).

  

Treasure in Jars of Clay

7.     But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 

8.     We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

9.     persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 

10.  always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 

11.  For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 

12.   So then death is working in us, but life in you. 

13.  And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED AND THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe and therefore speak, 

14.    knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 

15.    For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. 

16.    Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

17.    For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

18.    while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Ruins to be uncovered, outside Corinth

 Paul calls this glory a treasure in earthen vessels, that is, in common human beings, and it is a wonderful mystery that I find impossible to describe, in the finite scope of my limited understanding. Just the same, it is a reality that has occurred since the gospel began to be proclaimed and continues in the believers in the 21^st Century. God has purposed that it should be so and the reason is clearly given at the end of this verse. Shining in such unattractive containers, all the attention is focused on the powerful, divine light and not on the vessel which carries it. Thereby, our purpose for existence is fulfilled, to give glory to God. Human excellence would dim His glory (v. 7).

 The pressure, designed to crush us, only helps form the vessel; the challenge to our natural understanding, does not bring us to despair, as we put our trust in God’s wisdom (v. 8). He is with us in all human efforts to persecute us, and although it overpowers our natural strength, throwing us to the ground, it cannot destroy us. The excellency of the power within, protects the feeble, exterior vessel from all real harm (v. 9).

 The work of the cross does not end upon conversion. See that Paul clearly says that the dying of the Lord Jesus is always carried in our earthen vessels. This truth could be described as the crucified life. In our own persons, wherever we go, Christ in His suffering is seen in us. If it is not, then His resurrected life will not be manifested (that is, openly shone) in us. Paul expresses the same principle in Galatians 2:20 in this way: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (v. 10).

 Our mortal humanity is put aside, in order that the resurrected, divine life of Christ be seen in us (v. 11). Our faith, then, is in the One, Who rose from the dead and lives in us. This is the principle that we learned in the first chapter, verse 9:   “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” His life is imparted through us to others (v. 12).

 There is Spirit in the words of the Psalmist, “ I BELIEVED AND THEREFORE I SPOKE," (Ps. 116:10);  as there was in the word of Christ: “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (Jn. 6:63). That same Spirit now anoints the words of the apostle, he, in a special sense, speaks an inerrant word of faith (v. 13). However, all speaking that is done in the gospel, should be spoken “as the oracles of God” (1 P. 4:11).

 The life of faith terminates on Resurrection Day, when we will be resurrected, as Christ, the Firstfruits of the resurrection, together with the Corinthians and all believers in Jesus. In preparation for that day, we live this “crucified life” and the crucified and resurrected One, lives His life through us (v. 14). The missionary lives for the ones, to whom he ministers. His end is that the grace of God will be extended to his benefactors and continue supplying God’s attributes in their lives, throughout their time on earth. Because the participants are many, God receives multiplied thanksgiving from them, and the ultimate reason for human life, the glory of God, will come to pass (v. 15).

 It was more than enough reason for Paul, in all his persecutions, not to lose heart. The fruit continued to yield bountifully for the glory of God, and the apostle observed the eternal work, which was being accomplished, While the natural process of death in the outward, physical man was taking its toll, there was a ever-deepening inward work taking place. I want to give testimony to all who are following in the steps of faith, that diabetes and all its effects are becoming increasingly evident outwardly. Yet I am clearly aware of an inward light shining brighter than ever, beaming truth upon my soul. The Scriptures provide hope that this is the experience available to every believer (v. 16).

 Eternity makes all of earth’s afflictions small, because of its unending glory, unimaginable to our finite present state. For that reason, we must take all the Bible’s promises of our future, by faith, trusting in the immeasurable knowledge of our loving Father. He has given us a wonderful conclusion to the canon of Scripture, with two brilliant chapters that take us into the new heaven and the new earth. Paul says It is “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (v. 17).

 For this reason, it is much to our advantage to gaze into things, which our physical eyes cannot see. Because, Paul teaches us, the visible things will all pass away, “but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Develop an insatiable thirst for the promises of God. Love the teaching of heavenly things and go into every Bible study with expectation and excitement. We live in a world of delusion; the world, the flesh, and the devil have designed innumerable attacks on God’s truth. Nonetheless, the real things are spiritual things, which existed before the material things and will outlive them. Bank on 2 Corinthians 4:18… “they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb. 11:16).