A Slight Momentary Affliction

Our Goshen staff team spent time today discussing 2 Corinthians 4:14-18.  God inspired the Apostle Paul to write a remarkable word of hope for when we face affliction and even death.  This is a passage that puts our brief lives into eternal perspective:

14 [We know] that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Just think what the Lord is showing us here.  And just think how much we need to ingest this soul food—to keep first things first, and to guard our hearts from fear or bitterness or despair as we trek through this wilderness!  Let me highlight several key truths:

• Jesus’ resurrection set in motion a sequence of events that will culminate in the future resurrection of all who trust in him (v 14; over in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 Paul pictures Jesus’ resurrection as the “first fruits” of the great harvest that is sure to come).  So rest assured:  death does not have the last word; it’s nothing more than a passageway.  Resurrection life is a rock-solid fact of the future.
• That which is “all for your sake” in v 15 recalls Paul’s many trials mentioned in vv 8-12.  The idea is this:  as believers face suffering with hope in Christ, their witness spotlights God’s grace for the benefit of unbelievers, and the result is thanks and glory to God.  May the Lord be praised—after all, only God can raise the dead to life.
• And since God is up to such good things amidst life’s tragedies, “We do not lose heart” (v 16).  Now, to be sure, the Enemy will tempt us to look down and fix our gaze on our pain, our wounds, our brokenness, our mortality—our “outer self” (in 5:1 Paul describes the body as a “tent”—what a perfect image for a temporary “residence”).  But when that temptation beckons, look away and cry out to the Lord for help; look up into his face (see 3:18) and look ahead to the sure and beautiful “things that are unseen” and eternal (4:18).  And ask the Father to guard your heart and infuse it with his peace, and hope, and joy.
• In v 17 we encounter a simply stunning statement:  all of Paul’s trials are but “a slight momentary affliction” compared to the eternal wonders of the life to come!  And when it comes to suffering, Paul knows what he’s talking about.  His testimony is authentic—just read the long litany of harrowing hardships he endured (see 11:23-28).  So when the waves of pain roll over you and it seems like it will never end, remind yourself of what’s real—namely, the brevity of this life and the surpassing splendor of the life to come.
• Beware of the messages bombarding us all the time that treat this world’s circumstances as ultimate, even as everlasting.  The fact is, “the things that are seen are transient” (v 18)—things like money, houses, clothes, athletic achievements, artistic success, social status, etc.  They are subject to decline and decay; they don’t hold their value into eternity (remember what Jesus says in Matthew 6:19 about treasures that “rust”).  So, again, be careful what you “look to.”  In times of trial as much as ever, fix your eyes on Jesus! (Hebrews 12:1-2).