4:1 ¶ Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we
have received mercy, we faint not; 2 But
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, 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 if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus
the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Paul wants to reemphasize that he is not practicing Sophistry with
clever manipulation and skilled arguments. He is not handling God’s word in a
lying, deceitful manner. The truthful presentation of the gospel without
Sophistry or manipulation, careful not to misrepresent God, is important to
Paul. And if the gospel cannot be understood by those who are lost it is
because of the god of this world, who is clearly Satan, the great Adversary,
also called Lucifer, who works in opposition to the work of the Holy Spirit in
our lives.
Paul is not preaching a cult mentality of following him but of
Jesus Christ, of whom Paul is a servant. God has called the light of understanding
to shine in our hearts in the knowledge of Jesus Christ even while we reside in
frail earthen vessels. It is the majesty of God that shines through us and not
we ourselves.
Look at the very first day of Creation.
Genesis 1:1 ¶
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of
the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 ¶ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Look at the first chapter of the gospel of John.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. 2
The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him
was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light
of men.
5 ¶ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it
not. [The darkness cannot understand
the light, which carries spiritual significance showing more is being said here
than we see at first glance. Comprehend also means to contain or lay hold of so
the darkness cannot defeat the light] 6 There
was a man sent from God, whose name was
John. 7 The same came for a witness, to
bear witness of the Light, that all men
through him might believe. 8 He was not
that Light, but was sent to
bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made
by him, and the world knew him not. 11
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name: 13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 ¶ John bare witness of him,
and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is
preferred before me: for he was before me. 16
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any
time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him.
God called forth physical light on the first day of
Creation. Regarding light, scientists presume the existence of the
basic particle of light, a photon. The universe is bathed in that light. For
every estimated proton orbiting around the nucleus of an atom they say there
are a billion photons.(5) Of course, photons might not even exist except as
theoretical entities to explain things that can be seen by mathematical
constructs.
Christ is the light
of men and without Him there is no spiritual light in them. This rules out
Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and all other religious beliefs including secular
religions like scientism, the belief that science can know all of the answers
to the big questions of life and if it doesn’t know the answer the question
itself is invalid.
Isaiah 50:10 Who is
among you that feareth the LORD,
that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in
the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard
of him, and declare unto you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
The key to wrapping
your mind around this light from Christ is found in the Scriptures themselves.
Ps 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet, and a light unto
my path.
Ps 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light;
it giveth understanding unto the simple.
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they
speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them.
2Peter 1:19 ¶ We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation. 21
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men
of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost.
Christ is the very image of God. An image is a likeness,
similitude or appearance.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:…
Deuteronomy 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen
me hath seen the Father;
and how sayest thou then, Shew
us the Father?
Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Here in this passage in 2Corinthians we find a key as to why God
has revealed His plan for redemption to mortal beings living in vehicles of
dirt, frail and helpless. It is so that we understand that the power and majesty
resides only in God. Look at the disaster of a spiritual being like Lucifer,
the god of this world, who in his pride elevated himself above God’s host.
Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning! how art
thou
cut down to the ground, which
didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in
the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to
the sides of the pit.
We know we are weak and only the most deluded of men and women
imagine themselves as gods. God works through our weakness and reveals His
glory, His light.
2Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.
Our weakness is a conduit through which the light, the majesty,
and the sovereignty of God shines in the world.
(5) Lee Smolin, The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, and Fall of a
Science, and What Comes Next (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006), 75.
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