4:8 ¶ We are troubled on every side, yet not
distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but
not destroyed; 10 Always bearing about
in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be
made manifest in our body. 11 For we
which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
13 We having the same spirit of faith,
according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also
believe, and therefore speak; 14 Knowing that he which raised up
the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us
with you. 15 For all things are
for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God. 16 For
which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man
is renewed day by day. 17 For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory; 18 While we
look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not
seen are eternal.
Notice a comparison in the style of writing here with chapter 4,
verses 10 to 13 of the first letter to the Corinthians. Also, in keeping the Gnostic
heresies belief that a man could not also be God at the same time, even that
Jesus’ body was not real but an illusion, modern versions remove Lord from
verse 10 that the Traditional Text contains. This lines them up with modern New
Age philosophy that denies that Jesus was fully man and fully God but simply a
great teacher.
A more subtle approach to watering down doctrine, or corrupting
it, as Paul mentioned earlier, is verse 14 where from the Traditional Text
stating we are going to be raised up, called out, by Jesus the modern Gnostic heresies of modern versions
often say with Jesus,
suggesting He is still in the tomb awaiting a resurrection. (special thanks to Dr.
Ken Matto for his excellent research and insight which can be found at http://www.scionofzion.com/kjcomparisons.html)
Paul stresses here the tribulations he faces in doing God’s work.
But, in spite of this trouble he is not distressed or in despair. It is a very
poetic passage and we can view it in terms of the suffering of faithful
Christians every where in our world even today. This is not about you being
told to take a scripture sign from off your office cubicle. This is real
persecution, a life and death struggle.
Paul is confident in the resurrection. Are you?
Written nearly 4,000 years ago;
Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26
And though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see
God:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and
mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though
my reins be consumed within me.
Written in the century that the city of Rome was founded about
eight centuries before Christ;
Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in
dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and
the earth shall cast out the dead.
Written in the time of the last reign of the Babylonian emperors
and the first reigns of the Medes-Persians roughly five to six centuries before
Christ;
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of
the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Then, Christ Himself said;
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
Even as he is growing old and dying every day in the flesh his inward man, that part of him which is
born again, is renewed. Our resurrection glorifies God and reveals His
sovereignty over all creation, life and death. The things we can see, the
finite things are temporal and temporary but the things we cannot see are
eternal and the spiritual world is not bound by the decay of the temporal.
Spiritual beings never die, so their joy or their agony can proceed forever
without end. We have been promised everlasting life with God.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but
the wrath of God abideth on him.
To paraphrase and take out of context something a pagan
philosopher named Plato wrote, and yes, I’m using his idea for my own purpose
here on a completely unrelated subject to what he was talking about, we are
like people who are bound in a room where we can only see shadows on a wall in
front of us with the light behind us. There is much going on but we only have a
hint of it and without the Bible we would be totally confused. The reality that
we can’t see, that is going on just out of our sight is the world of the spirit
and eternity. We only see a shadow now, but when we die physically we will be
unbound and will turn and face the truth, our Lord Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment