A Devotion By Nicky Gumbel
READ: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18
Do you ever get discouraged? Do you sometimes feel, ‘Is this all worthwhile? Are we actually getting anywhere?’ Are you ever tempted to ‘lose heart’? If you are, you are not alone. Paul was almost certainly tempted himself to lose heart, and he wrote to other Christians who were also tempted to do so.
Yet Paul wrote, ‘We do not lose heart’ (2 Corinthians 4:1,16). ‘We do not throw up our hands and walk off the job’ (v.1, MSG). Why not? Paul explains that it is because in Jesus we have received a ‘treasure’ (v.7). The treasure is the message of Jesus. It is because the message that Paul has to proclaim is so amazing that he starts and ends by saying, ‘Therefore… we do not lose heart’ (vv.1,16).
Yet the treasure is inward and unseen. Paul describes it as being in ‘jars of clay’ (v.7). Our culture emphasises the outward and the seen. The media is dominated by money, possessions, houses, cars, food, physical beauty and outward success. The Bible is very different. It stresses the importance of the invisible – the inward and unseen aspects of our character: the thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that determine our outward behaviour. ‘For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal’ (v.18). The invisible is eternal.
Inward and unseen treasure
You have the most powerful message in the world. Faith in Jesus is utterly transformational, both now and into eternity. ‘We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence’ (v.14). You will live forever.
We are all ‘jars of clay’ (v.7). Inside is the ‘treasure’ (v.7), which is inward and ‘unseen’ (v.18). The treasure is the message of Jesus. It is given by the mercy of God (v.1).
This life is not the end, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal: ‘The things we can’t see now will last forever’ (v.18, MSG).
Secularisation has led to the world – and now even the church – forgetting about ‘eternity’. We focus on, and value, the things we can see and handle. ‘Eternity’ is a vital part of the message.
In proclaiming the message about Jesus there are four things to which we must say ‘No’:
No secrecy
‘We have renounced secret… ways’ (v.2). ‘We refuse to wear masks’ (v.2a, MSG). There needs to be openness in everything we do: ‘We keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display’ (v.2b, MSG).No shame
‘We have renounced… shameful ways’ (v.2). We should not do anything that, if discovered, we might be ashamed about.No deception
‘We do not use deception’ (v.2). ‘We don’t manoeuvre and manipulate behind the scenes’ (v.2, MSG).No distortion
‘Nor do we distort the word of God’ (v.2). ‘We don’t twist God’s word to suit ourselves’ (v.2, MSG). We must not change the message to make it more acceptable. On the contrary, Paul writes that he sets forth the truth ‘plainly’ (v.2).
Because the gospel is unseen and inward, not everyone sees it. ‘It is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (vv.3–4). I was like that. I heard the message, but I simply could not make head or tail of it.
It is only when God shines his light into our hearts that we can see ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ’ (v.6).
The message is all about Jesus: ‘Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get’ (v.4, MSG). ‘Remember, our message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master’ (v.5, MSG).
We, the servants of Jesus, are jars of clay containing the world’s greatest treasure. God has deliberately put the treasure in jars of clay: ‘We carry this precious message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us’ (v.7, MSG).
Although the jars are wasting away, and ‘on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace’ (v.16, MSG). You may be ‘hard pressed’ by financial and other pressures, and perplexed by things that happen to you. You may be criticised and ‘persecuted’ and at times ‘struck down’ (vv.8–9).
But ‘our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all’ (vv.16–17). ‘These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us’ (v.17, MSG).
‘So,’ Paul writes, ‘we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ (v.18). As Father Raniero Cantalamessa writes, ‘A new standard of measurement has been introduced that makes crosses and trials seem light and momentary: Eternity.’
PRAYER
“Lord, thank you that you have given us eternal life in Jesus. Help me to fix my eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. Give me an eternal perspective of my momentary troubles, so that I can focus my life on the inward, invisible, and eternal work of the Holy Spirit...in myself, and in others.”