Our Offering to God

Continuing 2 Corinthians exploration

Start in 2 Cor 4 today.

Read 2 Cor 4:1 “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.”

“Therefore” - always a link back to what was said previously…want to start with a refresher on that.

So just prior to the beginning of Ch 4, Paul was writing about the freedom and the glory of God we get to experience because of Jesus..how different it is to live by the Holy Spirit than by the law of the Old Covenant.

ends with

2 cor 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

through Jesus…by the HS…day by day those of us who have put our faith in Jesus are being transformed.

Transformed into the likeness of of Jesus:

This is what God made us for-we were made in the image of God.

-Sin corrupts/sin holds us back

-Jesus sets us free to become more like the people God made us to be.

-character like Jesus

-love for God and fellowship with Him like Jesus

-love for all people like Jesus

this is the work of the Spirit.

“Therefore” in Ch 4 is saying

Because we know the Lord is doing this in our lives day by day…because we have this ministry of God at work within us…and the ministry of sharing/participating in it with one another…we do not lose heart!

Can stop right there for a moment and acknowledge along with Paul-this ministry of the Spirit is not easy.

God doesn’t just suddenly and automatically transform us. - we are not just robots/statutes for him to change as He sees fit. He loves us…given us the ability to think/decide for ourselves…wants us to be free to think/choose/love.

So our spiritual growth - growth of every area of life into people God made us to be - involves a combination of God’s power/grace and our own effort.

-takes work.

God also calls us to be his witnesses..to be involved in this ministry of the Spirit in other people’s lives....also difficult because we can’t just make people change.

BUT, says Paul, we don’t lose heart because we KNOW God is at work within us…He IS with us.

(turn to 2 Tim 1 in bibles to follow)

2 Tim 1:7 -very popular verse to memorize

2 Tim 1:7 “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

says something powerful about the Holy Spirit God has given us...

but take a look at the context of this statement…It fits with what Paul is writing in 2 Cor

2 tim 1:6-10 “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,”

Wow! Powerful words!

In this case, not just saying we don’t lose heart..but also encouraging to fan into flame the gift of God.

---remind selves, embrace what we know to be true about God and the gift of the Holy Spirit (big reason gathering as a church; engaging in small group meetings as Christians so important)

Move toward it…especially when circumstances of life lead us to back away from God!

there is great power and hope in fanning into flame the git of God!

The HS is a Spirit of power, love and self-control…and God saves us not because of anything we did but because of his own purpose-own desire and his own abundant grace.

And through Jesus he abolished death and gave us eternal LIFE

These are the reasons we have to never give up hope in God.

So going back to 2 Cor 4:1 “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.”

Now lets read on.

vv 2-6.

Paul makes a strong case here for a clear and simple explanation of the Gospel when we share…and as we grow in our church.

As I mentioned earlier, the work of making disciples/growing as disciples…the work of the church is not easy.

Can be tempting to try to find ways to make it easier…by doing what Paul refused to do

-using cunning tactics, tampering with God’s word…trying to make it sound more fun and appealing to people…trying to push the right buttons, say the right things to appeal to more people.

We see this all the time throughout history. It is relatively easy to draw a crowd of people if you use the right methods…but if we do that with faith, we tend to distract from what we are really trying to accomplish. There are no shortcuts to loving people the way Jesus loved us and sharing what Jesus has done for them…and allowing them to choose if/when they will lay down their lives and follow Him.

Paul acknowledges here that part of the challenge is that there is a devil…the “god of this world”…who already blinds people to the truth of the Gospel…so it is important that we don’t add any more confusion by complicating it with other motives.

the goal is to allow God to shine His light into out hearts/minds…hearts/minds of people we interact with....to give them knowledge of God’s glory and the grace offered them through the sacrifice Jesus made of his own life in exchange for the guilt of our sins.

Go on and read the rest of CH 4.

2 Cor 4:7-18.

V 7 is a key passage in this entire chapt. - come back to in a moment.

All throughout this chapter, Paul highlights different challenges that come up in the life of a church/life of a Christian seeking to be an effective witness for Jesus in the world.

-Satan puts up barriers

-we want to be careful not to distract, use “cunning” ways

-says we are afflicted in every way. Read the book of Acts and you will see some of those ways…beaten, stoned…people causing riots to drive Paul and his people out all because they did not like what Paul was preaching.

We may not experience the same obstacles today (though bros/sis around the world do!) but there is still resistance, offense, persecutions that happen.

But Paul doesn’t say these things in a defeated way…not complaining about how hard the work of ministry is.

These statements are met with the power and strength of God himself.

…we do not lose heart…not driven to despair..no forsaken…not destroyed

compares these things to experiencing the death of Jesus in their lives…sharing in the great suffering He experienced for us...

SO that the LIFE of Jesus could be manifested…or shown in their mortal bodies.

All of these hardships/challenges Paul calls light and momentary afflictions. He can minimize those when he compares them to the greatness of what God is doing in them, for them and around them.

he is saying we may be wasting away eternally…but God is renewing us day by day and doing such great things through us in whatever time we have left in this world…that we do not lose heart!

So here is the image of the life in Christ Paul shares with us today.

Here is a pot…nothing special about it…old/worn…could be cracked/imperfect.

This is our life. this is what we have to present to God.

…a life that has been broken and beaten up in this world…both by things we have done …and by things done to us.

And through Jesus God calls us to this ministry of transformation through the HS.

we are met with all kinds of obstacles when we attempt to fulfill that calling.

we present our own skills to God and they just don’t seem to be enough

or our knowledge and ability to communicate is limited

…in all kinds of ways we find that we are just not enough for what god calls us to.

…can’t make ourselves be like Jesus

…can’t make others to follow him

and so all we are left to humbly present God with a clay pot…

But God sees so much more in us. He sees who he made us to be…and he knows what He can do in us what we offer what we HAve to him. He take our uniqueness and the purposes he designed us for us grasiously fills us with His wonderful treasures!

-his love & grace

-the gift of Jesus’ death & resurrection

-the power/presence of the HS

And He is the one who does incredible things in this world-allowing US to be part of that work if we are willing to let Him.

It is not about what we have to offer. God takes what we have and our job is to allow Him to work through us.

As Paul says we have this treasure in Jars of Clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God not to us.

I think one of the biggest challenges we have in effectively serving God is just letting Him work..we do often think we need to do things better…faster…bigger...

We measure things that matter to the world rather than what matters most to God..

…love…devotion to Him…humility.

and most of all…that we simply make ourselves available to Him and show that it is HIM at work in/through us.

Goal is not for people to notice US…think we are so great…but that they would see Jesus....

So don’t look at the imperfections/weaknesses of your own life…the clay pot that you are…consider what God can and will do to transform YOUR life and the lives of others when you simply offer yourself to Him and let Him fill you with his treasures for HIS glory!