The Thrill of Hope

Series Review

Hope is thrilling when we see the wonder in our perseverance

day-to-day living possesses wonder.

Wonder = a sense of expectation, excitement and joy

We recapture the wonder in our day-to-day living

by seeing beyond ourselves. See God in His holiness and majesty, and therefore living to reflect His holiness in our living

This week, we will consider another angle....another perspective to aspire to possess so we can see the wonder in our perseverance

2 Corinthians overview

Paul had founded the church in Corinth, and to say this particular church had its ups and downs would be an understatement.

One issue was that it had a tendency to prioritize outward appearance… worldly measures of success, especially when it came to their leaders

Corinth was an important city on Greece.

The book of Acts tells us that Paul labored many months to plant a church in this city

Sometime after leaving, Paul received word that there were problems. People weren’t getting along and there were factions. Paul wrote one letter (1 Cor.), went to visit the church again, but it did not seem to have any effect. Then he wrote a second letter (severe letter - we have no copy of this letter), and that seemed to have an impact and produced some changes. Then Paul wrote 2 Cor.

Structure

1-7: Paul defends his ministry

8-9: Describes the collection Paul wants to take for some poor Christians, most likely, in Jerusalem

10-13: Paul defends his apostleship

We will be in chapter 4 today, and this chapter is in the section in which Paul is defending his ministry. And fundamental to his defense is to point out that it is God’s power that is fueling his ministry, not his own eloquence or any other impressive ability. Paul points out his own weaknesses and his own suffering to demonstrate that it was God at work in and through him.

And so with this in mind, let’s go to our text:

2 Corinthians 4:7–12 ESV

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Introduction

Before we consider what Paul said, I want to briefly consider what Peter said.

1 Peter 1:3–6 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice...

That’s where we want Peter’s words to end. We welcome:

God’s great mercy

salvation

a living hope

the resurrection of Jesus

an inheritance that will never decrease in value or ever run out

joy

But, does the rest of v. 6 ruin this for you?

1 Peter 1:6 (ESV)

.... though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials...

Do the eternal realities of which the children of God are assured impact present realities?

Do you know what would change if you discovered that your house burnt down when you got home today. Allot. Loss of possessions, insurance headaches, relocating and more. But if you are in Christ, what would still be true is what Peter tells we have.

Sometimes we can live as if the only reality is our outward reality.... All the trials, difficulty.... the good mixed with the bad reality. This is what can happen if we don’t see our suffering the right way.

FCF: We can loose sight of the fact that our outward reality is not a mirror image of our inward reality.

Main Idea:

Our inward reality is our superior reality

There is wonder in our suffering, and the only way we will see that wonder is if we embrace the fact that our outward reality is inferior to our inward reality.

What makes our inward reality superior to our outward reality?

We will seek to answer this question by answering 3 additional questions I find raised in this text. We will ask the question, observe several responses to those questions we see in the text and then provide a bottom line answer.

Who are we? (7)

There is a paradox in the first part of v. 7. (paradox = a self contradictory statement). We have a treasure in jars (vessels) of clay).

Privileged guardians

We have: We have the treasure but we do not own the treasure. We are trustees.

we will deal with the role of a trustee

Joseph is an example of being a trustee of treasure.

Genesis 41:40–41 ESV

You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

The people of God have been made trustees over something far more valuable than the riches of Egypt. Far more privileged than 2nd in command under a king.

Being a guardian means we have a responsibility

We are also

Fragile ministers

Don’t let this privilege go to our heads

jars of clay: earthen vessels - lit.: baked clay or made from clay

the imagery here is meant to convey these jars or vessels or not particularly impressive, special or valuable.

This is where the paradox is really made clear: although the container is relatively worthless, the contents are priceless.

But what’s the treasure? What’s so valuable? Of what are God’s people fragile ministers and privileged guardians? It’s seen in one other answer to the question, who are we?

Gospel stewards

What does v. 7 tells us we have in jars of clay?

This treasure: something specific. What is this treasure?

Consider what Paul said in the first 6 verses of this chapter:

2 Corinthians 4:1–6 ESV

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Whether it is the knowledge of God’s glory in v. 6

Or the glory from the gospel in v. 4

or the ministry of the gospel in v. 1

It seems to me that this treasure in v. 7 is referring to the gospel itself. The children of God have the most precious treasure. Given this treasure to be trustees… stewards.

Understand it

Live according to it

Proclaim it

Bottom Line: We are the entrusted keepers of the most precious treasure in the world.

So when it comes to our outward reality. Our lives, bodies, frustrations, disappointments, trials, temptations, persecutions - all of it- our outward reality - just remember our inward reality, that we are keepers of the most precious treasure in the world is the superior reality. This is the wonder in our suffering.

But there’s another important question we need to ask:

What is our purpose (7)

As keepers of the most precious treasure in the world, what is our purpose? We see the answer in the 2nd half of v. 7

So Paul tells his readers that they have this treasure, the gospel, in jars of clay TO show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. The word to is a word used to indicate purpose. God has a purpose in making His people keepers of His gospel.

How do we think through this purpose?

The people of God have been made keepers of the gospel:

To point to the source of divine power

The surpassing power belongs to and comes from God and not any person.

The paradox makes this point: The fact that the proclaimers of the gospel are in themselves frail and fragile, not particularly impressive points to the fact that the power of what they are proclaiming comes from God and not them.

We are not keepers of a knock-off gospel

Whats the genuine gospel? We need to proclaim as Paul did:

1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Any gospel that marginalizes sin, or fails to point people to the fact that our sin required payment, and that the only payment sufficient was Christ on the cross, is a knock-off gospel. And when we preach a knock-off gospel, we do not point the the source of divine power. We presume we are the source of power that people need. We’re not. The surpassing power belongs to God, not us.

But the people of God have also been made keepers of the gospel

To demonstrate the need for divine power

Paul understood something about himself. In addition to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and a minister of the gospel, he was living proof that he needed God’s power to do what God called him to do.

Consider what Paul said earlier in this letter:

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 ESV

And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

This is true of God’s people today. God establishes us, God anoints us, He puts His seal on us, He gives us His Spirit. We need this from God, His power, to do what He has called us to do.

So when it come to our suffering, and seeing the wonder in our suffering, we need to be clearly aware of the fact that we are in need of divine power. We do not possess it in and of ourselves.

Here’s the wonder in our suffering: Our suffering helps us to demonstrate the need every person, everywhere possesses: God’s power to live.

And so

Bottom Line: Our existence is centered on demonstrating that the life-giving and sustaining power at work in the world belongs to God.

This is our purpose. This is the inward reality of the people of God. And it’s superior to our burdened outward reality.

But we need to ask that question.

What is our reality? (8-12)

We are undefeatable (8-9)

Verses 8-9 are familiar enough to us

afflicted: violent compression - out of natural shape

perplexed: confused, without understanding

Persecuted: being caused to suffer due t religious beliefs

Struck down: legs cut out from under you

All of us have experienced these things before. They are not unfamiliar.

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians a. The Trials and Results of Apostolic Service (4:7–15)

Because the power of God was active in preserving his life and his spirit, Paul never found himself in a plight from which there was no escape (cf. 1 Cor. 10:13). Hampered on all sides—yes, but without room to breathe—no. Everywhere and at all times afflicted, but never at the end of his tether. Through divine intervention, he was always able to retain his buoyancy of spirit.

All of the difficulties mentioned in vss 8-9, were followed by a qualifier.

Yes, afflicted BUT (strong contrast) not crushed

Yes, perplexed BUT not driven too despair

Yes, persecuted, BUT not forsaken

Yes, struck down, BUT, not destroyed

Not denying the reality of suffering, but understands that nothing can ultimately defeat the children of God. Not even death is a victor, because Jesus has defeated it.

So church, let’s face our suffering with a certain confidence. There will be times of difficulty, but know, not matter what, we cannot be defeated because we belong to Christ.

Another part of the reality of the children of God is that

We are united to Christ for Christ (10-11)

Vss 10-11 expand on what was said in vss 8-9. None of the suffering we experience will be our end. Why? Because we are united to Christ for Christ. What does that mean?

Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus (10)

I’m suggesting that this is not referring to a single event, but to a process. For Jesus it was the daily hardships and trials he experienced and the events that lead up to His crucifixion, and the crucifixion itself. Our sanctification includes the daily trials and hardships. This is the call to take up our crosses daily and follow Jesus.

And the purpose of our union with the death of Jesus is that the life of Jesus would be manifested through us. (2nd half of v. 10)

This life is the life of the resurrected Jesus and the life that is imparted to His followers.

Verse 11 essentially restates this dynamic in play for every follower of Christ. We are united to Jesus in His death, but the purpose of that union is that His life would be manifested trough us.

If we are in Christ, that is, saved, I want us to keep something in mind. It’s something that is true of us every moment of our lives. Paul expressed it in Rom. 5

Romans 5:10 ESV

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

We were reconciled (made right with) to God through the death of Jesus. The reason the death of Jesus reconciled His people to God is because our sin was so serious an offense to God, it demanded payment. His righteousness is too precious to treat violation of His righteousness in a casual manner. But the death needed to be of one who was not marred with sin. A spotless lamb. That’s Jesus.

And back to our text in 2 Cor 4, Paul says that the people of God are carrying the death of Jesus around. We carry around with us the fact that we have been made right with God through the death of Jesus. This, in part, is what transforms our suffering. It was suffering that brought us peace. And this is the message we proclaim. And as we make this known, the life of Jesus is also made know. Jesus didn’t stay dead. Again, like Paul said in Rom. 5:

much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. Jesus us alive. As we suffer, we suffer as people not without hope because the reality that Jesus died and rose again is our hope and this cannot be cancelled by anything or anyone.

But another facet of our union with Christ is it is for others’ sakes as well.

We are united to Christ for others (12)

In our union with Christ we spend ourselves for Christ’s glory but for others’ good.

An important understanding of our suffering. When we suffer, it is possible to bring God glory and be a blessing to others.

Paul saw that the deeper his experience in trials and sufferings in life the richer the experience the joys in his efforts to make know the life of Jesus.

And so

Bottom Line: We are united to Christ for His glory and the good of others no matter what.

What makes our inward reality superior to our outward reality?

We are the entrusted keepers of the most precious treasure in the world.

Our existence is centered on demonstrating that the life-giving and sustaining power at work in the world belongs to God.

We are united to Christ for His glory and the good of others no matter what.

Conclusion

So there is wonder in our suffering when we understand that our suffering is never without purpose. And when we see God’s good purposes even in our suffering, we will see the thrill of hope all the more clearly.

Paul’s encouragement towards the end of this chapter is important:

2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Our outward reality is a mixture of pain and pleasure. It’s unpredictable and not reliable. But the inward reality of God people is good, and stable and life-giving. Embrace the death of Jesus so that His life will shine forth not only in your life but to those around you.