2 Corinthians 4-5
Gaining Your
Glory-suit
0 MIN READ
Psalm 140:1-13 Just Protection
Deliver Me, O Lord, From the Evil Man
1Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men, 2 who plan evil things in their heart
and stir up wars continually. 3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
4 Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from violent men,
who have planned to trip up my feet. 5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net;
beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
6 I say to the LORD, You are my God;
give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O LORD! 7 O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
you have covered my head in the day of battle. 8 Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah
9 As for the head of those who surround me,
let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! 10 Let burning coals fall upon them!
Let them be cast into fire,
into miry pits, no more to rise! 11 Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
and will execute justice for the needy. 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
the upright shall dwell in your presence.
Application
Even when unjustly under attack, maintain your righteousness and uprightness, for that is the basis of trusting God to justly deliver you.
Prayer
God, may I never be swayed (by the proud and evil folks who seek to make me stumble) from my trust in You and pursuit of living out Your truth; I praise You for protecting me, even in the midst of the battles I face. Amen.
TMS Hebrews 10:24-27 Biblical Fellowship
Observations
10:24-25 This passage is the hinge of Hebrews, indicating what we should do in light of all that God has done for us (see comments in Hebrews 10). The answer is simple to know, a little more difficult to do: progress in Faith, Hope, and Love. Each virtue is elaborated on a little bit in chapter ten, but then chapter 11 is about Faith, chapter 12, about Hope, and chapter 13 opens with “Let brotherly Love continue.” In our passage above, the author gives a synopsis of how believers should live in love toward each other, especially as it relates to gathering in fellowship. Remember that fellowship means to have in common, which starts with our being born again into the family of God.
Believers should gather to provoke or stimulate (the word was used on inciting a riot) each other to love and good deeds (blessable behavior). There is no such thing as a lone wolf in the Body of Christ. God expects us not only to gather, but to gather to give to others. That means we need to get from Him first. Assembling a bunch of carnal Christians to seek worth and value from each other is not what God had in mind. The opposite is for like-minded saints to gather and enrich each other, so they will do well at the judgment seat. "All the more as you see the day approaching." This life is the only chance we get, use it wisely.
See the sixth of the 7 PASSAGES for how believers should interact with each other.
10:26-27 The importance of Biblical fellowship in light of the coming judgment is underscored by the warning which follows. The temptation for the original audience was to forsake Christianity to go back to Judaism, abandoning the sacrifice (Jesus) which was acceptable to God. All that remained in Judaism for them (see the “Warning Passages" in Hebrews) was judgment, not reward. The temptation for us is to go back to the way we were, the dead works that will be burned up in judgment when Christ returns. Biblical fellowship provides the protection for toddler Christians (so they don't wander off into self-destructive behavior), until they can develop the spiritual maturity to stay on the path and help others do the same.
Application
If you are a young believer, seek out fellow believers who are seeking the Lord according to the truth, and stick with them. If you're a more mature believer, start considering how your interaction with other believers spurs them on to self-sacrificial love and glory getting good deeds.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thanks for the fellowship of believers who seek to love You with all they've got, and love each other as themselves; may I always seek Your purposes for my life and for the lives of others. Amen.
2 Corinthians 4-5 Gaining Your Glory-suit
Just like Romans 3 was crucial for understanding justification, and Romans 6 for sanctification, chapters 4-5 are probably the most significant for understanding glorification. Spend whatever time it takes to master them. Come back later to study this (see Week in Review) if you don't fully grasp the light, otherwise you'll continue in the dark. It might help to read both chapters four and five, (of 2 Corinthians, below), before you start reading the observations. While you're at it, throw in chapter 3 to refresh your memory. The section under Digging Deeper goes back to Genesis and develops the theme of restoration to glory that Paul talks about in these chapters. Don't miss it.
2 Corinthians 4 Focus on the Weight of Glory
The Light of the Gospel
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 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. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 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. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 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.Treasure in Jars of Clay
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 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. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.Application
Outward suffering for the right reasons produces a weight of glory that makes it all worth while, so don't look at the pain, look at the gain.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thanks for Your model of suffering righteously for doing the will of the Father; may I deny myself to follow You, and share in Your glory as You've promised. Amen.
2 Corinthians 5 Getting Your Glory-Suit
Our Eternal Dwelling
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.Ambassadors for Christ
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.Application
Make it your ambition to do well at the judgment seat of Christ by doing what is pleasing in His sight, which will involve righteously reconciling others to Him.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thanks for dying for me so that I might be reconciled to You, and share in Your future glory; may I live so as to hear You say: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Amen.
Digging Deeper
Matters of Life and Death
Adam and Eve were originally clothed with glory in the Garden. God said that in the “day” they ate the fruit they would die. They ate, but then are running around playing hide 'n seek with God. They don't look very dead. Then they get kicked out of the Garden, and live for hundreds of years. How did they die? The clue is in recognizing that in the day they ate, the first thing that happened is that they noticed they were naked. It's not like that was the first time they looked down. In Genesis 2:25 the text says they were naked and not ashamed. But now they were, and sought to cover themselves. Previously they had been covered. Their nakedness is the major subject of the interaction with God after they sinned, and He takes steps to update their wardrobe with fur, instead of their vegan approach. Previously they had been covered with glory, and their glory departed.
Adam and Eve had a Suzerain-Vassal relationship with God. They needed to be loyal to Him, and He would protect and bless them. By rebelling against His rule they violated the covenant, and were deposed from rulership. An Ancient Near Eastern text records a Suzerain (greater power, like an emperor) saying that his Vassal (a lesser power like a king or governor) was unfaithful, so he “slew” him or “put him to death” and led him captive in chains back to the Suzerain's capital city where the Vassal served out the rest of his days in the dungeon. What? How can he be put to death and then be grinding grain in the dungeon? To put to death was to deprive someone of dominion or rulership. To live is to exercise dominion or rulership. God makes the same promise to the nation in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 30:15 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil... 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;"
Physical death can be viewed as a lack of dominion or volition. A corpse can't do much.
What Adam and Eve lost in the Fall is reversed in Christ, in chiastic order:
a. Lost glory (naked-loss of dominion)
b. Lost holiness and an un-hindred relationship with God (ashamed; hide 'n seek)
c. Lost the right to live forever (sin-no tree of life)
C. Gain right to live for ever (forgiveness-escape lake of fire) = justification
B. Gain relationship with God and progressive holiness = sanctification
A. Gain glory-suit (clothed with life, restoration to glory and dominion and blessing in the future kingdom of the Messiah) = glorification.
God's overall purpose in our world is to glorify Himself. He does this by displaying His character, power and glory. When He blesses faithful believers with glory, He reveals that He is the One with all the glory. Hence those who seek after glory, glorify Him. We'll see more of this theme in the upcoming epistles. But who is He trying to impress?
One of God's purposes in giving us glory is to demonstrate to Satan and his hench-angels that they should have obeyed (Ephesians 3:10). The oldest book of the Bible, Job, has this theme as well. God creates and blesses (when they obey Him) an inferior being, man, to show that obedience is a just requirement, which Satan and company should have followed. If man can obey, the fallen angels should have. This explains Satan's attack on Job, and his blinding people to the light of the glory (he doesn't blind them to forgiveness, but the glory).
I'll elaborate more on this section in the future, so if you see another link or reference to it, check it out; it will be “new and improved” just like we should be.
God in a nutshell: God wants to reconcile people to Himself so He can bless them, and reverse the effects of the Fall in our salvation.
Build-a-Jesus: Jesus is not only the suffering Savior, but the coming Lord, Judge, and King, before whose judgment seat we believers will be judged for what we've done in our bodies.
Us in a nutshell: We lost our glory as humans in Adam, but we can gain it back in Christ, if we live as God instructs. Why wouldn't we?
Where to go for more
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
Users may not copy or download more than 500 verses of the ESV Bible or more than one-half of any book of the ESV Bible.