The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
August 31
2 Corinthians 4:13 - 5:10
Commentary by Nick Boork
August 31
2 Corinthians 4:13 - 5:10
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August 31 – 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
5 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
Renewal of the inward man
Paul say’s that even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Every day that passes we age another 24 hours. As I write this I’m 51 years old and very aware that my physical body is changing due to age. I still can do everything I did as a kid but now it takes longer. I used to be able to climb trees, bail hay, split wood and just seemed to have boundless energy. Now I get tired faster. The aging of our body, our outward man, is something that none of us can stop. The law of sin and death continue to influence everything living from birth to death. I will never forget how Pastor Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life” impacted me when I read that the average life span of a person is 25,550 days.
Somehow when he broke it down in terms of the amount of days it really hit home. I mean, hey, when you think about your life in terms of how many days is just easier to understand because we can all easily identify with a day but the concept of an entire life is more difficult. Even though we can’t stop aging outwardly we can be renewed both spiritually and mentally on a daily basis. God promises a supernatural renewal of our strength when we wait upon him. The prophet Isaiah says that the young men will grow tired and faint but those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not faint. So, spending time in the presence of the Lord will bring this renewal and especially as you read his word and pray. This can happen on a daily basis by just spending time worshiping the Lord and being refilled with the Holy Spirit the source of all life!
How to see the invisible
4:18 “we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” The word of God is the ONLY source of TRUTH that reveals to us spiritual realities that we can’t see with our physical eye. Believing in what is invisible requires faith and the Bible teaches us that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17. So if you want your faith to be strong and grow continue to fill your mind and heart with the word of God. There was a preacher in the 1940’s named Smith Wigglesworth. God used this man mightily in miracles, healings and even raising several people from the dead. He had a habit of reading the word of God constantly and praying and so had a constant supply of fuel for his faith which caused him to walk in the power of God!
God’s guarantee
The same Spirit the raised Christ from the dead has been given to us as a guarantee that assures us that just like Jesus was raised from the dead the third day, we also will be raised from mortal decay into our glorious new bodies that will last forever! You can hear the bold confidence that the apostle Paul has about eternal life when he says he’s confident and even well pleased to be absent from his body knowing that once physical death happens he will be present with the Lord forever. God wants you and I to be assured that physical death is only a temporary condition on his timetable. All will rise again from the dead and believers have been given the Holy Spirit as a special guarantee, like a down payment or deposit that we will own glorified bodies like Jesus had and live forever with him.
No more fear of death
It seems like so many Christians I talk with do not have this kind of eager desire to be with Christ. I remember there came a time in my walk with the Lord that I began to pray and ask God to fill me with the hope of eternal life and friends, he has done it! Through the reading of the Scriptures and prayer I am very confident that the moment I leave my body I will be transported into the immediate presence of the Lord Jesus in Heaven. One of the reasons Jesus came was to conquer death and set us free this fear. Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
The judgment seat of Christ
All Christians will one day give an account of their life on earth before the ultimate judge the Lord Jesus Christ. At that time there will be a review of our lives and we will be judged on many different things. This is why Paul says we always make it our goal to be pleasing to the Lord. Thank God that when we accepted Jesus all of our sins were forgiven so what when we stand before God we’re not going to be judged for past sins. However, we will be judged on how we treated people. Did we obey God and love him and our fellow man according to Christ command? Also did we do the will of God for our lives and did we use the gifts that God gave us. So like Paul said, everyone of us should make it our goal to please the Lord now because we will definitely face him after this life and you want to hear “Well done good and faithful servant you were faithful in a few things now I will make you ruler of many things.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) As Christians we can be renewed daily on the inside through prayer and the word of God.
2) We know that what we cannot see with our physical eye is real because the Bible tells us the truth.
3) The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee that we will receive eternal life and glorified bodies just like the Lord Jesus Christ.
4) We need not fear death because Jesus Christ has conquered death and he lives in us.
5) Let’s do our best to serve the Lord now while we have the opportunity and invest our lives doing the will of God and please the Lord. This will bring a great reward at the judgment seat of Christ.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
5 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
Renewal of the inward man
Paul say’s that even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Every day that passes we age another 24 hours. As I write this I’m 51 years old and very aware that my physical body is changing due to age. I still can do everything I did as a kid but now it takes longer. I used to be able to climb trees, bail hay, split wood and just seemed to have boundless energy. Now I get tired faster. The aging of our body, our outward man, is something that none of us can stop. The law of sin and death continue to influence everything living from birth to death. I will never forget how Pastor Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life” impacted me when I read that the average life span of a person is 25,550 days.
Somehow when he broke it down in terms of the amount of days it really hit home. I mean, hey, when you think about your life in terms of how many days is just easier to understand because we can all easily identify with a day but the concept of an entire life is more difficult. Even though we can’t stop aging outwardly we can be renewed both spiritually and mentally on a daily basis. God promises a supernatural renewal of our strength when we wait upon him. The prophet Isaiah says that the young men will grow tired and faint but those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not faint. So, spending time in the presence of the Lord will bring this renewal and especially as you read his word and pray. This can happen on a daily basis by just spending time worshiping the Lord and being refilled with the Holy Spirit the source of all life!
How to see the invisible
4:18 “we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” The word of God is the ONLY source of TRUTH that reveals to us spiritual realities that we can’t see with our physical eye. Believing in what is invisible requires faith and the Bible teaches us that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17. So if you want your faith to be strong and grow continue to fill your mind and heart with the word of God. There was a preacher in the 1940’s named Smith Wigglesworth. God used this man mightily in miracles, healings and even raising several people from the dead. He had a habit of reading the word of God constantly and praying and so had a constant supply of fuel for his faith which caused him to walk in the power of God!
God’s guarantee
The same Spirit the raised Christ from the dead has been given to us as a guarantee that assures us that just like Jesus was raised from the dead the third day, we also will be raised from mortal decay into our glorious new bodies that will last forever! You can hear the bold confidence that the apostle Paul has about eternal life when he says he’s confident and even well pleased to be absent from his body knowing that once physical death happens he will be present with the Lord forever. God wants you and I to be assured that physical death is only a temporary condition on his timetable. All will rise again from the dead and believers have been given the Holy Spirit as a special guarantee, like a down payment or deposit that we will own glorified bodies like Jesus had and live forever with him.
No more fear of death
It seems like so many Christians I talk with do not have this kind of eager desire to be with Christ. I remember there came a time in my walk with the Lord that I began to pray and ask God to fill me with the hope of eternal life and friends, he has done it! Through the reading of the Scriptures and prayer I am very confident that the moment I leave my body I will be transported into the immediate presence of the Lord Jesus in Heaven. One of the reasons Jesus came was to conquer death and set us free this fear. Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
The judgment seat of Christ
All Christians will one day give an account of their life on earth before the ultimate judge the Lord Jesus Christ. At that time there will be a review of our lives and we will be judged on many different things. This is why Paul says we always make it our goal to be pleasing to the Lord. Thank God that when we accepted Jesus all of our sins were forgiven so what when we stand before God we’re not going to be judged for past sins. However, we will be judged on how we treated people. Did we obey God and love him and our fellow man according to Christ command? Also did we do the will of God for our lives and did we use the gifts that God gave us. So like Paul said, everyone of us should make it our goal to please the Lord now because we will definitely face him after this life and you want to hear “Well done good and faithful servant you were faithful in a few things now I will make you ruler of many things.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) As Christians we can be renewed daily on the inside through prayer and the word of God.
2) We know that what we cannot see with our physical eye is real because the Bible tells us the truth.
3) The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee that we will receive eternal life and glorified bodies just like the Lord Jesus Christ.
4) We need not fear death because Jesus Christ has conquered death and he lives in us.
5) Let’s do our best to serve the Lord now while we have the opportunity and invest our lives doing the will of God and please the Lord. This will bring a great reward at the judgment seat of Christ.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
