Resurrection Hope Overcomes Trials
2 Corinthians 4Therefore, since we have this deacon-work because we were shown mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the secret and shameful things, not walking in deceitfulness nor distorting the word of God, but by the clear declaration of truth we commend ourselves to every human’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, would not shine on them. For it is not ourselves that we preach, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as y’all’s servants for Jesus’s sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”+Gen 1:3 is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, so that the extraordinary power is from God and not from us. We are squeezed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who are alive are constantly being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. So then death is at work in us, but life in y’all.
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.”+Psa 116:10 We also believe, and therefore we also speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will present us with y’all. Indeed, all this is for y’all, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer humanity is decaying, our inside is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, lightweight oppression is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. So we don’t focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.