Epistles – 2 Corinthians 4-5

Today we continue to read the second letter of Paul to the Corinthian church.

Bible Passage: 2 Corinthians 4-5

Paul goes on to defend his ministry as an honest and a tested one, for he can truly feel and understand the mercy that God has bestowed on him and his co-workers, by entrusting them with the treasure even though they are only jars of clay; yet they endured hardships while handling the truth with reverence and faithfulness.

Similarly today, we have been entrusted with the truth, the complete truth of the salvation of Christ, but are we actively participating in this ministry?

We may not have to be full-time divine workers, but we can always participate in the divine workforce as much as we can. For this treasure from God is indeed very vital to our souls and the souls of the people of the world, whether will we spend eternity with God or not, depends heavily on how we handle it, and how we share this treasure with other.

Quite some time ago, I remember a brother told me that Christianity in Rome was almost annihilated under the Roman Emperor Nero (AD54 – AD68).

He persecuted Christians and made them renounce their faith, if they refused; they were thrown to the hungry lions. He also burned many of the Holy Scriptures but Christians hid them with much care.

Then there was one incident where Nero was entertaining the crowd in the stadium by throwing faithful Christians to the hungry lions, many of the people present started to think to themselves, “Why are these Christians not afraid to die? Why are they so willing to stand up for their faith?” And somehow, they were moved to empathize with the Christians and many Romans were even converted and embraced Christianity, and so that was one of the reasons why Nero did not succeed in eliminating Christianity during his rule.

I remembered this story as I consider the words of Paul in 2 Cor. 4: 8 – 11,

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed–
always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

It is indeed true that there are no sufferings that can be compared to what our Lord Jesus had experienced; He went through physical, mental and spiritual torture for our salvation sake.

Let us ask ourselves, are we willing to take up our cross daily and manifesting the death and life of Jesus to the lost? The above verses also led me to recall of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Phi. 1:29,

“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

and, to Timothy in 2Ti 3:12,

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

It is very clear that only believing in Jesus does not completely make us Christians, but we need to live Godly lives, and when we live Godly lives, persecutions in various forms will come knocking at our doors.

It is our portion and grace to suffer as Christians, so we have to be prepared to face this reality with the deep understanding that this is indeed a grace from God. Can you remember how the apostles rejoiced when they were beaten up for the sake of Jesus’ Name? (Acts 5: 40 – 41)

In chapter 5, Paul continues to admonish us of the ultimate goal of all Christians, and that is the eternal abode with God. But before that, all of us have to face God on His judgment seat. So what really matters to us now is whether or not we can spend eternity with God, and God has given us His Spirit so that we have this confidence that once we leave our body of flesh, we can be clothed with immortality.

God’s desire for us is indeed very wonderful, so we must hold fast to His love, be reconciled to Him if we have found that we have strayed away from Him. And be like the apostles, be ambassadors for Christ in this work of reconciliation, reaching out to reconcile the lost back to God.

The following video is a reading of many verses from the Bible, the love letter from God, calling the people of the world to be reconciled to Him.