2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - The Eternal Weight of Glory (Rev. Erik Veerman)

The Eternal Weight of Glory

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

This morning, we are going to finish chapter 4 of 2 Corinthians. Verses 16-18. You can find that on page 1147.

In the leadup to our verses this morning, we have been encouraged in our suffering. Even though we are like jars of clay, breakable and fragile, yet we have the surpassing treasure of the Gospel of Jesus within us.

As we are given over to death… as our bodies deteriorate… as we suffer, yet, the life of Jesus is at work in us. And we are promised a resurrection hope through Christ.

That was the promise of last week’s verses. A resurrection hope through Jesus Christ.

And that brings us to verse 16.

Reading of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Prayer

If you’ve been following the news in Montana, you’ll know that there’s a battle over suffering and death. Legislation has been proposed that would make it legal for someone with a terminal disease to end his or her life with the help of a physician.

And it’s very personal. Those who argue in favor tell stories of difficult suffering of loved ones. Those who argue against it tell stories of difficult suffering of loved ones.

To some extent, I think we can each understand the motivation for such a thing. Physical suffering is difficult and it’s likewise difficult to watch a loved one endure such a trial, especially when the diagnosis is grave.

But life is precious… no matter our age or situation. God is the one who is to numbers our days. Not us. And it may be in those last days or moment that God draws someone to himself – like the thief on the cross next to Jesus.

And not only that, but we have been learning in 2 Corinthians that suffering unto death is part of life. It’s part of the fallen condition that we live in and the fallen nature that we have. And for the Christian, through our suffering we share in Christ’s suffering and because of that, we also share in his comfort.

We learned that back in chapter 1. You see, God often fulfills his purposes through suffering. And when we suffer affliction, he will strengthen and give us hope when we look to him.

As we come now to verses 16-18… whey do is apply verse 14 to us. Verse 14 is about the resurrection. Since God raised the Lord Jesus, he will raise us and bring us into his presence. Look again at the end of verse 14. Paul writes to the Corinthian church that Jesus will bring “us with you into his presence.” You, believers in Corinth, will join us, Paul and those with him, in that resurrection.

That is a great hope. And verses 16-18 then explain how to experience that resurrection hope in our lives… especially in our suffering. Even in despair.

The question is, in our present suffering, how can we not lose heart? How can we live through the trials of this life with the hope of heaven? How do you actually do that? How do you actually have hope in suffering?

Verses 16-18 tell us how.

Look at 16. It begins with those encouraging words. “So, we do not lose heart!”

And then Paul goes on to tell us why and how.

By the way, this is the second time in this chapter that Paul has used the phrase “do not lose heart.” The first time was up in verse 2. Paul was talking about not losing heart in ministry and focus. Even though some will not respond, “do not lose heart.” God is at work. Remember that? Well, this time, the “do not lose heart” is about suffering and affliction.

On the sermon notes page, you’ll see the question, How do I not lose heart in my suffering?

Three answers listed there:

1. Renew the Gospel hope of Christ in you

2. Compare your affliction to the weight of glory

3. Fix your eyes on the eternal not the temporal

Those correlate with the verses, 16, 17, and 18 respectively.

1. Renew the Gospel hope of Christ in you

So, again, number 1. Renew the Gospel hope of Christ in you

Paul writes, “we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

He’s talking, first, about the impact of the fall, of sin and the curse on our bodies and minds. They are wasting away. Some of us feel it more than others. And Paul is comparing that to the new hearts that we have been given in Christ. Remember earlier in chapter 4 verse 6. “God… has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” That new heart is the treasure that we have in our jars of clay on the outside.

So, our outer nature is wasting away. And our new nature, the new creation we have in Christ, is being renewed day by day.

It’s like one big decrescendo and another big crescendo happening at the same time. If you’re musical that will make sense. A decrescendo goes from louder to softer. A crescendo goes from softer to louder.

Our minds and bodies are decrescendo-ing. We are always fighting against the effects of the fall. It’s not just aging but sickness and disease and accidents. It may, like Paul, include the scars of persecution – or it may include a “thorn in the flesh.”  In chapter 12, Paul describes a thorn in his flesh - some condition that he has endured his whole life.

All of it is leading us down a decline in various ways.

But there is also a crescendo for Christians. It says here that our “inner self is being renewed day by day.” That is talking about the hope of Christ in us. It’s the new creation in us where God through his Holy Spirit has shone his light on us. We’ve been transformed. We’ve turned from our sin and shame to Christ for forgiveness and redemption.

And as we walk through the trials of this life we are enabled to grow in the hope and grace of Christ. I’m being very intentional using that word “enabled.” We are enabled to be renewed day by day.

God has enabled you through his Spirit to mine the depths of the riches of God in Christ. If you are a believer in him, he’s given you the opportunity through his Spirit to be renewed day by day. If you are not a believer, he’s offered that renewal and crescendo.

However, when you are not immersing yourself in his Word. Or not repenting of sin and renewing your faith. Or when you are not weekly participating in worship. Or not communing with the God of the universe through prayer. When you are not engaged in those things, that renewal will not be happening.

That lack of daily renewal will have lots of implications in your life. When it comes to suffering, your spiritual stagnation will result in discouragement, in despair, and in disappointment. You will wonder where God is. You will be asking why you are suffering.

But, on the other hand, when you are renewing that Gospel hope in you (through all the ways I mentioned), God will strengthen you. Your life in Christ will crescendo. And that will help sustain you through whatever trials and afflictions and grief that you are enduring.

You see, that is part of the answer of how not to lose hope in suffering. Engage in all the ways that God has given to be renewed in him. That hope and renewal sustained Paul, and it will help sustain you.

So, answer 1: Renew the Gospel hope of Christ in you.

2. Compare your affliction to the weight of glory

And now, answer number 2. How do we not lose heart in our suffering? We compare our affliction to the weight of glory.

Verse 17. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” By the way, this is my favorite verse in the whole book.

God is saying that your affliction is “light”… meaning it doesn’t weigh much… and it’s “momentary” meaning it does last long. Does that make you mad? Because, God, it doesn’t feel like my affliction is light and momentary. No, it weighs me down. I can’t sleep. The pain doesn’t go away. The fear sometimes overwhelms. It’s heavy. It doesn’t feel light, no, it feels like a ton of bricks.

Actually, I brought a brick. This is just a regular clay brick. But we used to have a lead brick in our old house. It was actually there when we moved in… and I think we left it there. It was about this size. Now, this brick weighs like 3-4 pounds. But the lead brick was like 25 pounds. 5-6 times heavier. If we still had it, I would have brought it in.

Now I want you to imagine a big pile of lead bricks – a pallet of bricks - maybe 500. That would be very very heavy. Thousands of pounds.

In this verse 17 comparison, that pallet of lead bricks represents your suffering. You probably thought I was going to say that the pallet represented the eternal weight of glory. No, that is way beyond what I can describe. The key is in the phrase “beyond all comparison.” The greek phrase is literally “exceedingly exceeded.” Our afflictions are “exceedingly exceeded” by the eternal weight of glory.

This verse is not minimizing the weight of our suffering.

In fact, that same exact word was used back in chapter 1 verse 8. Paul and those with him had endured intense affliction in Asia. It says they were so “utterly burdened beyond their strength, that they despaired of life.” The same exact Greek word is in there. Their suffering was so “exceedingly exceeded” that they despaired of life itself. They even thought they had the sentence of death.

God is not saying, here, that your suffering is not significant or heavy. Not at all! Rather, he’s saying that the eternal weight of glory “exceedingly exceeds” the suffering that you are enduring here and now.

There are 2 comparisons.

First, something that is light and something that is heavy. And second, something that is momentary compared with something that is eternal.

The weight of glory exceedingly exceeds the weight of our suffering. By the way, that word “glory” is shorthand for heaven. When you who are in Christ pass from this life, you will be with Christ in glory – you will be in his radience and his presence.

In glory we will experience a fulness of joy and peace. We will share the honor of Christ as his redeemed and glorified people. Our worship will be beyond anything in this life. As Revelation 21 puts it, there will be no death, no dying, no pain, no sorrow, no mourning, no crying. There will be no night, there, because of the light of Christ.

You see, even though the weight of our suffering on us is great…. it is no comparison to the weight of glory. Not because our suffering is small… but because glory will be so much greater.

And think about the second comparison. It will last forever. It will be eternal. Even if your suffering lasts your entire life, it is momentary compared to the eternal weight of glory.

Beloved in Christ, the weight of your suffering and trials is heavy. It may feel like a ton of lead bricks. And it may feel like it is never going to end – but it will end one day… and it is nothing compared to the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

So, the second answer to the question, how do I not lose heart in my suffering? Is this: Compare your affliction to the weight of glory. Don’t minimize your suffering. But consider the glory of heaven to come. Get a perspective on what it will be like when God raises you with Christ to heaven. Your affliction will be nothing compared to the eternal weight of glory.

Ok, before we get to the third answer, I want to take a tangent. I have been thinking about 2 little words in verse 17 all week. It’s right there in the middle of 17. The words, “for us.”  Do you see them there? “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

I think I’ve been missing out on something about this my whole life.

In my mind, I thought it was saying “preparing us.” You know, “preparing us for the eternal weight of glory.” In other words, I thought this verse was saying that through our suffering, God is preparing us for heaven where there will be no more suffering. That when we finally experience glory, we will be even more amazed because of the suffering we endured in this life. That’s what I thought this verse was saying.

And by the way, it is a true statement. Our suffering is preparing us for glory. However, the focus of verse 17 is a little different. The word “preparing” is not focused on “us.” We are not being prepared. Rather our suffering is preparing glory and we are the recipient of that preparation. Let me read it again for you, it says “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.” Somehow our suffering is participating in the preparation of heaven to come.

That could mean a couple of different things. That could mean that when we give glory to God while we are suffering, God in Christ is even more glorified. We will experience more of his glory in heaven because of our suffering.

It could also mean that because we share in the sufferings of Christ (chapter 1), we are therefore participating in God’s preparation of glory in heaven. In other words, because we share in Jesus’ suffering unto death and his resurrection, our suffering is in part preparing the glory that is to come for us.

As you can tell, I am not fully sure of how Paul’s affliction or our affliction is preparing the weight of glory for us. But nonetheless, what is clear is that God has a purpose and meaning for our suffering beyond what we can even understand.

Again, that’s just a brief side note.

3. Fix your eyes on the eternal not the temporal

Back to the question. How do you not lose heart in your suffering?

#1 - Renew the Gospel hope of Christ in you. Meditate on what Christ has done for you OR believe in what Chrit offers you… if you don’t know him. Be in God’s word and in worship and in prayer. Through those things, God will help you to not lose heart. That was answer #1.

#2. Compare your affliction to the weight of glory. Consider the amazing eternal weight of glory. Glory infinitely exceeds the burden of our suffering now. And our suffering is, in fact, preparing heaven for us.

And now, answer #3. Fix your eyes on the eternal not the temporal.

That is verse 18. “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.”

Really, this is an extension of #2. We’re not just to compare our suffering to that which is eternal, but we are to look up. We are to gaze at that which is promised. We’re to look beyond the joys and sorrows of this life. We are to look heavenward.

My favorite Psalms are the Psalms of ascent. Psalm 120 to 134. These Psalms were sung by God’s people on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

They are called Psalms of ascent because the people were ascending up to Jerusalem. It didn’t mater if you were come from north, south, east, or west, you were ascending to mount Zion, to Jerusalem – you were going up. And as they ascended, they sang. We read Psalm 121 earlier. It begins, “I lift my eyes to the hills!”

It was not an easy journey, but as they travelled, they looked up toward Jerusalem. They couldn’t yet see Jerusalem, but they knew it was there.

The Psalms of ascent are a metaphor for life for us. We are journeying through this life to the new Jerusalem.

We are bound for the promised land. As we just sang. On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Cannan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie. I’m bound for the promised land. And the rest of the hymn, as we sang, is about the glory of heaven to come.

It is so easy to be caught up in our immediate situation. That’s because it’s hard. It’s hard to lift our head up beyond our pain and struggles and grief.

It’s easy to just focus on what we are going through and either feel that God doesn’t care or even think that suffering in and of itself is virtuous. It’s easy to be an Eeyore, isn’t it? You know, Eeyore from Winne the Poo. “Woe is me.”

Just to be sure, I’m not minimizing our suffering. I’m just cautioning against that first part of verse 18. “look not to the things which are seen… for they are transient.”  Besides not dwelling on our suffering, we should not hope in the things of this world. They will pass.

Rather, there is something far greater. We should direct our attention to that which we cannot see, which is eternal. It is that great promise of life beyond this life.

The Puritans used to use the phrase “Die before you die.” What they meant by it was, prepare yourself for death before you get to the point of death. Prepare your heart and mind now for future suffering unto death and the glory that is to come.

Let me slightly change that. “Live in heaven now before you get to heaven.” I know, it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. But how about “glory in the glory to come.”

Look to heaven. Anticipate your presence with Christ in eternity. Consider all the joys of glory. That is what verse 18 means “look to the things that are unseen… because the things that are unseen are eternal” Our physical eyes cannot see it. But we are given the vision and promise in God’s word.

Conclusion

So how do we not lose heart in our suffering?

Answer 1. We renew the Gospel hope of Christ in us. We press in, every day, to what Jesus has done for us and in his word and prayer.

Answer 2. We compare our affliction to the weight of glory. Eternity in heaven exceedingly exceeds our suffering. And in fact, our affliction is preparing heaven for us.

And answer 3. We fix our eyes, our gaze, on that which is eternal and not temporal. We cannot see heaven, but for those who know and believe in Jesus, you are promised to receive it.

Suffering is not something that we should search out. But neither is suffering something that we can escape in this life.

No, suffering is part of our fallen condition. But God uses our suffering for his glory and for our good AND for his purposes in eternity.

So may God enlarge our vision for his purposes in suffering. May we not lose heart when we do suffer. But instead, may we be renewed in the Gospel of grace, may we consider the eternal weight of glory in heaven, and may we fix our eyes on that which God is preparing for us.

Amen.