His Goal was Glory
2 Corinthians 4:13–5:5
a vision of glory that enables gospel proclamation...
#glory
#Gospel
Published May 3rd, 2018
Main Point
Diagram
Phrase
Arc
Text Notes
Discourse Notes
Devotional
notes
Main Point
Glory abounds through thanksgiving unto more and more glory as more and more sinners are clothed in robes washed white by the blood of Jesus and presented to him by God. In light of this hope, God's people boldly proclaim the gospel even when faced with suffering and death.
Diagram
scripturetext
NT
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5
sbl
text
γὰρ
subjectverb
solid
drop
equal
revrocket
line
pred
Οἴδαμεν
directobject
shelf
cword
vertical
ἔχομεν
οἰκοδομὴν
prepphrase
pstack
ἐκ
θεοῦ
equals
table
οἰκίαν
ἀχειροποίητον
αἰώνιον
ἐν
τοῖς
οὐρανοῖς
ἡ
οἰκία
ἐπίγειος
καταλυθῇ
ἡμῶν
τοῦ
σκήνους
ἐὰν
ὅτι
γὰρ
στενάζομεν
καὶ
ἐν
τούτῳ
participle
ἐπιποθοῦντες
infinitive
ἐπενδύσασθαι
τὸ
οἰκητήριον
ἡμῶν
τὸ
ἐξ
οὐρανοῦ
εὑρεθησόμεθα
οὐ
predicate
γυμνοὶ
ἐνδυσάμενοι
καὶ
εἴ
γὰρ
οἱ
στενάζομεν
ὄντες
ἐν
τῷ
σκήνει
βαρούμενοι
θέλομεν
οὐ
rocketship
ἐκδύσασθαι
ἐπενδύσασθαι
ἀλλ’
τὸ
θνητὸν
καταποθῇ
ὑπὸ
τῆς
ζωῆς
ἵνα
ἐφ’
ᾧ
smartline
dashed
free
ttext
ὁ
κατεργασάμενος
ἡμᾶς
εἰς
τοῦτο
αὐτὸ
θεός
ὁ
δοὺς
τὸν
ἀρραβῶνα
τοῦ
πνεύματος
indirectobj
ἡμῖν
δὲ
Διὸ
ἐγκακοῦμεν
οὐκ
ἀλλ’
ἔσω
ἀνακαινοῦται
ἡμέρᾳ
καὶ
ἡμέρᾳ
ἄνθρωπος
ἔξω
διαφθείρεται
εἰ
γὰρ
τὸ
ἐλαφρὸν
παραυτίκα
κατεργάζεται
τῆς
θλίψεως
ἡμῶν
ἡμῖν
βάρος
αἰώνιον
δόξης
καθ’
ὑπερβολὴν
εἰς
ὑπερβολὴν
ἡμῶν
σκοπούντων
μὴ
τὰ
τὰ
βλεπόμενα
βλεπόμενα
μὴ
ἀλλὰ
γὰρ
τὰ
πρόσκαιρα
βλεπόμενα
τὰ
αἰώνια
βλεπόμενα
μὴ
δὲ
diagram
Phrase
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
mine
For we know
that if the earthly home of our tent should be overthrown,
Content of 1a; Protasis
we have a dwelling from God,
Apodosis of 1b
a home not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.
Location of 2b
For in this (tent)
we groan
(because we long) to be clothed in our dwelling,
Ground of 2b
the one from heaven
Specifies 2c
if also (because we are) clothed
Purpose of 2c: why "we long"
we will not be found naked.
Apodosis of 3a
For also (while we are) in the tent,
Temporal of 4b
we groan
(because we are) burdened
Ground of 4b
because we do not desire to be unclothed,
Ground of 4c
rather to be exceedingly clothed
in order that the mortal should be destroyed under life.
Purpose of 4e
Now the one equipping us unto this same thing is God,
the one giving to us the guarantee of the Spirit.
Specifies 5a
phrasing
Arc
editing
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:5
esv
Since we have x the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, y “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,
Ἔχοντες δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως,
And having the same spirit of faith,
κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον·
according to what has been written,
Ἐπίστευσα,
"I believed,
διὸ ἐλάλησα,
therefore I spoke."
inference
ideaexplanation
καὶ ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν,
We also believe,
διὸ καὶ λαλοῦμεν,
therefore we also speak.
knowing that z he who raised the Lord Jesus a will raise us also with Jesus and b bring us with you into his presence.
εἰδότες ὅτι ὁ ἐγείρας ⸀ τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ ἡμᾶς ⸀ σὺν Ἰησοῦ ἐγερεῖ
knowing that the one who raised Jesus also will raise us with Jesus
καὶ παραστήσει σὺν ὑμῖν.
and will present us with you.
series
ground
For c it is all for your sake, so that as d grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, e to the glory of God.
τὰ γὰρ πάντα δι’ ὑμᾶς,
For all things are on account of you, (we give ourselves over to suffering and death for your sake)
ἵνα ἡ χάρις πλεονάσασα διὰ τῶν πλειόνων τὴν εὐχαριστίαν περισσεύσῃ εἰς τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ.
in order that grace abounding through much thanksgiving should abound unto the glory of God.
actionpurpose
So we do not lose heart. f Though our outer self 1 is wasting away, g our inner self h is being renewed day by day.
Διὸ οὐκ ⸀ ἐγκακοῦμεν,
Therefore we are not weary,
ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ ὁ ἔξω ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος διαφθείρεται,
but even if our outer man is destroyed,
ἀλλ’ ὁ ⸂ ἔσω ἡμῶν ⸃ ἀνακαινοῦται ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ.
our inner man is renewed day by day.
concessive
negativepositive
For i this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως ⸀ ἡμῶν καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης κατεργάζεται ἡμῖν,
For the immediate lightness of our affliction is producing for us the surpassing excellence of the eternal weight of glory
j 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.
μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα
while we are not heeding the things that are seen
ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα,
but the things that are unseen.
τὰ γὰρ βλεπόμενα πρόσκαιρα,
For the things that are seen are temporary,
τὰ δὲ μὴ βλεπόμενα αἰώνια.
but the things that are unseen are eternal.
alternative
temporal
For we know that if k the tent that is l our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, m a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ἐὰν ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους καταλυθῇ,
For we know that if the earthly home of our tent should be overthrown
οἰκοδομὴν ἐκ θεοῦ ἔχομεν οἰκίαν ἀχειροποίητον αἰώνιον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
We have a dwelling from God, a home not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.
conditional
For in this tent n we groan, longing to o put on our heavenly dwelling,
καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ στενάζομεν,
For in this (tent) we even groan
τὸ οἰκητήριον ἡμῶν τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπενδύσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες,
(because we long) to be clothed in our dwelling, the one from heaven
if indeed by putting it on 1 we may not be found naked.
⸂ εἴ γε ⸃ καὶ ⸀ ἐνδυσάμενοι
if also (because we are) clothed
οὐ γυμνοὶ εὑρεθησόμεθα.
we will not be found naked.
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 p may be swallowed up by life.
καὶ γὰρ οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ σκήνει
For also (while we are) in the tent,
στενάζομεν
we groan
βαρούμενοι
(because we are) burdened
ἐφ’ ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι
because we do not desire to be unclothed
ἀλλ’ ἐπενδύσασθαι,
rather to be exceedingly clothed
ἵνα καταποθῇ τὸ θνητὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς.
in order that the mortal should be destroyed under life.
progression
He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, q who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
ὁ δὲ κατεργασάμενος ἡμᾶς εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο θεός,
Now the one equipping us unto this same thing is God
⸀ ὁ δοὺς ἡμῖν τὸν ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ πνεύματος.
the one giving to us the guarantee of the Spirit.
bilateral
We have a heavenly home (body) even if our earthly tent (body) is destroyed.
The fact that we are uncomfortable (groaning) with our earthly bodies (they don't work right, they break down, etc.) proves that we have a heavenly home >> this isn't our true/final home.
These might all be a series indicated by the και: We know we have an eternal home. We groan with longing to be clothed with this eternal home We groan because we don't want to be found naked (this body/home is eventually gonna wear out. Will we, in that moment, be found naked, or further clothed?)
Though we are surrounded by the threat of death, we believe and so we speak the gospel of Jesus. We speak this gospel in confident faith because God will raise us with Jesus and we will be in his presence alongside all of you Corinthians. And we confidently speak because we look with such anticipation to the day when we will all stand together with Jesus. And we ant more and more of you to be there! God will be so glorified and we will be so thankful on that day, and more and more so the more of you there are. In light of this anticipation and confident hope, we stand strong. We're not discouraged by the threat of death all around as we think about all of you standing with us before Jesus because of his gospel. The weight of that glorious future reality is so great that our present trials and suffering are small and light in comparison. We're not focusing on those present, momentary trials that are right before us. We're focusing on the yet unseen reality of standing with you before Jesus because of his gospel, because that reality is eternal. These sufferings are temporary because if we are killed, at that moment we will possess what has already been prepared for us--an eternal body that is much more solid, secure and lasting than our current body.
Our desire for grace to abound through thanksgiving for the glory of God explains both why being presented by Jesus with you motivates us to speak and why we are not wearied by the destruction of our outer man.
discourse
Text Notes
4:13— Ps 115:1 Hallelujah, I believed therefore I spoke and I was exceedingly humbled. I said in my amazement, 'all men are liars'; what will I give to the Lord in return for all he gave to me? I will receive the cup of salvation and I will call upon the name of the Lord. Precious before the Lord is the death of his holy ones. O Lord, I am your servant, I am your servant and the son of your maidservant you tore asunder my chains. For you I will kill a sacrifice of praise. I will give my prayers to the Lord before all his people. In the court of the Lord's house in your midst, Jerusalem. The psalmist believes and speaks in the midst of his great humiliation and surrounded by liars. How does he speak? "You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living... I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD". In the same manner, Paul and his company believe in the gospel and therefore they speak though they are on the brink of death, with threats all around. What do they speak? They speak the gospel of Jesus--his death and resurrection. What enables them to speak? They know that God will raise them with Christ and present them to him with the believers in Corinth. 5:1— There is a question here regarding the function of ἐὰν. Does it indicate a concessive relationship or a conditional relationship. In the latter case, having an eternal dwelling is in some way dependent upon the destruction of our bodies. If it is concessive, then we have an eternal dwelling despite the fact that our earthly tents are overthrown. While a concessive relationship is possible, Paul's goal is to highlight his confident hope (that he and every Christian will receive an eternal dwelling) against the backdrop of his suffering and death in order to strengthen believers in the midst of their own suffering. This point is especially strengthened by the reality (for almost all believers) that the reception of our eternal dwelling is temporally contingent upon our death—we will not receive our eternal dwelling until our earthly tent has been destroyed.
Discourse Notes
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? What is the nature of our clothing? It might be easiest to think about this text by identifying conclusions that would be wrong. 1) The flowers are clothed more beautifully than wealthy Solomon and we will be clothed more than the flowers. Therefore, Jesus is saying that we shouldn't be anxious because we will have even richer provision in this life. 2) Jesus is only talking about provision for daily needs. He is not making any promises about rich or special clothing that rivals the most beautiful wildflowers. Rather, Jesus is talking about daily provision for needs and about rich clothing so that we can genuinely say, God has clothed me much more than even the most beautifully arrayed wildflowers. In other words, there is provision and clothing for the already and a certain hope for provision and clothing in the not yet. A lingering question that I have, though, is What is the nature of this future clothing? So, I flipped over to 2 Cor 5:1–5, but as I've worked on this devotional, I've felt it necessary to move further back in Paul's letter. I see an essential bilateral in verse 15. It supplies the ground and the central motivation for why Paul speaks the gospel even under threat of death and why Paul is not soul-weary, but renewed daily. This central motivation is the vision of a great multitude of saints in Paul's mind, Corinthians included, who have been raised by God with Jesus and who are presented together to Jesus as his Bride. Therefore, Paul's light affliction (v. 17) is the pain he is suffering as he speaks the gospel for the sake of that vision. Moreover, the weight of glory is at least related to this vision of corporate resurrection and worship if not comprised of it. So, the glory of corporate resurrection produces the motivation for Paul to proclaim the gospel in spite of suffering on one side—he is renewed and not discouraged. On the other side, the hope rendered certain by the Holy Spirit of eternal clothing in place of temporary, destructible clothing enables Paul to proclaim the gospel in spite of suffering—he is renewed and not discouraged. 5:1–5 is the ground for 4:16–18. v. 16–18 says that our inner man is renewed because we know that our present affliction is producing eternal glory and this renewal is contingent upon us actually heeding the unseen, eternal reality (of corporate resurrection) over the seen, temporary reality (of present suffering due to gospel proclamation). Then, Paul moves to give the Corinthians the power by which they can heed the unseen over the seen. Namely, our bodies (seen, temporary) will be ultimately overcome by heavenly bodies (unseen, eternal). We can be certain of this because Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. These two motivations are not entirely distinct or disparate. Instead, Paul's language throughout this passage is corporate. In verse 5 , his appeal to the Holy Spirit as a guarantee reminds us first of the indwelling of the Spirit in corporate settings (Acts 2:1–4) before we think of his indwelling individually. Therefore, we should not think of our future clothing in merely or principally individual terms. Instead, resurrection life and worship of Jesus is essentially corporate. In other words, as Paul boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus even while he limped around with bent, scarred back near the end of his life, his motivation was not merely a whole body nor individual glory. Instead, his goal was glory made more weighty and more surpassingly glorious in that it was to be a shared and corporate glory.
Devotional
Paul, back torn and scarred, eyes foggy and dim, hands trembling with nerve damage. Surely this man of all men looked ahead with hope to the resurrection body, to be finally and forever clothed with a body from God. Yet even this hope was bound up in a greater weight of glory that sustained Paul in the midst of the constant threat of suffering and death. He was enraptured by a vision of a multitude of resurrected saints presented to Jesus by God as his Bride. A s Paul boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus even while he limped around with bent, scarred back near the end of his life, his motivation was not merely a whole body nor individual glory. Instead, his goal was glory made more weighty and more surpassingly glorious in that it was to be a shared and corporate glory. May the wonderfully glorious vision of Paul enrapture us so that we would become even more bold in our gospel proclamation because we long and groan for resurrection life in which a multitude of saints—people we know and love and cherish and long for—is presented before Christ by God as his Bride. Glory abounds through thanksgiving unto more and more glory as more and more sinners are clothed in robes washed white by the blood of Jesus and presented to him by God. And in view of this glory, we stand strengthened and encouraged even in the face of suffering and death.
Comments
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.