We Are Refreshed.
Concluding 2 Corinthians 4, Paul uses two “re-” words to communicate his last contrast: Temporal v. Eternal.
He begins with the word “redound” in verse 15. We don’t regularly use this word in everyday conversation anymore, so let’s define it. “Redound” means “abound.”
Paul is saying that the more trials we endure, the more grace God gives. One commentator says it like this: Abundant Grace comes from Abundant Trials. Another commentary puts it this way: “The process of renewal [is directly linked to] the process of decay.” Michelangelo once said, “The more the marble wastes, the more the statue grows.” And that is what God does in our lives through trials. He gives us the power to abound through difficulty, and He assures us that this trial is for our personal growth.
The second “re-” word Paul uses is “renewed” in verse 16. He is hearkening back to the word “changed” in chapter 3, verse 18. Paul says that “though our outward man perish” (wears away), our inner man is “renewed day by day,” one step at a time.
I grew up listening to Patch the Pirate, and now as a father driving down the road, it is special to listen to the same songs with my kids. One Patch the Pirate song relates to what Paul is talking about…
Little by Little, Inch by Inch
By the Yard, It’s Hard
By the Inch, What a Sinch
Never stare up the stairs
Just step up the steps
Little by little, Inch by Inch.
In verses 17-18, Paul continues the contrasts as well… affliction v. glory; lightness v. weight; moment v. eternal; working against us v. working for us.
And he continues the illustration in chapter 5, contrasting a tabernacle or tent (our earthly bodies) with a heavenly dwelling (our glorified bodies).
I can relate to Paul’s last illustration. I despise camping. I don’t understand why people pay hundreds of dollars to live like they’re homeless. But if I go camping (and that’s a big “if”), that tent is not my home. I’m not buying furniture for that tent. I’m not going to install electricity and Wi-Fi in that tent! It’s not home.
This truth is the foundation of what Paul is teaching about refreshment. If you want to be refreshed every day, you need to remind yourself every day that this world is not our home!
Do you need to be refreshed? Every day of our lives, we face a constant battle between the eternal and the temporal. Remember what you’re living for—that eternal home, not the temporary things of this world.
