Title: Seeing Forever
2012.2.26 Sunday morning service sermon
Bible: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Title: Seeing Forever
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ‘16. Therefore we do not lose heart, although our outward man is aging, but our inward man is being renewed day by day. 17. For our light affliction, which is for a little while, works for us an exceedingly great and eternal weight of glory
18. We pay attention not to the visible, but to the unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is not seen is eternal.
There is a saying that eyes are a treasure. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to see people, animals, or things. However, all things in the world wear out, and as people age, their eyesight deteriorates and eventually they close their eyes. Depending on what and how much you see in life, you are bound to live and resemble what you see visually. What do the saints look for? What is invisible is said to be eternal. I would like to share a message with the title of <Things to be seen forever>.
1. What is seen with the naked eye and what is seen with the spirit eye
If you become a Christian, you can distinguish between the outer man and the inner man, the natural man and the spiritual man, according to verse 16. When you become a saint, you strive to grow into a spiritual person. For spiritual discernment, we must first be able to distinguish between physical culture and spiritual culture. When the disciple asked Jesus to show him God,
John 14:9 "Jesus said to him, Philip, I have been with you for so long, and do you not know me? He who has seen me has seen the Father.
The people who killed Jesus made such a mistake by judging Jesus only physically.
2. Understanding situations leading to momentary and eternity
If you truly believe in Jesus, you will go beyond the religious understanding of ups and downs. Among those who go to church without knowing Jesus properly, they judge good or bad luck based on visible and short-sighted situations. For example, did God punish us when we faced tribulation or difficult problems? It is not a correct biblical view of faith to think that God will give you a blessing if you are physically comfortable with it.
2 Corinthians 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is for a little while, works for us an exceedingly great and eternal weight of glory.”
If you believe in Jesus, suffering will come, and then you will experience the work of making things well. Such things are different for each of us, but there is no exception to making people happy after suffering.
3. Eternal is hard to see
Even in the world, if you are active in a special industry for a long time, you will have expertise and the ability to handle work with know-how will follow. There is a saying that a person who makes money well sees money ahead of time. Imagination is also important, but you must have a clear plan for feasibility and possibility and have the processing ability to succeed. The spiritual eyes of believers who believe in Jesus are on eternal values, so thinking must be different from that of the world.
2 Corinthians 4:18 “It is not the things that are seen that we pay attention to, but the things that are not seen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is not seen is eternal.”
The world we live in is being created by some invisible cause. It is in the management of God who is the protagonist of history. So Moses 11:27 says, “By faith he left Egypt, and was not afraid of the wrath of the king, but endured as seeing the invisible.” We are believers who view the present and future phenomena of the world as the management of God and live our lives with caution. I believe that there will be a reward in the day of God's grace and eternal life.