Why We Don't Lose Heart While Wasting Away
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
¶ 16 For this reason we do not lose heart, but even though our outer man is being destroyed, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all measure and proportion,
18 while we do not keep our eyes on the things that are seen but on the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal..
Sermon:
The subjects of people’s conversations change as they grow older. When they are in their younger adulthood they talk about their plans for the future and about what their children are doing and about their pass-times and about their work. When they reach middle age they talk about what their grownup children are doing and about their homes and about their vacations and about their work and about their hope to retire one day. When they retire they talk about their trips and about their hobbies and about their grandchildren and about what they do in their free time. And when they grow old they talk about their grandchildren and their great grandchildren and about the things that are wrong with their health. And the older they become, the more they talk about their health and what is wrong with them and how they are feeling.
Since you are reading this, you probably have an interest in aging and the physical problems that come with aging. Perhaps you have older parents who are dealing with various health issues. Or, perhaps you yourself are older and have at least one health problem and maybe even more than one. Now if you have had and are having one or more health problems, would you say that what you have been going through and suffering was only momentary? You wish it were only momentary, right?
I can understand your situation. To a great extent I can put myself in your shoes and feel what you are feeling. You see, my wife has had multiple sclerosis for seventeen years. I took care of her for thirteen years until it became impossible for her to live at home. She now is at the point that she cannot move her legs at all. She has lost most of the use of her left arm and hand. She has also been losing the use of her right arm and hand. She is confined to a wheelchair and must reside in a nursing home where she can get help that she needs. It has become harder and harder for her to do even the simplest things like feeding herself and brushing her teeth. What is more, she has recently had surgery for breast cancer. The cancer had already spread elsewhere in her body. It is only a matter of time until the cancer will take her life. We have been together throughout our whole lives from the time we were teenagers, for fifty-eight years. Parting company and losing her is not easy for me. This is a sad time to say the least. And as for myself, while my overall health is good, I have macular degeneration and must squint and strain to see well enough to write this for you. So, considering all these things I just mentioned, I can indeed understand and empathize, at least to some degree, with what you may be going through. No doubt whatever your health problems may be, they are making your life miserable and difficult and sad as well.
Assuming you are an elderly person with health problems, what have you been seeing happening to yourself? Like myself, you no doubt see yourself getting old and older and physically wasting away. Years ago, while my wife was still in pretty good health, I took her to a local restaurant for breakfast. At the table across from the booth we were sitting in were two elderly couples. They were talking pretty loudly, so we could not but help overhear what they were saying. Then one of the men spoke up and said to the other three, “You know, these are supposed to be our golden years. They are more like our rusting-out years.” Yes, we are in our rusting-out years, and we see ourselves slowly wasting away.
How do you feel sometimes as a result of seeing your health deteriorating and your body wasting away? I suspect you have times when you feel down in the dumps and depressed. Such is our human reaction at times to what we see and feel happening to ourselves. But we have good reason not to lose heart while we are wasting away, because of God’s Word and promises to us.
Let’s listen to what this portion of God’s Word says to us:
Verse 16 says, “For this reason we do not lose heart, even though our outer man is being destroyed.” The reason we do not lose heart when we see our health deteriorating and our bodies wasting away is told to us two verses earlier in verse 14. There it says that God, who raised Jesus from the dead, will also raise us up with Jesus and present us with our fellow believers in heaven. Because we have this hope of eternal life in heaven and our bodies being raised up to eternal glory is the reason we do not lose heart now, even though we see our outer man, meaning our physical body, wasting away and being destroyed.
We have this hope of eternal life in heaven because Jesus lived a sinless life for us and died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. God then raised him from the dead as his declaration that he forgave our sins and remembers them no more.
Verse 16 goes on to say, “. . . even though our outer man is being destroyed, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” Our inner man is our new, Christian spirit that the Holy Spirit created in us when he brought us to faith in Jesus. Even though our body is being destroyed and wasting away, our new, Christian spirit is being renewed day by day by the Word and promises of God. It is important for us, therefore, to hear and to be in God’s Word every day, so our inner Christian spirit can be built up and be renewed each day to endure our wasting away without losing heart.
We know the Word of God says that he makes all things work for our good. But when we see ourselves wasting away, do we have times when we wonder: “What possible good can come out of my wasting away?” Verse 17 gives us the answer: “For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all measure and proportion.” Let us note that God’s Word says our wasting away is a momentary light affliction. Our wasting away is momentary because it is not eternal, it does not last forever. By faith we endure our wasting away without losing heart because we have God’s Word that Jesus has brought us the forgiveness of our sins and everlasting life in heaven. And our enduring our wasting away by faith is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs what we see we are suffering now.
In your mind picture a balance scale. On one side of the scale we put all our health problems and our wasting away that seem so heavy and hard to bear. On the other side of the balance scale we put the eternal life of blessedness and glory that are ours in heaven through Jesus. As soon as we put our eternal life of blessedness and glory into the balance scale it sinks down and lifts up the other side of the balance scale holding our health problems and our wasting away. By comparison to the eternal life of blessedness and glory that are ours even now in heaven, our bodily wasting away is momentary and light.
This being true verse 18 tells us: “We do not keep our eyes on the things that are seen but on the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.” Our body wasting away is what we see day after day. But our wasting away is only temporary; it only lasts as long as we are here on earth, and then it is gone. On the other hand, our eternal life of blessedness and glory in heaven is what we do not see. That is eternal; it lasts forever. So by faith let us not keep our eyes on our wasting away; rather, by faith let us keep our eyes on our eternal life of blessedness and glory in heaven.
May these comforting verses strengthen your faith, so you do not lose heart; so you can look past the health problems and wasting away that you are seeing now; so you can focus your attention on the eternal life of blessedness and glory that are yours in heaven. And it is because of that divine promise of eternal life in heaven through Jesus Christ that we do not lose heart, even while we are wasting away.
Amen.
¶ 16 For this reason we do not lose heart, but even though our outer man is being destroyed, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all measure and proportion,
18 while we do not keep our eyes on the things that are seen but on the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal..
Sermon:
The subjects of people’s conversations change as they grow older. When they are in their younger adulthood they talk about their plans for the future and about what their children are doing and about their pass-times and about their work. When they reach middle age they talk about what their grownup children are doing and about their homes and about their vacations and about their work and about their hope to retire one day. When they retire they talk about their trips and about their hobbies and about their grandchildren and about what they do in their free time. And when they grow old they talk about their grandchildren and their great grandchildren and about the things that are wrong with their health. And the older they become, the more they talk about their health and what is wrong with them and how they are feeling.
Since you are reading this, you probably have an interest in aging and the physical problems that come with aging. Perhaps you have older parents who are dealing with various health issues. Or, perhaps you yourself are older and have at least one health problem and maybe even more than one. Now if you have had and are having one or more health problems, would you say that what you have been going through and suffering was only momentary? You wish it were only momentary, right?
I can understand your situation. To a great extent I can put myself in your shoes and feel what you are feeling. You see, my wife has had multiple sclerosis for seventeen years. I took care of her for thirteen years until it became impossible for her to live at home. She now is at the point that she cannot move her legs at all. She has lost most of the use of her left arm and hand. She has also been losing the use of her right arm and hand. She is confined to a wheelchair and must reside in a nursing home where she can get help that she needs. It has become harder and harder for her to do even the simplest things like feeding herself and brushing her teeth. What is more, she has recently had surgery for breast cancer. The cancer had already spread elsewhere in her body. It is only a matter of time until the cancer will take her life. We have been together throughout our whole lives from the time we were teenagers, for fifty-eight years. Parting company and losing her is not easy for me. This is a sad time to say the least. And as for myself, while my overall health is good, I have macular degeneration and must squint and strain to see well enough to write this for you. So, considering all these things I just mentioned, I can indeed understand and empathize, at least to some degree, with what you may be going through. No doubt whatever your health problems may be, they are making your life miserable and difficult and sad as well.
Assuming you are an elderly person with health problems, what have you been seeing happening to yourself? Like myself, you no doubt see yourself getting old and older and physically wasting away. Years ago, while my wife was still in pretty good health, I took her to a local restaurant for breakfast. At the table across from the booth we were sitting in were two elderly couples. They were talking pretty loudly, so we could not but help overhear what they were saying. Then one of the men spoke up and said to the other three, “You know, these are supposed to be our golden years. They are more like our rusting-out years.” Yes, we are in our rusting-out years, and we see ourselves slowly wasting away.
How do you feel sometimes as a result of seeing your health deteriorating and your body wasting away? I suspect you have times when you feel down in the dumps and depressed. Such is our human reaction at times to what we see and feel happening to ourselves. But we have good reason not to lose heart while we are wasting away, because of God’s Word and promises to us.
Let’s listen to what this portion of God’s Word says to us:
Verse 16 says, “For this reason we do not lose heart, even though our outer man is being destroyed.” The reason we do not lose heart when we see our health deteriorating and our bodies wasting away is told to us two verses earlier in verse 14. There it says that God, who raised Jesus from the dead, will also raise us up with Jesus and present us with our fellow believers in heaven. Because we have this hope of eternal life in heaven and our bodies being raised up to eternal glory is the reason we do not lose heart now, even though we see our outer man, meaning our physical body, wasting away and being destroyed.
We have this hope of eternal life in heaven because Jesus lived a sinless life for us and died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. God then raised him from the dead as his declaration that he forgave our sins and remembers them no more.
Verse 16 goes on to say, “. . . even though our outer man is being destroyed, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” Our inner man is our new, Christian spirit that the Holy Spirit created in us when he brought us to faith in Jesus. Even though our body is being destroyed and wasting away, our new, Christian spirit is being renewed day by day by the Word and promises of God. It is important for us, therefore, to hear and to be in God’s Word every day, so our inner Christian spirit can be built up and be renewed each day to endure our wasting away without losing heart.
We know the Word of God says that he makes all things work for our good. But when we see ourselves wasting away, do we have times when we wonder: “What possible good can come out of my wasting away?” Verse 17 gives us the answer: “For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all measure and proportion.” Let us note that God’s Word says our wasting away is a momentary light affliction. Our wasting away is momentary because it is not eternal, it does not last forever. By faith we endure our wasting away without losing heart because we have God’s Word that Jesus has brought us the forgiveness of our sins and everlasting life in heaven. And our enduring our wasting away by faith is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs what we see we are suffering now.
In your mind picture a balance scale. On one side of the scale we put all our health problems and our wasting away that seem so heavy and hard to bear. On the other side of the balance scale we put the eternal life of blessedness and glory that are ours in heaven through Jesus. As soon as we put our eternal life of blessedness and glory into the balance scale it sinks down and lifts up the other side of the balance scale holding our health problems and our wasting away. By comparison to the eternal life of blessedness and glory that are ours even now in heaven, our bodily wasting away is momentary and light.
This being true verse 18 tells us: “We do not keep our eyes on the things that are seen but on the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.” Our body wasting away is what we see day after day. But our wasting away is only temporary; it only lasts as long as we are here on earth, and then it is gone. On the other hand, our eternal life of blessedness and glory in heaven is what we do not see. That is eternal; it lasts forever. So by faith let us not keep our eyes on our wasting away; rather, by faith let us keep our eyes on our eternal life of blessedness and glory in heaven.
May these comforting verses strengthen your faith, so you do not lose heart; so you can look past the health problems and wasting away that you are seeing now; so you can focus your attention on the eternal life of blessedness and glory that are yours in heaven. And it is because of that divine promise of eternal life in heaven through Jesus Christ that we do not lose heart, even while we are wasting away.
Amen.
There are many kinds of Christians. Whichever kind you may be, you can never hear enough of the good news that God has for you in Christ or be reassured too often of your final destination and eternal dwelling place. With this book its author Rev. JC aims to do just that for you by means of the inspired words and message of God as written through his apostle John.
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