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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 4:4, 6-7, 16; 5:17; 10:1; 11:10
In this chapter we will give a concluding word regarding the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity issuing in the maturity of life and constitution of ministry.
In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul, referring to those who are perishing (v. 3), says, “In whom the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine on them.” Christ is the image of God, the effulgence of His glory (Heb. 1:3). Hence, the gospel of Christ is the gospel of His glory that illuminates and shines forth. Satan, the god of this age, has blinded the minds and the thoughts of the unbelievers so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory should not shine in their hearts. This is similar to covering the lens of the camera so that light cannot shine into the camera with the image that is being photographed.
Literally, the Greek word translated “shine” means “to see distinctly,” “to discern,” and also “to shine.” Hence, the translation of the second part of 2 Corinthians 4:4 may read, “So that they should not see the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Because the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, they cannot see the illumination of the gospel’s glory, just as a blind man, or a man with his eyes veiled, cannot see the light of the sun.
In 4:6 Paul goes on to say, “Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” God’s shining in our hearts results in the illumination of knowing the glory of God in the face of Christ, that is, in the enlightenment that causes us to know the glory of the gospel of Christ. The illumination, the enlightenment, that makes the glory of Christ’s gospel known to us issues from the shining of God in our hearts.
In understanding Paul’s word in 4:4, we may regard illumination as equal to light and speak of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. According to this verse, the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ. This gospel has light, illumination. The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ shines in us. This is actually God shining Himself into our being. Do you know what this shining is? This shining is the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
When the gospel is preached in a proper way, people should experience God’s shining Himself into them. They should have the consciousness of light being transfused into them. This means that the proper gospel preaching involves God’s shining into our heart. This shining in our heart is God’s dispensing. As He shines into us, He dispenses the divine element into our being.
In 3:3, 6, 17, and 18 we have the Spirit, and in 4:4 and 6 we have light. Whenever we preach the gospel or minister, we must be full of the Spirit and also full of light. If we speak without the Spirit and without light, nothing will be dispensed into others. But when our speaking is with the Spirit and with light, the Spirit and the light will accomplish the work of dispensing. Whenever the divine light is shining, this shining dispenses the divine element into others. As a result, they become constituted of this element. Therefore, our speaking must be full of the Spirit and light.
In chapter 4 we have the light; in chapter 3, the Spirit; and in chapter 2, the incense (vv. 14-15). These three — the incense, the Spirit, and the light — are all related to the divine dispensing. In 2:14-16a Paul says, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ and manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing: to some a savor out of death unto death, and to the others a savor out of life unto life.” Because the apostles had been permeated with Christ, they became a fragrance of Christ. As they spread abroad the fragrance of the incense of Christ, this fragrance was dispensed into others. Likewise, as the Spirit works, He dispenses the divine element into people. Furthermore, as the divine light shines, this shining causes the Triune God to be dispensed into them. Therefore, the scattering of the incense, the working of the Spirit, and the shining of the light are all for the divine dispensing. This is Paul’s underlying thought in these three chapters.
The more a person is exposed to the fragrance of incense, the more this fragrance will permeate him. For example, suppose a person stays for a period of time in a room filled with incense. The fragrance of that incense will be imparted to him. When he comes out of the room, he will carry with him the fragrance of the incense. This is an illustration of the fact that the scattering of the incense of Christ is actually a matter of the divine dispensing. Furthermore, the activity of the life-giving, transforming Spirit in chapter 3 and the shining of the light in chapter 4 is also related to the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
In 4:7 Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” God’s shining in our hearts brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything. But we who contain this treasure are earthen vessels, worthless in ourselves and fragile. A priceless treasure is contained in such worthless vessels. This has made the worthless vessels ministers of the New Testament with a priceless ministry. This change is accomplished by the divine power in resurrection. The excellence of the power is surely of God and not out of us.
This treasure, the indwelling Christ, in us, the earthen vessels, is the divine source of the supply for the Christian life. It is by the excellent power of this treasure that the apostles as the ministers of the new covenant are capable of living a crucified life so that the resurrection life of Christ whom they minister may be manifested. Therefore, they manifest the truth for the shining of the gospel.
The result of the divine dispensing is that Christ becomes the treasure contained in us, the earthen vessels. The permeating of the incense, the working of the Spirit, and the shining of the light all produce Christ in us. In this way Christ is dispensed, transfused, into our being. Now this indwelling Christ is a treasure in earthen vessels. This treasure is constituted into us through the process of the divine dispensing.
We have pointed out that, as earthen vessels, we are containers of Christ as the treasure. But in actuality, these containers become a prison for the Lord, and He is confined within us. Because Christ is imprisoned in us, the earthen vessel needs to be broken. Another way of expressing this is to say that the outer man needs to be consumed.
In 4:16 Paul says, “Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” The outer man has the body as its organ and the soul as its life and person. The inner man has the regenerated spirit as its life and person and the renewed soul as its organ. The life of the soul must be denied (Matt. 16:24-25), but the functions of the soul — the mind, will, and emotion — must be renewed and uplifted by being subdued (2 Cor. 10:4-5) in order to be used by the spirit as the person of the inner man.
The Greek word rendered “is decaying” also means “is being consumed, is being wasted away, is being worn out.” By the continued killing, the working of death, our outer man, that is, our material body with its animating soul (1 Cor. 15:44), is being consumed.
Whereas the outer man is being consumed, the inner man is being renewed. It is renewed through being nourished with the fresh supply of the resurrection life. As our outer man is being consumed by the killing work of death, our inner man, that is, our regenerated spirit with the inward parts of our being (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Rom. 7:22, 25), is being metabolically renewed day by day with the supply of resurrection life. Actually, the renewing of the inner man is also a matter of the divine dispensing.
It is not an easy task for the Lord to consume our outer man. In order to accomplish this, He allows us to pass through many kinds of sufferings. Because we imprison Him, He must do the further work of breaking us and renewing us.
Sometimes we may be bothered by the fact that the more we love the Lord, the more we grow in Him, and the more spiritual we become, the more problems we have. For example, the more a certain young person prays, the more he may be persecuted by members of his family. The reason we suffer more as we grow more in the Lord is that we need to be broken, we need to experience the consuming of the outer man so that Christ will no longer be imprisoned within us. Furthermore, we need the renewing of our inner man. This renewing is another stage of the divine dispensing.
We may say that in chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians with the incense we have an early stage of the divine dispensing. In chapter 3 we have a progressive stage of this dispensing. Then in chapter 4, with the consuming of the outer man and the renewing of the inner man, we have a yet more advanced stage.
In 5:17 Paul speaks of the new creation: “So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.” To be in Christ is to be one with Him in life and in nature. This is of God through our faith in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:26-28).
The old creation does not have the divine life and nature, but the new creation, the believers born again of God, does have the divine life and the divine nature (John 1:13; 3:15; 2 Pet. 1:4). Hence, the believers are a new creation (Gal. 6:15), not according to the old nature of the flesh but according to the new nature of the divine life.
When I was first saved, it was easy for me to declare that I was a new creation — all things had become new. But after being a Christian for many years, it seems that more and more things are still old. In order to become new, we need the breaking of the outer man and the renewing of the inner man.
Let me ask a question: Are you the old man or the new man? It may have been that when you were first saved, you could say, “Praise the Lord! With me everything is new.” But after being a Christian for many years, it may seem that you feel that you are old. For this reason it is difficult to say whether you are the old man or the new man. Actually, you are in the process of becoming a new creation by being broken and being renewed.
Second Corinthians 10:1 says, “I myself, Paul, entreat you through the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” This indicates that Paul, being firmly attached to Christ (1:21) and one with Him, lived by Him and behaved in His virtues. Because Christ had been infused into Paul’s being, Christ became his meekness and gentleness. Paul, therefore, was a person fully transfused and permeated with Christ. So Paul’s meekness was Christ, and his gentleness was Christ.
In 11:10 Paul says, “The truthfulness of Christ is in me” (cf. Rom. 9:1). Like meekness and gentleness in 2 Corinthians 10:1, this truthfulness is an attribute of Christ. Because Paul lived by Christ, whatever Christ was became Paul’s virtue in his behavior. Paul’s truthfulness, his honesty, was the Christ who had been dispensed into him.
Because Paul had been transfused and permeated with Christ, in his ministry he could write living letters of Christ. He could dispense Christ through his ministry into others, for he had been infused with Christ to the uttermost.
Transfusion leads to constitution, and constitution produces transformation. This issues in the maturity of life and the constitution of ministry. This is accomplished by the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
