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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 4:10-18
We have seen that, as the continuation of 2 Corinthians 3, chapter four presents a picture of a life that enables the ministers of the new covenant to be one with their ministry. How could the apostles prove that they were ministers of the new covenant? They could prove it by living the kind of life described in chapter four. It is by this life that they are one with their ministry.
In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul does not speak of his work. He does not refer to what he has done or accomplished. Instead, he speaks of a life, the kind of life lived by him and his co-workers. According to this chapter, Paul and his co-workers lived in such a way that their life became their ministry.
In presenting the life he lived as a minister of the new covenant, Paul uses the name Jesus in a very particular way. In no other place in his writings does Paul use the name Jesus the way he does in 2 Corinthians 4. In verse 10 Paul says, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body.” Here Paul refers to the death of Jesus and to the life of Jesus. In verse 11 he goes on to say, “For we who live are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Paul also uses the name Jesus in verse 14: “Knowing that He Who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will present us with you.” In these verses Paul again and again uses the name Jesus.
It is important to find out why in this chapter Paul uses the name of Jesus in such a particular way. It is not easy to explain the reason. Actually, there may be more than one reason. In this message we shall begin to consider why Paul uses the name Jesus the way he does in 2 Corinthians 4.
We have pointed out that in chapter four Paul portrays the life lived by himself and his co-workers. This is the life which made them one with their ministry. This life is in contrast to the works emphasized among Christians today.
Christianity has become a religion. Every religion is dependent on certain works, for without works a religion cannot survive. A religion cannot exist unless its adherents carry on certain works. As a result, in religion we have works of many kinds. But although it is easy to point out the works in religion, it is very difficult to find anything of life. Thus, a basic principle of religion is that it is full of works but lacking in life. This is true not only of the Christian religion; it is true of any religion. Every religion is full of work, activity, and doings. But in religion there is no life.
Having this understanding of religion, let us once again look at the history of Jesus. When we consider the record of the Lord’s life on earth, we see that the emphasis is not on works. The four Gospels do not stress what the Lord did, what works He accomplished. The record concerning the Lord Jesus in the Gospels is mainly a record of life. In the Gospels the emphasis is on life, not on works or activities. The Gospels are biographies presenting a person living in a particular way. Therefore, the Gospels are not primarily an account of the Lord’s marvelous works; they are a description of the life the Lord Jesus lived on earth. This is one reason Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 uses the name Jesus so often. The use of this name in chapter four brings us back to the Lord as a man whose life was one with His ministry. The Lord lived in such a way that His person was one with His ministry. Strictly speaking, the Lord did not accomplish a work. Instead, He simply lived a certain kind of life.
When some hear that the Gospels emphasize the Lord’s life and not His works, they may want to argue, “Brother Lee, don’t the Gospels also give us an account of the works of the Lord Jesus?” Yes, they certainly do. I do not deny that the Gospels describe the Lord’s work. However, if you read the Gospels carefully, you will see that the picture in them was not painted as an account of the Lord’s works. On the contrary, the portrait in the Gospels was painted in such a way as to show forth the Lord’s life. At least, in this portrait the life of the Lord Jesus is presented in a more emphatic way than His works. The Gospels show us more of the Lord’s life than of His work. Yes, the Gospels do describe the Lord’s works, but much more they present the life Jesus lived and show us by what way He lived.
There are a number of indications in the Gospels that the Lord Jesus did not care for the accomplishing of a great work. We know that during His ministry the Lord performed many miracles. One of these miracles was that of feeding a crowd of more than five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. Was it not a wonderful miracle for the Lord Jesus to feed such a multitude with five loaves and two fishes? It certainly was a great miracle. John 6:14 describes the response of the people to this miracle: “The people therefore, seeing the sign which He did, said, This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.” The next verse describes the response of the Lord Jesus: “Then Jesus, knowing that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain, Himself alone.” This indicates that the Lord Jesus did not care to have a large following. Instead of caring for the crowd, He went away. But if we had been there with the Lord, we probably would have been excited to see the multitude following Him. We might have praised God for His blessing on this work, thanking Him for this great following. The Lord Jesus, however, was not excited. He would not allow the people to make Him their king. The Lord left the crowd and went to the mountain to pray.
Another example of the Lord’s caring for life and not for a work is found in John 12. In Jerusalem a great crowd gave a warm welcome to the Lord Jesus. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, crying, “Hosanna, blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13). Even the Pharisees admitted that the world had gone after Him (v. 19). Furthermore, when Andrew and Philip told the Lord that the Greeks were seeking Him, He answered, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (vv. 23-24). This indicates clearly that what the Lord Jesus cared for was life, not work. In the four Gospels there are many illustrations of this. Whenever people, according to their concept, thought that the opportunity was right for the Lord to accomplish a great work, He never took advantage of that opportunity. Instead, He departed. He had not come to do a great work. His concern was life.
The One who went to the cross to accomplish redemption for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose was not a great worker. It was not an outstanding work that qualified the Lord Jesus to be the Redeemer. What qualified Him was the life He lived. We know from the Gospels that Jesus was not a famous person living in a mansion in a large city. No, He was a man raised in the home of a carpenter from Nazareth, a despised town from the despised district of Galilee. But the life He lived qualified Him to be the Redeemer for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose.
It is crucial for us to see that the Lord Jesus was qualified by life, not by work. This matter of the priority of life over work is a very important aspect of the Lord’s recovery today. The Lord wants to recover a life; He is not seeking to accomplish a work of revival.
Since the Reformation Christians have often prayed for revival. Some have prayed for a great revival to stir up all the believers. But according to history, there has never been such a revival. Of course, about eighty years ago, there was a revival in Wales. Some Christian leaders were excited and expected that revival to spread to every continent. But it did not spread worldwide. In fact, after some years, it eventually died out, even in Wales.
In 1958 I was invited to a certain place in London. One day my host drove me through the countryside of England and Scotland. As he was driving, he pointed out the window and said of the people in the Scottish countryside that many of them had never heard of Jesus. He went on to tell me that Scotland was much like a heathen country. Nevertheless, Scotland is not far from Wales, where a great revival had taken place. This indicates that the way of revival does not work. Only one thing works, and that is life. This was the reason the Lord Jesus did not come to accomplish a great work. Rather, He came to live a life. Now His life has been spread to every corner of the earth. He is not a Jesus of work; He is a Jesus of life.
I need to point out to the saints in the Lord’s recovery that even many of us, young and old alike, still care for a work. Subconsciously or unconsciously our interest is related to a work for the Lord. Some, for example, may aspire to be great evangelists. The thought of carrying out a great work may still be in your heart, in your subconsciousness. I would encourage you to lay aside this thought. God does not respect any work. Much of the damage among Christians has been the result of human works. The more we try to work for the Lord, the more trouble we shall create and the more damage we shall cause. I believe this is the reason that Paul, when presenting the confirmation of his ministry, uses the name Jesus. He does not say, “The Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Instead, he speaks simply of Jesus: the putting to death of Jesus, the life of Jesus, and Jesus’ sake. The life that was manifested in Paul’s body was not the life of a great man. It was the life of Jesus, a little-known man from a despised region.
In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul does not boast of his work. He does not say, “Corinthians, you must realize that I am the foremost apostle. I have established churches all the way from Cyprus to Corinth. I am ready to go further: to Rome, to Spain, and then to the uttermost part of the earth. This is the confirmation of the ministry which the Lord has committed to me.”
Instead of talking about his work and accomplishments, Paul speaks of affliction. In verse 8 he says, “We are afflicted in every way.” If we had been Paul, we probably would have said, “Corinthians, we are blessed in every way. Don’t you realize that our work has been blessed by the Lord? This blessing on our work proves that our ministry is of the Lord and that our work is of Him.”
Paul told the Corinthians that he and his co-workers were afflicted in every way. Worldly people would regard this as a sign of being cursed, not of being blessed. They would ask, “How could you be blessed by God if you are afflicted? Why are you being afflicted from every side?” But Paul went on to speak about being perplexed, persecuted, and cast down. Some would give Paul credit for being persecuted, for that may indicate that he was doing a good work. But they would not give him credit for afflictions, perplexity, and being cast down.
Paul does not stop with the description recorded in verses 8 and 9. In verse 10 he continues, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body.” In this verse Paul does not say, “Always bearing about in the body the great blessing of the mighty God.” Instead, he speaks of bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus. Seemingly Paul was a pitiful apostle in a pitiful situation.
In verse 11 Paul goes on to say, “For we who live are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our mortal flesh.” Perhaps we would expect Paul to say, “being rescued from death,” instead of being delivered unto death. Paul, however, was always being delivered unto death so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in his mortal flesh.
Notice that here Paul does not speak of mortal body, but of mortal flesh. The word body is positive, but the word flesh is negative. Mortal implies that the flesh is dying. I do not think we would be happy if someone referred to our body as mortal flesh. Nevertheless, Paul adopted such an expression in speaking of himself.
Paul did not like to boast. He preferred to be small and to remain in a lowly state. In fact, the name Paul means little. In these verses Paul seems to be saying, “I prefer to stay in my smallness. The life manifested in me is the life of a Nazarene, not the life of a great man in the world. Moreover, the life of Jesus is manifested in my mortal flesh. I am not a great person manifesting something marvelous in a splendid body. No, I am a small person manifesting the life of Jesus, a man from Nazareth, in my mortal flesh.”
In verse 12 Paul says, “So then death operates in us, but life in you.” In this verse Paul does refer to his work. His work was a work of death operating in him. What is the work of the apostles? The work of the apostles is the work of death operating in them so that life may operate in the believers.
It may not sound pleasant to us to hear of death operating in the apostles. But the issue, the result, of this operation of death is wonderful — it is life in others. This is the real work of the new covenant ministry. It is not a matter of working; it is a matter of dying. In the Lord’s recovery we need to die so that life may work in others. Hence, our dying is our working. The Lord does not need you to accomplish a work for Him. He needs you to die. If you die, life will work in others. You will minister life to others by dying. Therefore, our work is to be put to death.
The verses we have considered in this message are a window through which we can see into Paul’s experience. Now we can understand that the apostles were not followers of a great person, but of a small man, Jesus of Nazareth. Furthermore, instead of being exalted, they were always being put to death so that the life of Jesus could be manifested in their mortal flesh. Death operated in them so that life might operate in the believers.
