2 Corinthians 4:18

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

“SINCE WHAT IS SEEN IS TEMPORARY”

“TEMPORARY” This world and our life in it is temporary. Most of you were born in the 21st century, post-2000. I look at just how much technology has changed since 2000. In 2000, we connected to the Internet through a phone dial-up via a desktop computer that took several minutes just to load a web page. You would dial-up your connection and walk away from the computer for 5 or 10 minutes until your web browser loaded on your computer. That was not that long ago, and  I know, hard for you to imagine when you have a phone in your hand today that allows you to instantly watch a movie or a TV show. That was unimaginable in 2000.

As believers, we have to recognize that the things of this world are temporary and are going to change. The challenges you deal with today will not be the challenges you will deal with five years from now. God is our constant. He never changes. His truths are still the truths today as they were 2,000 years ago. His love for us is as strong today as it was when we were born and will remain as strong in the future. I hope as you reflect on these words that you recognize that our focus and that our confidence cannot be found in the temporary things of the world.

2 Corinthians 4:18

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Vision – the faculty or state of being able to see. Something that you imagine : a picture that you see in your mind. Something that you see or dream especially as part of a religious or supernatural experience. This is the Merriam-Webster definition of vision.

“BUT ON WHAT IS UNSEEN” This is our focus today. When we focus on the “UNSEEN” we focus on the spiritual and deepen our vision on Christ. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” If we believe God loves us deeply, then doesn’t it make sense that He wants the best for us in this life? God wants to guide us in our decisions, but the world wants to distract us. For us to know and embrace God’s perfect will for our lives, we have to change our focus on the things that are unseen. I hope you will reflect on this today as you study these words.

2 Corinthians 4:18

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Now we add the next part of the opening of this verse- “NOT ON WHAT IS SEEN”. Today I want us to reflect on ALL the things we see each day. How do these words speak to you in your life? As I pointed out yesterday, we are fixing our eyes (attention) on many things. I hope this verse is speaking to all of us about our thought life and our distractions that keep us from fixing our eyes on Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:18 “Fixing Our Eyes on Things Eternal”

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Our journey and progression through the scriptures has revealed to us an initial insight of the essence of Christ; the Word is eternal, the Word was with the Father, the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. Jesus declared he is the way and the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. We can do all things through Him because He strengthens us. He is the vine and we are the branches. If we remain in Him and Him in each of us we will bear much fruit, and apart from Him we can do nothing.

We have also learned what our part is in growing and staying close to Him. We need to be still and know that He is God. Our Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. In order for us to grow in our faith we can no longer conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. When we do this, our faith grows and Jesus reveals Himself more and more to us so that we are able to test and approve His perfect will and through this our faith is further strengthened.

And so we come to our new verse- “SO WE FIX OUR EYES NOT ON WHAT IS SEEN, BUT ON WHAT IS UNSEEN, SINCE WHAT IS SEEN IS TEMPORARY, BUT WHAT IS UNSEEN IS ETERNAL.” Our daily transformation happens through our assurance in what we do not see and moves us from thoughts of the world to thoughts of the spirit. We will begin our study of this verse with the opening – “SO WE FIX OUR EYES”. Let’s meditate today on where we fix our attention (“eyes”) during the day. What thoughts are keeping us from connecting with Jesus? God never changes. We are either moving closer to Him in our thought life, or we are moving away from Him.

 

Verse Recap

Greetings sons’ and daughters’ of God! I wanted to give a recap of where we have been thus far. Below are the verses we have studied since the inception of Bible Verse Text Group:

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”

Psalm 46:10 “He says, ‘Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The Authenticity of the Word

This weekend we are going to take a break from our verse memorization. Instead, let’s look at the authenticity of the Bible. A lot of people question if the words in the Bible are actually the words that were penned by the original 40 writers of the books of the Bible.

In his book Reliable Truth: The Validity of the Bible in an Age of Skepticism, author Richard E. Simmons does an exhaustive research of the origins of the Bible and the basis of its authenticity. Simmons writes, “Scholars who study ancient history will tell you that in order to test the validity of any ancient literary work you have to consider two criteria. First, is to look at how many manuscripts exist, hand-written, prior to the invention of the printing press. The second is determining the time span between the writing of the original manuscript and comparing it to the oldest copy that we have today.”

Here’s the conclusion: If you look at the most notable ancient writers, the short list would include Plato, Aristotle, and Homer. Plato’s most noted work is Plato’s Republic. No scholar today would question the validity of Plato’s Republic, yet all we have are 7 manuscripts. There are 49 manuscripts of Aristotle’s works, 643 manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad. But there are 24,ooo manuscripts of the New Testament!

Now that should be compelling to anyone, but there’s more. Scholars who have studied the 24,000 manuscripts  have determined that the Bible we read today is 99.5% accurate to the original manuscripts! And the 0.5% in question do not affect a single doctrine. The words you read, the verses we memorize, although translated, are the same words that were penned two thousand years or longer ago.

There are a lot of people today who question the validity of the Bible, and you are likely to meet some of those people in the years ahead. Let me leave you with this:

James Agresti, was an engineer who designed jet engines for many years. He was also a staunch atheist. He spent a year carefully reading the Bible, studying for its accuracy. This is what he concluded: “In summary, the evidence for the textual accuracy of the New Testament books is overwhelming. With the exception of about two paragraphs in the entire New Testament, the manuscript evidence is so strong, there is no rational basis for any kind of uncertainty over the substance of the text.”

Agresti became a Christian as a result of his study.

 

John 1:14 (Final Post)

“full of grace and truth.”

“FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH”. We end the week with the final words of John 1:14. Powerful words! He, Jesus, the Word, was full of grace and truth. He was the perfection of a servant’s heart, benevolent, and lead by the Father to heal the sick and broken. He was the perfection of truth, spending His time indiscriminately with all who would listen to declare the truth. False prophets preceded Him and false prophets have followed Him and dwell among us today, but Jesus was and is the way, the truth, and the life.

I hope you will take time today to soak in these words. Put these final words in the context of the complete verse -“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

“who came from the Father”

John reiterates that Jesus came from the Father. He was sent on a rescue mission, a mission to free the captives, a mission to deliver the truth, a mission to show God’s unbridled love. God had a plan. He had a plan to send His son on the ultimate rescue mission for man. God sent the Son to execute the perfect, sacrificial mission to reconcile us back to Him.

Today as you reflect on these words, is there a rescue mission that needs to be executed in your life? Is there someone in your life that needs a rescue? Do you need a rescue? Jesus is still on assignment, performing rescue missions in the lives of those who are broken. He’s waiting on your assignment if you will seek Him through your prayer and worship.

 

John 1:14

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

We took a break for a couple of days, but now we are going to get right back with our study. Hopefully, you have the first sentence of this verse committed to memory – “THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US.” More importantly, I hope you have taken some time to reflect on the meaning of this first sentence.

Now we look at the first part of the second sentence – “WE HAVE SEEN HIS GLORY”. Imagine for a moment what it must have been like for the disciples and the followers of Christ to “have seen His glory”! They were in His presence. They were communing with the Son. They were experiencing His essence. Wow! Think about it. In the 2,000 years since Christ has there been anyone else who has left a stronger impact on humanity? His name is renowned despite the world’s attempts today and over the ages to remove it from the lexicon.  Consider the words below from the Scottish theologian James Stewart, who wrote this over 100 years ago to describe how Christ and His message overcame the evil of the world:

It is a glorious phrase – “He led captivity captive.”

The very triumphs of His foes, it means, He used for their defeat. He compelled their dark achievements to subserve His end, not theirs. They nailed Him to the tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to His feet. They gave Him a cross, not guessing that He would make it a throne. They flung Him outside the gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment they were lifting up all the gates of the universe, to let the King come in. They thought to root out His doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy. They thought they had defeated God with His back to the wall, pinned and helpless and defeated: they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down. He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.