FROM DEATH TO LIFE (9 OF 23)
by Keith Krell
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15
This content is part of a series.
Title: From Death to Life (9 of 23)
Series: Suffer with Purpose.
Author: Keith Krell
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15
In the United States, we have a collective obsession. It's winning! The military general George C. Patton said, "Americans love a winner. America will not tolerate a loser." In the Olympics, we only track how many gold medals American athletes win. We are obsessed. We love winners! And we all want to be winners. When we listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, and listen to social media influencers, we only follow winners or success stories. Businesses that turn a vast profit are known as winning companies. CEOs who lead those organizations are described as winners. We believe that winners should make a lot of money, be celebrated, and be emulated as long as they win at all they do.
And if we can't be winners ourselves, we want to be associated with winners. That's why this month millions of people will fill out brackets during March Madness. It's true for every area of our lives. We want our team to win, our politician to win, our family to win, our business to win, and even our church to win. We love winners and have a hard time accepting losers. But here's the hard question. Does God prefer winners? What is His perspective on winning and losing, success and failure? The apostle Paul answers this uncomfortable question in 2 Cor 4:7-15 when he provides two certainties that will help usbetter understand God's ways.
1. Our suffering is God's strategy (4:7-12). We are not strong. We are fragile and ordinary. In 4:7a, Paul writes, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." In this context, "we" includes not only Paul and his coworkers but also, by extension, all believers. We steward and guard this treasure. The "treasure" is God's glory revealed in the gospel as seen in 4:6. Paul says that this "treasure" is placed in "earthen vessels" or "jars of clay." If you listened to Christian music in the 90s, you remember the band "Jars of Cla ...
Series: Suffer with Purpose.
Author: Keith Krell
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15
In the United States, we have a collective obsession. It's winning! The military general George C. Patton said, "Americans love a winner. America will not tolerate a loser." In the Olympics, we only track how many gold medals American athletes win. We are obsessed. We love winners! And we all want to be winners. When we listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, and listen to social media influencers, we only follow winners or success stories. Businesses that turn a vast profit are known as winning companies. CEOs who lead those organizations are described as winners. We believe that winners should make a lot of money, be celebrated, and be emulated as long as they win at all they do.
And if we can't be winners ourselves, we want to be associated with winners. That's why this month millions of people will fill out brackets during March Madness. It's true for every area of our lives. We want our team to win, our politician to win, our family to win, our business to win, and even our church to win. We love winners and have a hard time accepting losers. But here's the hard question. Does God prefer winners? What is His perspective on winning and losing, success and failure? The apostle Paul answers this uncomfortable question in 2 Cor 4:7-15 when he provides two certainties that will help usbetter understand God's ways.
1. Our suffering is God's strategy (4:7-12). We are not strong. We are fragile and ordinary. In 4:7a, Paul writes, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." In this context, "we" includes not only Paul and his coworkers but also, by extension, all believers. We steward and guard this treasure. The "treasure" is God's glory revealed in the gospel as seen in 4:6. Paul says that this "treasure" is placed in "earthen vessels" or "jars of clay." If you listened to Christian music in the 90s, you remember the band "Jars of Cla ...
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