October 24, 2025 - 2 Corinthians 5-8

More jewels from 2 Corinthians.  “So we are always of good courage.  We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight” (5:6,7; One of the men at ReCenter, last evening, referenced this chapter and told how great a comfort it has been to him.).  And, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (5:17).  And, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (5:21).  And, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (7:1).  And how about:  “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (8:9).

I don’t want to suggest, and I certainly do not believe, that these verses in some way are more important than the rest of the epistle.  I’m just amazed at how many texts I have had greatest familiarity with over the years are found in 2 Corinthians.  Good stuff here as we look to all that God has prepared for us!

Lord, send a beam of light divine,

To guide our upward aim!

With one reviving touch of thine,

Our languid hearts inflame.

Then shall, on faith's sublimest wing,

Our ardent wishes rise

To those bright scenes, where pleasures spring

Immortal in the skies.   --Anne Steele (1799)