2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
The Bible clearly states there is one race, the human race, divided in two categories of people; human beings outside of Christ who need spiritual life from Him and those in Christ who have received spiritual life from Him. There is something else that distinguishes the two categories of people in the human race. Those outside of Christ only think and live for this world. Those in Christ know they are part of two worlds – this temporary one and the fast-approaching eternal world. But here is the danger facing the latter group. We may have received life from Christ, yet easily fall back into living like the unsaved category. Or to borrow the term penned by the pastor and great hymn writer of the 17th century, John Newton, he called worldly Christians, “unbelieving believers” who have forgotten the unseen and eternal world.
In today’s scripture, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the two worlds as well. He would identify the world of the seen and felt which is transient, and the unseen, real, eternal world. Our Lord Jesus made this distinction Himself in His dialogue with Pontius Pilate – So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:33-36).
The application for us is to live in both worlds at the same time, just as Jesus did. Now I know the challenge. It is easy to say, “But life is full and hard. I cannot possibly live such a life.” We can and must. And it begins with our thinking. As we think, so we live, and the more we think about where our true lives exist – the unseen and eternal world – the more we will live honoring to the Lord in this transient world. Meditate on these words of the Apostle Paul directing us to having our mind centered on the unseen and eternal world as we live in this temporary world – If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4). May the Lord help us live as He would have us; focused on the next world as we live for Him in this one.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to live as I really am . . . a child of God in the world heading for the next world.”
QUOTE: “Don’t be deceived to live more for this temporary world than the fast-approaching eternal world.”