Post by Cindy on Feb 11, 2019 12:01:13 GMT -5
Certain verses have been really impressing themselves on me lately and I thought I'd like to do a different kind of Bible study with them. Most of them are from a passage in 2 Corinthians 4 and go together, with just a few others that relate to that passage thrown in for good measure. Of course if anyone else wants to join in, they're welcome to. For now i figure it would help me to just get it all written down in one place. So don't feel like you have to join in if you're not interested, but I'll try to write this in a way others beside me can understand.
So what I'd like to do is take one verse each day and just spend time reflecting and praying on it and what it means. Both what Paul meant when he wrote it, and what it means to me in my life today and how I can apply it to my life. Of course we can also look at commentaries, dictionaries or whatever else we want to as well. But I think we'll get the most out of it through mediation and prayer.
Then, after going through all the verses that way, I'd like to put them back together and see what they mean in context and again how I can apply them to my life. Part of the reason for this is that the first verse is pretty complex so it took me awhile to work it out, and in order to do so I had to add a few other verses. I think you'll see what I mean when you see the first verse. By the way, the reason I came up with these verses is because they jumped out at me and wouldn't leave me alone lol. So I made them memory verses and have since memorized them all. But I'm still working on having a better understanding of them.
If anyone has another idea of how I (we) could do a study on them, I'd love to hear it!
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
What got me about this verse is the word "light". I could understand God shining His light in our hearts, but then I came to Him giving us the "light of the knowledge..." So this is why I had to add other verses to this, but I'll add them at the end so you'll have all the original verses first.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) I just love this verse as it shows us that this is a treasure we have and that God has given us "all surpassing power", which we generally don't acknowledge, much less use!
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9) Boy, this has described my life lately! After these two verses, I skipped down to verse 16 as I didn't think I could memorize the entire thing:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) If Paul can call what he went through "light and momentary" then everyone can! If you're not aware of what he went through, here's where he tells about some of it: 2 Corinthians 1:8–10, and 2 Corinthians 11:23–33. Also 2 Corinthians 6:4–10
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
So I added these verses to help get at the meanings and memorized them too. First:
“And we, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
This is mainly the NASB translation of the verse. I say "mainly" because the last part, "which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" is the way the NIV, NET, HCSB, and ESV translate it. It also helps to read the verses that come just before this one:
I'm going to share a few others as I've already been doing this and these came to mind as a help to understand the ones above:
Veil or unveiled:
“We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:13–18)
“When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.” (Exodus 34:33–35)
Light, knowledge:
If we go back a couple of verses before our first one of 2 Cor 4:6, it says: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:1–4)
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)
““Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:1–2)
“to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” (Acts 26:18)
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)
“He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” (Matthew 13:11)
Reflection, mirror, see
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
riches, treasure, power, knowledge, glory
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16–21)
“and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,” (Ephesians 1:19–20)
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,” (Philippians 3:10)
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2–3)
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)
“He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”” (Matthew 13:52)
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) I know I already listed this one, but it covers more then one area.
transformed, renewed
“Do not conform any longer 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.” (Romans 12:2)
“and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:10)
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22–24)
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20–21)
So what I'd like to do is take one verse each day and just spend time reflecting and praying on it and what it means. Both what Paul meant when he wrote it, and what it means to me in my life today and how I can apply it to my life. Of course we can also look at commentaries, dictionaries or whatever else we want to as well. But I think we'll get the most out of it through mediation and prayer.
Then, after going through all the verses that way, I'd like to put them back together and see what they mean in context and again how I can apply them to my life. Part of the reason for this is that the first verse is pretty complex so it took me awhile to work it out, and in order to do so I had to add a few other verses. I think you'll see what I mean when you see the first verse. By the way, the reason I came up with these verses is because they jumped out at me and wouldn't leave me alone lol. So I made them memory verses and have since memorized them all. But I'm still working on having a better understanding of them.
If anyone has another idea of how I (we) could do a study on them, I'd love to hear it!
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
What got me about this verse is the word "light". I could understand God shining His light in our hearts, but then I came to Him giving us the "light of the knowledge..." So this is why I had to add other verses to this, but I'll add them at the end so you'll have all the original verses first.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) I just love this verse as it shows us that this is a treasure we have and that God has given us "all surpassing power", which we generally don't acknowledge, much less use!
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9) Boy, this has described my life lately! After these two verses, I skipped down to verse 16 as I didn't think I could memorize the entire thing:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) If Paul can call what he went through "light and momentary" then everyone can! If you're not aware of what he went through, here's where he tells about some of it: 2 Corinthians 1:8–10, and 2 Corinthians 11:23–33. Also 2 Corinthians 6:4–10
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
So I added these verses to help get at the meanings and memorized them too. First:
“And we, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
This is mainly the NASB translation of the verse. I say "mainly" because the last part, "which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" is the way the NIV, NET, HCSB, and ESV translate it. It also helps to read the verses that come just before this one:
I'm going to share a few others as I've already been doing this and these came to mind as a help to understand the ones above:
Veil or unveiled:
“We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:13–18)
“When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.” (Exodus 34:33–35)
Light, knowledge:
If we go back a couple of verses before our first one of 2 Cor 4:6, it says: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:1–4)
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)
““Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:1–2)
“to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” (Acts 26:18)
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)
“He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” (Matthew 13:11)
Reflection, mirror, see
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
riches, treasure, power, knowledge, glory
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16–21)
“and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,” (Ephesians 1:19–20)
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,” (Philippians 3:10)
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2–3)
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)
“He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”” (Matthew 13:52)
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) I know I already listed this one, but it covers more then one area.
transformed, renewed
“Do not conform any longer 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.” (Romans 12:2)
“and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:10)
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22–24)
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20–21)
!!
