2 Corinthians 4:1-4 - "Christ's Glory Revealed"

2 Corinthians 4:1-4

"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

Here, the apostle sets before us the Glory of Christ revealed, a Glory far surpassing that of the old covenant. The old covenant had its own glory because it was of God. It showed His Holiness, His Justice, and the sinfulness of man. Yet it was a picture book—type, prophecy, promise—beautiful, but nothing like the real thing. Christ is the Substance of all those shadows, and in Him the veil is taken away. As Paul said, "their minds were blinded, for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ" (2 Corinthians 3:14). Just as He caused the physically blind to see, so it is His alone to remove spiritual blindness.

Paul knew this in his own soul. He had been blinded in the reading of the Scriptures until it pleased God to reveal Christ in him (Galatians 1:15). That same Sovereign Revelation is the theme of this chapter: the Glory of Christ revealed in the Gospel. "Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received Mercy, we faint not" (v. 1).

• He preached boldly, not as a faint-hearted coward, but in the courage of one who knew he had been stopped on the road to destruction and brought to Christ by Grace alone.

• He preached humbly, confessing that all he knew of Christ was because he had received Mercy—undeserved, distinguishing Mercy.

• He preached honestly, renouncing the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling the Word of God deceitfully. There is no concealed gospel, no diluted message, no watering down of truth to make it palatable to the flesh. The manifestation of the Truth is the manifestation of Christ Himself.

• He preached openly and in integrity, commending himself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

• He preached before God, mindful that the Judge Who was ever present and presiding over every situation and forum for his preaching is the One Who sent him, and that the one testimony that honors the Father is the testimony of His Son.

Yet in all this clarity, why do so few believe? Paul answers: "if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost" (v.3). Lost describes sinners going away into destruction, born headed in the wrong direction, blinded in heart, unable to see the Light even when it shines. Some are lost in the sense of Luke 19:10, where "the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost". These are the sheep for whom Christ died, those given Him of the Father, chosen, redeemed, and in time called by the Spirit. They were under condemnation in Adam and under the law, yet in the death of Christ, they were justified, and in due time Christ is revealed in them.

But there is another category of lost—those judicially blinded. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, the KJV’s “god of this world” should be understood as God, not satan. Paul uses the same Greek term for God in verse 4 as in verse 3. The context shows Divine, judicial blindness: God sovereignly blinds the reprobate while opening the eyes of His elect. The God of this world, the God of this age, has blinded the minds of them who believe not. Not Satan as an independent power, but God Himself as Supreme Judge, giving eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear (Romans 11:8-10). Their eyes are darkened so that they will never see. They are vessels of wrath fitted to destruction (Romans 9:22). Left to themselves, they remain in the vanity of their mind, alienated from the life of God through the blindness of their heart (Ephesians 4:17-18).

But unto us which are saved—chosen, redeemed, and called—the preaching of the cross is the Power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). The Glory of Christ shines into the heart, revealing Who He is, why He came, what He accomplished, for whom He did it, and where He is now. Through the Gospel, God reveals His Son. And every sinner in whom Christ is revealed knows that this is how they learned Him: through the faithful preaching of the LORD Jesus Christ.