Enlightenment, Part 4
It is God Who Enlightens
2 Corinthians 4v3-6
5th March 2015
In his discussion of the ministry of enlightenment in 2 Corinthians, Chapters 3 and 4, Paul says:
2 Corinthians 4v3-4
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
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.
Paul dedicated his life to helping others, through his actions and his words, to experience the same enlightenment as he had received from God, so they might find Jesus Christ for themselves. And God calls all of us who believe in Jesus to the same ministry.
It can be discouraging and painful when someone rejects our message of peace and hope in Jesus Christ. We can feel like giving up. We can feel too tired and too bruised to keep going. But as Paul said in the prevous verse, we do not lose heart. This ministry which we all share is too important. As Paul said in another letter, "let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6v9).
Paul handled the disappointment he felt when people rejected the Good News of the kingdom of God by reminding himself that even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. Some people can't understand the Gospel. We can preach the Gospel with integrity and with clarity, and some people still won't understand. They can't understand it because, for them, the Gospel is veiled. They've been blinded to it.
Many people are perishing, because they haven't accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, repented of their sins, believed in His redeeming blood, and been born again. These people can't understand the message. On the other hand, they haven't been born again because they haven't understood the message.
If you can't you can't be born again until you've understood the message, and you can't understand the message because you've been blinded to it, then what hope is there? How can anybody be saved? Paul gives us two answers to this question, and they're both important.
2 Corinthians 4v5-6
For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus'
sake.
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.
Firstly, Paul says that the Good News is not about him - or us - or the church. We're not inviting the people who are perishing to come to ourselves, or to church; we're inviting them to come to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. It's true that we or our church may help them find Christ for themselves, but we're a means to an end. Christ is the end. The church, when it works well, is a community that helps others to find Jesus. But many non-Christians are put off our message because we seem to be more interested in adding them to our congregation than in helping them to find Christ, the real answer to their needs.
Secondly, Paul explains in a very beautiful sentance that the God who created light and made the universe, 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. No-one can understand the Gospel until God flicks a switch in their hearts that turns on a light to show them the truth.
We can preach, and witness, and serve, and pray until we're blue in the face, but only God can illuminate the human heart to the point where a person understands that Jesus is Lord, that He died to pay for their sins, that He rose from the dead, and that through repentance and faith they can become children of God, alive for ever in the love of Almighty God.
To those who have been enlightened, these things are obvious. To those that haven't, they make no sense at all. Until God shines His light in their hearts.