Verse By Verse Devotional by Pastor Jack on 2 Corinthians #103

Death Brings Life, Every Day (4:11)

4:8-11 "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 FOR WE WHO LIVE ARE CONSTANTLY BEING DELIVERED OVER TO DEATH FOR JESUS’ SAKE, SO THAT THE LIFE OF JESUS ALSO MAY BE MANIFESTED IN OUR MORTAL FLESH."

The next verse in this remarkable passage basically repeats what was said in verse 10. It certainly confirms the meaning of what Paul has been saying. However, there are two nuances reaffirmed here we have not yet noted:

(1) Death is constant for the Christian.

"We who live are CONSTANTLY being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake" just as in v.10 Paul had said that we are "ALWAYS carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus." This dying that Paul refers to is not an occasional thing. Jesus said His disciple must "take up his cross DAILY and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). Often we think that someday we might be called upon to die for Jesus, but the fact is that He calls us to die for Him every day!

God wants us to wake up each morning and remember that He is going to deliver us over to death that day. And He wants us to say, "Lord, I am ready to die for You; I am ready to die to my pleasures and my comforts and my pride and my plans and ambitions. I am ready to die to myself."

(2) Life comes as a result of the death.

Here is the basis for our willingness to die: because it leads to life! We are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake SO THAT the life of Jesus may be manifested in us. We can’t taste of His resurrection power unless we first drink of His crucifixion suffering. We can’t enter into His triumph unless we first participate in His torment. No cross, no crown. No pain, no gain.

Just as Jesus was given a name above every other name as a result of His humiliation, the follower of Jesus will likewise achieve glory by means of suffering. But it is not merely a suffer-now/glory-later arrangement. The "life of Jesus" spoken of here is manifested in the here-and-now, not just in the there-and-then. We partake of Christ’s life through the Holy Spirit AS WE GO through the wilderness of this life. He is the manna we feed upon (John 6:32-35; 41-42, 48-51); He is the rock we drink from (1Cor.10:4); He is the One who makes our sandals not wear out (Deut.29:5); He is the One who leads us by the fiery pillar of His Spirit (Gal.5:18).

O Father, may Your Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwell mightily in me, so that He will also give life to my mortal body, displaying Your power and grace in the midst of this dry and barren world. May His life be seen in my life; may His power shine in my weakness.