Verse By Verse Devotional by Pastor Jack on 2 Corinthians #112

A Decaying Outer Man (4:16)

4:16 "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though OUR OUTER MAN IS DECAYING, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day."

We don’t want to hear it. Our whole society is in rebellion against it. But no matter how much we resist it, it is true: Our outer man is decaying. We live in cursed bodies in a cursed world. Sickness, injury, breakdown, deterioration, wearing out with use. Loss of eyesight, loss of strength, (loss of hair?). They are a part, and always will be a part of our earthly existence. We are dying. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned we have been dying in fulfillment of God’s warning (Gen. 2:17). And the older we get, the more we decay.

Why? Why would God allow those whom He loves to decay? Because He is preparing us for a better home. As our earthly tent wears out, God is preparing our inner man for a change of address. We are moving to heaven! Outward decay is designed to turn our hearts away from this world and onto the next. As we age we become less and less equipped for life here on this earth, and more and more equipped for life in heaven.

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,

Or if due to strength, eighty years,

Yet their pride is labor and sorrow;

For soon it is gone and we fly away.

(Psalm 90:10)

"I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:2-3)

I praise You, dear Father, that You are preparing me for a better place than this. I praise You that You love me enough to let me suffer disappointment with this world, in order that I might begin to yearn for heaven. I thank You that one day You will wipe away every tear from our eyes; and there will no longer be any death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. Help me to face decay here buoyed by the hope of what is to come and what You are doing in my heart to prepare me for it.