Ｊ
In his experience of God’s consuming and stripping, Paul said that our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory; eternal is in contrast to momentary, weight is in contrast to lightness, and glory is in contrast to affliction—2 Cor. 4:16-17; Rom. 8:28-29.
Ｋ
Job considered his suffering of affliction something very heavy, but Paul considered his affliction to be momentary and light; instead of caring about our affliction, we need to care for the increase of God as the weight of glory within us by our being transformed from one degree of glory to another; as long as we have more of God in us, this is what really matters—Acts 7:2; 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 2:19:
１
Like Paul, we are in an environment of suffering and pressure that works with the Spirit to kill our natural man; we should cooperate with the indwelling Spirit and accept the outward environment in our spirit, soul, and body, because we do not regard the things of temporary affliction which are seen but the things of the eternal glory which are not seen—Phil. 1:19-20; 2 Cor. 4:18; Heb. 11:1, 27; 2 Cor. 5:7.
２
We need to exercise our spirit to rejoice in the midst of our killing environment (Phil. 4:4); the Lord’s sovereignty is operating to put us under the killing of Christ’s death so that His life may be manifested in our body in the renewing of our inner man to make us as new as the New Jerusalem (2 Cor. 4:10-12, 16; 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Rev. 21:2, 5, 10).
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.16-17 Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory.
To us Christians there should be no thought of revenge or avenging ourselves….To forgive and forget others’ mistakes is the conformation to the death of Christ.
We have the capacity within us to do this, and this capacity is the power of resurrection….Within a small seed there is not only life but also resurrection. If that seed falls into the earth and dies, a sprout will eventually rise up from underneath the earth. That is the power of resurrection. We are like small seeds. The more we are put into death, the more we have the expression of the power of resurrection. This is why we like to forgive people and forget their mistakes. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” pp. 492-493)
Today’s Reading
Through our sufferings, we have the opportunity to gain more of God. Eventually, after passing through many sufferings, we have more of God in us. As long as we have more of God, this is what really matters.For [Paul], to live was Christ, and to live Christ was to magnify Christ (Phil. 1:20-21a). Even when he was in a Roman prison, he did not want to be put to shame…. Even when he was in prison, people saw Christ in him. The manifested Christ is the life that comes out of the killing of Christ. This is what it means to live and walk under the crucifixion of Christ.
If the Christian life were merely a happy life, the apostle Paul would not have needed to charge us to rejoice (Phil. 4:4). While we are suffering and wiping away our tears, we should rejoice. In order to weep, we do not need any kind of encouragement. Paul does not charge us to weep in the Lord, but he does charge us to rejoice in the Lord. If we do not exercise our spirit to rejoice in the midst of our killing environment, we cannot have any joy.
God in His sovereignty is putting us all the time under the killing of the cross. The apostle Paul was under the killing of the cross, and so are we….This is God’s divine arrangement. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” pp. 493, 481-482)
When all of the Lord’s children pass through the process of renewing to become the New Jerusalem, they will be in a state of being fully renewed. The holy city is called the New Jerusalem because it has no old element of God’s old creation. As we pass through afflictions, there needs to be a continual renewing taking place in us day by day so that God can accomplish His heart’s desire. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day,” p. 363)
In every situation related to our daily living, we need to ask ourselves whether we are living by the divine life or by our natural life. If we do this, quite often we will realize that we are living by our natural life, our self. At such times we need to go to the cross (Luke 9:23). To go to the cross is to be conformed to the death of Christ….We are those who have been chosen, called, and sanctified by God to do His will. Doing the will of God is altogether a suffering to our natural life. Moreover, we are those who have been saved, regenerated, and separated to live not by our natural life but by the divine life….We like to do things by ourselves. To do something not by our life but by the life of another is a suffering. This is the Christian life. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” p. 500)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life,” chs. 15-16; CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day,” ch. 2