"For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God." - 2 Corinthians 4:15
Notice the progression in our Fighter Verse this week: Grace brings thanksgiving which brings glory to God.
Now notice that at the beginning of the verse is this word “it.” The progression is “It” brings “grace” which brings “thanksgiving” which brings “glory to God.”
So what is “It?”
To answer this you would need to go back and read 2 Corinthians 4. The “it” that Paul is referring to is the preaching and the consequent suffering that he is experiencing for “their sake.” In 2 Corinthians 4:12 Paul says, “death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
Paul says that what keeps him going, keeps him preaching and suffering along the way is his faith in the resurrection (4:14). He knows that his ministry and his suffering are temporary. That one day Christ will raise the dead and all of the suffering will be ended.
How does the truth of the resurrection motivate him?
He seems to live with all out abandon for Jesus. He is almost fearless. He ministers with such passion and faithfulness because he knows that this life is short and the “sufferings are light and momentary.”
But he is also motivated by something much bigger than himself- the glory of God. Paul lives his life as a vessel of God’s grace so that the people of Corinth would experience grace. And so that this grace would result in outward thanksgiving to God. As people outwardly express thanksgiving to God, he is glorified.
Some questions:
1. Does the glory of God motivate your life? What does? Does the truth of the resurrection make you fearless?
2. Do you live your life to the glory of God as a minister in word and deed so as to express the grace of God to others?
3. Are you aware of God’s grace in your life? Do you resist this Grace?
4. Do you express thanksgiving to God publicly and verbally so as to bring glory to God?
