Description
The meditation today is on 2 Corinthians 1:18-9. Paul felt as though he were facing death, and then he realised: God raises the … (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Writing to the Corinthian church, Paul says this, 2 Corinthians 1 verses 8 to 9. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.
This seems like a, quite a heavy, bleak pair of verses, doesn’t it? Paul is talking about how he and his co workers, his brothers and sisters in the faith, have been so ground down by all that they experienced at the hands of the Jews, at the hands of the Romans, at the hands even, maybe, of other Christians.
They came to the point of despair, despairing of life itself. And then there’s this incredible turnaround at the end of this quote. But that was to make us rely, not on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.
So having got to the edge, having got to that point of feeling like he couldn’t go on, he realised that what he needed to do was to turn his face to God, to rely on God, and to remember that God raises the dead. If we feel like we’re dead or dying, take heart. That is exactly where God ministers.
Thank you, Almighty Father. That you are a God that raises the dead. That sometimes you raise the dead in this life, but certainly you raise the dead at the Resurrection, when your son comes again. What a powerful God you are. Amen.
