Wednesday, May 3
"8 We don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia. We were completely overwhelmed — beyond our strength — so that we even despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again..."
2 Corinthians 1:8-10
Sentence of Death
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 highlights God's deliverance of Paul from the affliction that Paul underwent in Asia. Paul mentioned this experience in 1 Corinthians 15:31, which we looked at yesterday.Paul's description of his affliction is intense. Let's look at verses 8 and 9. He describes the experience of affliction as being:
- "completely overwhelming"(v.8)
- "beyond our strength"(v.8)
- "despairing life itself"(v.8)
- "feels like a sentence of death"(v.9)
At the halfway point of verse 9, Paul pivots his tone as he states that this forced them not to trust in OURSELVES but in GOD, WHO RAISES THE DEAD. The despair experienced by Paul and his comrades was so intense they could not rest in their own efforts to escape or improve their situation but instead had to rely on God.The reality is we all face a sentence of death. While it may not be by the hand of another person or a pack of beasts like Paul, every human on the planet must face death. The tendency is to trust in ourselves and to do all we can to put off death and decay. Sometimes this looks like the proper fitness program, anti-aging cream, or the motorcycle to make us feel young again. We'd rather not think about death because any time a person on their own stands against death, they lose.But Jesus Christ has defeated death.He has stood before and beneath a sentence of death and walked out the other side. As we trust in Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection, we put our hope in Him that he will deliver us from the sentence of death. We know that he was resurrected, and so we face the sentence of death with confidence knowing that we will be resurrected as well.
