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certainty of resurrection to follow with a glorious presentation in the presence of God and
eternal life to follow:
"Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also with Jesus,
and shall present us with you" (4: 14 R.V.).
The grand truth of resurrection is going to dominate the section which follows right
into chapter 5: If this is not perceived, then the clue will have been lost to this
wonderful passage with its reference to being `clothed upon' that mortality may be
swallowed up of (resurrection) life. `All things', cries the Apostle, `are for your sakes'
and ultimately for the Lord's sake, because the more people who come to know the
saving grace of God through the gospel Paul preached, the more there will be to render
thanksgiving to Him and the greater the praise He will receive (verse 15).
In view of all this Paul does not faint or lose heart, even though his external self, his
`mortal flesh', is decaying, the `inward man', the divine new nature, implanted in him at
salvation by the Lord, `is renewed day by day' (verse 16). This is a firstfruits of the glory
yet to be and as he contemplates it, the Apostle's present sufferings and trials seem to
fade away and be not worthy of comparison, so great is the glory lying ahead in
resurrection. Viewed from any other angle, his sufferings would appear overwhelming
and far from temporary. As Hodge remarks, `it was only by bringing these sufferings
into comparison with eternal glory that they dwindled into insignificance'.
"For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more
exceedingly an eternal weight of glory: while we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the
things which are not seen are eternal" (4: 17, 18 R.V.).
In view of the heavy weight of glory, the present afflictions seem not only light, but
very temporary. "While we look", are the important words. If our vision is in the wrong
direction, then the present difficulties will doubtless appear overwhelming. If however
we look to what God is keeping and reserving for us in the life to come, then they fade
away to nothing. Paul uses tremendous language here. Hyperbole, `exceeding' is used
twice. He seems almost to exhaust language in this great crescendo of superlatives. We
end with the translations of Goodspeed and Moffatt:
"For this slight, momentary trouble is piling up for me an eternal blessedness beyond
comparison, because I keep my eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is
seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal" (4: 17, 18, E. J. Goodspeed).
"The slight trouble of the passing hour results in a solid glory past all comparison, for
those of us whose eyes are on the unseen, not on the seen; for the seen is transient, the
unseen eternal" (4: 17, 18, J. Moffatt).