2 Corinthians 4:1-6

2 Corinthians 4:1-6  Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.  Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.  On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 

If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  Many religious people want to hear another gospel rather than believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved.  Others, more secular people, put their trust in science rather than religion, believing the origin of all things rests with the probabilities of nature rather than with God.  They very much think this "Jesus thing" is for the weak.  But both groups of people have been blinded by the god of this age.  Neither camp likes the word "saved."  They would much rather believe in good acts and bad acts, good people and bad people.  Of course, they almost always categorize themselves as one of the "good" people.  When God escorted Adam and Eve out of the garden, bad things began to happen.  Bad things happened to them.  Cain slew Abel.  Adam's son killed his brother.  From that day on, sin has manifested itself in mankind.  As the Bible indicates, we are ALL SINNERS.  We have all gone our own way, manifesting self-will, self-interest, and self-desires to the detriment of others--deception and cruelty became part of our nature.  

In today's passage Paul says that he does not preach himself, his works, but the works of Christ.  He preaches that light has come into the world, and that light can enter into our hearts through faith in Jesus Christ.  By knowing Jesus we can know the glory of God, his nature and likeness.  By knowing Jesus we can have eternal life.  There is no other gospel!  We might try to make a gospel of good works, but we will never enter into the kingdom of God through good works.  That is like little children with mud-caked hands trying to clean dirt off their clothes.  They will never be successful, their clothes will always be dirty.  Christ has made us servants to others, but in the flesh we will never be able to heal their souls or to provide an eternal resting place for them.  The best that we can do is to make each other's journey on Earth a little less difficult, but we can never forgive sins or reclaim a person's soul to God.  That can only come through faith in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.  

Some people pick and choose what they want to believe from the Bible.  Many times they'll choose the practical, that which is easily understood, but will eliminate the supernatural from the scriptures.  Thomas Jefferson did that: all supernatural events were literally excluded in his Bible.  But the Word of God is supernatural even in the practical scenes that we understand such as the story of the prodigal son.  The supernatural aspect of that story far exceeds the natural applications, for that story is referring to God receiving wayward humanity back into his eternal gracious existence if people will only repent and return to him.  As with the earthly father in that story, our heavenly Father is constantly looking down the road to see if his beloved creation will return to him.  When he was in the pig stye, the son said by faith, "My father will receive me if I return."  And this is still true today: God will receive us no matter who we are if we will return to him THROUGH THE DOOR, WHICH IS FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.  This is the gospel; this is the WORD OF GOD.  As Peter said in Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.  The gospel is specifically Jesus Christ: there is no other door, no other religion, no other faith.  In him alone is life eternal.  Don't let any circumstance, any knowledge, any man, blind you to that knowledge.