What is the meaning of 2 Corinthians 4:18? So we fix our eyes “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outward self is wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Colossians 4:16). Paul’s “so” links right back to that. • Fixing our eyes is an intentional, ongoing choice—like “setting our minds on things above” (Colossians 3:1-2). • It’s not merely a glance; it’s a steady gaze, echoing Psalm 123:2, “As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master … so our eyes look to the LORD our God.” Not on what is seen The visible world includes our frail bodies, daily troubles, and everything culture calls impressive. Yet Scripture warns, “The world is passing away along with its desires” (1 John 2:17). • Paul’s own hardships—shipwrecks, imprisonments, beatings (2 Colossians 11:23-27)—were painfully “seen,” but he refused to let them dominate his field of vision. • Hebrews 12:2 invites the same redirection: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” But on what is unseen • The unseen is the realm where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1), where believers already possess “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:3). • It includes God’s ongoing work in us—“being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Colossians 3:18)—and the glory to be revealed (Romans 8:18). • Faith itself operates here: “Faith is the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). For what is seen is temporary • Everything tangible is “like grass” that withers (1 Peter 1:24). • Our present sufferings are called “light and momentary affliction” that “is producing for us an eternal weight of glory” (2 Colossians 4:17). • Even our physical bodies are tents to be folded up, awaiting a building from God (2 Corinthians 5:1). But what is unseen is eternal • God’s character, promises, and kingdom are unshakeable (Hebrews 12:28). • Our inheritance is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4). • Eternal life starts now (John 17:3) and reaches fullness in the “new heaven and new earth” (Revelation 21:1). summary 2 Corinthians 4:18 urges a deliberate shift of focus—from the passing and painful to the permanent and glorious. By fixing our eyes on the unseen realities of Christ’s kingdom, we gain courage for today’s trials and confidence in tomorrow’s resurrection glory. |
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