Bible Studies
The Resurrection, Demonstration of the Power of God (2 Cor. 13:3-4)
Series: ResurrectionIntroduction:
1. Our study today comes from 2 Cor. 13:3-4, but before we read that text some background is in order. 2. The Corinthians were seeking proof of Paul’s authority. 3. It appears that they thought him very lowly when face to face with them, but then very bold when he was absent and only writing to them (cf. 2 Cor. 10:1). 4. They give the impression of being a strong-willed people and perhaps even stubborn willed. Paul has repeatedly addressed their sin and lack of discipline. This is the third time.a. He has reasoned that like a parent he has served them because he loved them (12:14ff).
b. He had not taken advantage, but had sacrificed for their benefit (12:17f).
c. Yet, they thought he was somehow defending and thus exalting himself (12:19) . . . and so they questioned his authority.
5. Paul reasons that Christ was speaking through him and that therefore it was the power of God directed toward them, the same power of God that had raised Jesus from the dead. Thus Paul claims to be an agent communicating, not himself, but the power of God to them that they might live. 6. This is what he said . . . 7. There are several things I would call to your attention from this text.Discussion:
I. The centrality of the resurrection as evidence of the force of God behind Paul’s teaching.A. I am not referring to the fact of the resurrection as the content of his preaching. He did preach the fact of Christ’s resurrection.
B. But here he is appealing to the power of God, evident in the resurrection, as that which gives significance to his teaching.
1. Paul has repeatedly described himself as weak (2 Cor. 12:5).
2. In referring to his thorn in the flesh he said, it was the power of Christ dwelling in him that got him through it, not his own strength, for he was weak (2 Cor. 12:7ff).
3. In 13:4 he says, “We are weak with (in) Him.”
C. Any boldness in Paul’s words to the Corinthians were not there because of his personal strength, but because Christ was speaking in him (13:3).
1. Say what you may about what Paul is saying. Question his authority if you will. But it is clear that he is making a claim not of personal authority, but of the power of God.
2. Too often we allow the messenger to get in the way of the message. We are so busy evaluating the preacher (or comparing one preacher to another) that we neglect the message.
3. Paul’s point is, “It is not about me. It is about the powerful message of God who raises the dead. The message is the power of God directed toward you.”
4. Isn’t this the meaning of the statement “The gospel is the power of God for salvation?” (Rom. 1:16). Isn’t this the implication of Rom. 10:15, 17? “How will they hear without a preacher? . . . so faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ,” not just the word about Christ, but the word that originates from Christ.
D. This is the real problem with so many today. They undermine the authority of the message of God, by claiming that it is only the message of men.
II. Christ was crucified because of (the condition of) weakness (13:4a).A. There are two ways we can consider this. (Not mutually exclusive, but inclusive of one another.)
1. Christ shared fleshly weakness with man. Heb. 4:15 says that we have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses because He was tempted in all things as we are. Heb. 2:14 says, “He partook of flesh and blood, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
2. Christ shared with us in the weakness of our sin. 2 Cor. 5:21 says, “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.” It is our weakness and vulnerability to sin that led to His crucifixion.
B. Our contribution to the cross is weakness. God’s contribution is power.
III. Christ lives because of the power of God (13:4b).A. There is only one N.T. book that begins with a reference to the resurrection, the book of Galatians. It notes that God raised Jesus from the dead (1:1).
1. Note that here too, much similar to the closing chapters of 2 Cor., Paul is validating his apostleship.
2. He says he was “not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead.”
3. The power of what Paul is writing comes not from himself, but from God who raised Jesus from the dead. So he uses the resurrection as evidence of the power of God which is behind his words.
4. This was Paul’s argument from the beginning. He had reasoned from his own experience with the resurrected Lord that he was appointed “to open eyes so that they might turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God.” He said to Agrippa, “So I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision.” See Acts 26:15-19. How could he? To do so would fly in the face of the power of God.
B. In Col. 2:12-13 Paul makes both the resurrection of Christ and the life received in baptism dependent upon the power (the working) of God.
1. He refers to our being “raised up with Him through faith in the working of God.”
2. He says, “He made you alive together with Him.”
3. Many diminish the value of baptism seeing it only as a work of man when in fact it is the working of the power of God that gives it its life-giving force.
IV. We will live with Christ because of the power of God directed toward us (2 Cor. 13:4c).A. Paul would impress upon the Corinthians that the power of God was directed upon them through the instruction he was giving them.
B. This had lead to their receiving new life. They had believed in the Lord and been baptized (Acts 18:8). They had been washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:11). By one Spirit they had all been baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13). They were in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5).
C. The power of God had already been brought to bear on them. Now in Paul’s further instruction it was continuing to be brought to bear on them. He wanted them to be made complete (2 Cor. 13:9). He wanted Christ to continue to live in them (Gal. 2:19-20).
D. They were part of the new creation (cf. Gal. 6:15). Cf. Isa. 32:15ff; 54; 65:17ff; 66:22-23.
E. And that new life would reach its culmination at Christ’s final coming (1 Cor. 15:50ff).
Conclusion:
1. They needed to recognize the power of God. 2. They had recognized it in the resurrection. 3. They had recognized it in their baptism. 4. They had recognized it in Paul’s initial proclamation to them. 5. They needed to recognize it in his current proclamation, as do we. 6. We cannot discredit the power of God in the message of Scripture and have the resurrection life that Scripture promises.
