The past few months have reminded me more and more of how our physical bodies will one day go back to the dust. As we get older, the deterioration process seems to be gaining ground. Doctor visits become frequent, and as the inward self gets stronger, the outward gets weaker. Our world is consumed with maintaining youth. The health products industry has taken over the market. We buy them hoping to find an easy way to promote a good quality of life. Some work, and some don’t. I wish I had all the money I have spent on trying new products, only to find them a failure for me. Don’t get me wrong, I will grow old kicking and screaming to stay active. I hate staying put in one place for over a few minutes unless I’m retiring for the night. However, the reality is that from the day we are born, we are in the process of dying.
II Corinthians 4:16 “Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.”
II Corinthians 4:16 encourages us not to lose heart. If we learn to live by God’s grace, we will escape the pitfalls of discouragement. We understand that it is by His grace, “God’s riches at Christ’s expense,” not our own merit, that we are able to inherit eternal life.
In the Old Testament, grace is a prominent word that speaks of God’s people being delivered from their enemies, affliction, or adversity. It is also used to show God’s daily guidance, forgiveness, and preservation.
The New Testament word for grace is “charis,” which focuses on the provision of salvation. It is love in action toward people who merit the opposite. We are powerless to save ourselves, but God made His Son to be sin for us so we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
II Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Along with grace, God extends mercy to us. Mercy is compassion or kind forbearance toward an offender or an enemy that is within one’s power to show otherwise. We are the offender and the enemy of God. Yet, God extended mercy and grace to us when we did not deserve it. We can’t merit it on our own. It is a gift from God.
II Corinthians 4:1 “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;”
When we understand the true gift of mercy and grace, we will be protected from discouragement. We will not lose heart because this encouragement is available every day. Though the outward man may suffer horrible things, the inward man is renewed daily. Most people focus on the outward man. Those who have not been redeemed, or those who have experienced redemption but have returned to walking according to the flesh. It is very easy to focus on what you can see, and if that is your focus, you will be discouraged.
No one escapes the impact of sin. We are all perishing. We will all go back to dust. It is not a very proud or positive thought for such a prideful creature. Though many have tried to change the course of man’s destiny, no one, and I mean no one, has been able to change it.
