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2 Corinthians 4:5-6 - The Preacher's Simple Job

  • Writer: Chad Werkhoven
    Chad Werkhoven
  • Aug 25
  • 4 min read

God has made His light shine in your heart through His preached Word.



2 Corinthians 4:5–6 (NIV)


5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 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 God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Canons of Dordt

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace


Article 12: Regeneration a Supernatural Work


Regeneration, is the new creation, the raising from the dead, and the making alive 

  1. so clearly proclaimed in the Scriptures, 

  2. which God works in us without our help. 

But this certainly does not happen only by outward teaching, by moral persuasion, or by such a way of working that, after God’s work is done, 

  1. it remains in human power whether or not to be reborn or converted. 

  2. Rather, it is an entirely supernatural work, 

    1. one that is at the same time most powerful and most pleasing, 

    2. a marvelous, hidden, and inexpressible work, which is not less than or inferior in power to that of creation or of raising the dead, as Scripture (inspired by the author of this work) teaches. 

    3. As a result, all those in whose hearts God works in this marvelous way 

      1. are certainly, unfailingly, and effectively reborn and do actually believe. 

      2. And then the will, now renewed, 

        1. is not only activated and motivated by God, 

        2. but in being activated by God is also itself active. 

For this reason, people t­hemselves, 

  1. by that grace which they have received, 

  2. are also rightly said to believe and to repent.


Summary


I'm glad I don't need to think up something clever to say each time I step into the pulpit - something that I'm certain will capture people's attention, speak to issues they struggle with, give them a warm, fuzzy feeling or even an amusing anecdote to begin their week with. I'm even more glad that I don't need to preach myself - that is, what I happen to think or feel about particular issues, or about how I've conquered or been conquered life's particular problems.


That sort of 'preaching' would be so exhausting to have to come up twice a Sunday, week after week after week. And it would be even more exhausting to listen to!


Rather, my task is far more straightforward: preach Jesus Christ as Lord. Those four words - the heart of the gospel - are on one hand simple and easy to communicate in a minute or less, but on the other they are so profoundly deep that it takes sixty six books of the Bible, written by inspired men from all sorts of cultural backgrounds spanning thousands of years using three completely different languages to convey just a glimpse of what it means and how it applies to our lives in an infinite amount of ways.


Paul here helps me understand what it means to be a good preacher of the gospel: Carefully read the passage at hand, show how it points to Jesus Christ as Lord, and then get myself out of the way. The Spirit will take it from there.



  Dig Deeper  


How could God - the very One who said "Let light shine out of the darkness" - possibly need whatever pathetic wit, insights, or experiences I could offer in order to make His light shine in people's hearts? To borrow and slightly modify a line from the great hymn, "What more could I say than to you He hath said?"


That certainly doesn't mean that as a preacher I have nothing to say, a fact which my patient congregation will readily attest to. But my job is to simply unpack all the meaning and implication of what God has written to us, and illustrate how every verse demonstrates what it means that Jesus Christ is Lord. But on my own I can't change any minds, open blind eyes, or soften hard hearts.


That is the work of the Spirit of God, to regenerate - that gracious act in which He newly creates, raises from the dead, and makes alive those whom God the Father has given to Jesus Christ.


This is the primary way God has ordained to bring salvation: through foolishness of preaching blessed by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in order to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.



  • ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who calls light out of darkness;

  • ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that His Word was preached to you yesterday, and pray for the strength to walk in the light of this knowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord all week long;

  • ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 2 Corinthians 2

 
 
 

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