ARTICLE – 3 July 2016
The Apostle Paul had an extraordinary experience fourteen years before his writing of this second letter to the Corinthian Church. He recounted it for the first time to the Christians in Corinth. It was a heavenly vision that undergirded him in his exceptional life journey that consisted of many occurrences of hard- ships and sufferings. Just like his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus which dramatically turned him from anti-Jesus to one who followed Jesus. This vision of paradise or third heaven turned him to one who was able to endure all hardship and sufferings with the hope for the future and divine glory as the ultimate goal in his life.
Why is it called third heaven? First heaven is the earth’s atmosphere, the heaven from where the rain and snow falls (Isaiah 55:10). Second heaven is the interplanetary and interstellar space, “the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars” (Psalm 8:3). Third heaven is the abode of God: “hear from heaven, your dwelling place” (1 Kings 8:30). Paul was transported to this third heaven and heard things that could not be spoken of. It was utterly beyond human description and expression. And it propelled him to a life of divine power and strength.
Therefore, he was able to describe a prolonged physical infirmity as just “a thorn in my flesh“. Paul sought the Lord three times to remove the thorn but willingly accepted this as a necessary part of his life. He saw it as a means to keep him humble. Despite satan’s ill-intent, God had turn it for good. We can learn from Paul that some troubles may not be removed from our lives and remain for a purpose. For Paul, it was to keep him from the danger of being proud. Bible Commentator Matthew Henry puts it as, it “keeps us from being exalted beyond measure.”
For Paul, the supreme grace and power of God was all sufficient to sustain him as he bore the “thorn in my flesh“. To receive grace from God is to receive His good will and this is enough to strengthen and comfort us, to cheer and support us. To serve the good purpose of God in our lives, we remain faithful and steadfast by displaying His strength, ” His magnificent grace, not ours. Paul shared with the Corinthian Christians God’s great encouragement to him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” This encouraging word of God’s sufficient grace comes to us afresh today even as we go through daily trials and challenges. We can with the Apostle Paul: “delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
