Nov 12, 2022
DANIEL 5-6:
Yesterday we heard two stories: That of
Nebuchadnezzar’s statue of gold and the exciting way God delivered
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And the second story was
Nebuchadnezzar himself sharing about his dream and how he was later
humbled.
ISAIAH 25:
Yesterday’s reading in Isaiah talked of the
destruction of the whole earth, but here again as typical in
Isaiah, the sun was allowed to break through the clouds. We look
forward to a city where God himself will outshine the
sun.
2CORINTHIANS 5:14—6:13:
Here
is part of Paul’s discussion about the earthly tents/bodies we all
have, and heavenly bodies we will one day have:
2Cor. 5:6 GNT So we are always
full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord's home.
7 For our life is a matter of
[believing//faith], not of [seeing//sight].
8 We are full of courage and would much prefer
to leave our home in the body and be at home with the
Lord.
9 More than
anything else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home
here or there.
Paul returns to his theme about the the apostolic ministry that God has given to him and his companions, and especially now their commission to share the message of reconciliation with God.
GNT Translation
notes:
2Cor. 5:18 [PET
And the source of all of those life-changes is God Himself— who by
Christ’s mediation has made us at peace with Him again. Then He
sent us out to tell about that offer of peace.//GNT All this is done by God, who through Christ
changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of
making others his friends also.]
19
[PET What we tell is that God— through the death of Christ, has
opened the way for each person in this world to be at peace with
Himself. For those of us who are joined in union with Christ, God
no longer counts our sins and wrongdoings against us. That’s the
news of restored peace that God entrusted to
us!//Our message is that God
was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not
keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message
which tells how he makes them his friends.]
20
[PET It means that we’ve become messengers of Christ— our King.
Through us God is inviting and calling each of you to listen to
this message: In Christ Jesus’ name be restored to peace with
God!//GNT Here we are, then,
speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal
through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from
enemies into his friends!]
[I decided to use our Plain
English Translation for the three verses above. In verse 18, using
the words ‘making others his friends’ sounds a bit like Paul and
the apostles would be twisting people’s arms. But in verse 19 GNT
makes the reconciliation that God offers sound like universal
salvation to all human beings. (This means that everyone would be
saved without the need for repentance and following Christ. This
heresy is still around in the world, and that is not what Paul
meant here.)]
2Cor.
6:9 [We are treated] as
unknown, yet we are known by all; [people act] as though we were
dead, but, as you see, we live on.