2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The god of this age
This phrase refers to Satan, who is described as having significant influence over the present world system. The term "god" here is not to be understood as a deity in the sense of the Almighty God, but rather as a powerful being who has been allowed a certain degree of authority. The Greek word "aion" (age) suggests a temporal period, emphasizing the temporary nature of Satan's influence. Historically, this reflects the early Christian understanding of the world as being under the sway of evil forces until the return of Christ.

has blinded the minds
The Greek word "tuphloo" means to obscure or darken. This blinding is not a physical blindness but a spiritual one, affecting the perception and understanding of truth. In a historical context, this reflects the pervasive spiritual ignorance and resistance to the gospel message that Paul encountered in his missionary journeys. It is a reminder of the spiritual warfare that believers face, as Satan seeks to prevent people from understanding and accepting the truth of the gospel.

of unbelievers
This phrase identifies those who have not accepted the gospel message. The Greek term "apistos" denotes a lack of faith or trust. In the scriptural context, unbelievers are those who have not yet come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This highlights the mission of the church to reach out to those who are spiritually blind and to share the light of Christ with them.

so they cannot see
The inability to see is a direct result of the blinding by the god of this age. The Greek word "me" (not) combined with "augazo" (to shine) suggests an obstruction of spiritual enlightenment. This phrase underscores the tragic condition of those who are spiritually blind, unable to perceive the truth and beauty of the gospel.

the light of the gospel
The "light" here symbolizes truth, purity, and divine revelation. The Greek word "phos" is often used in the New Testament to represent the illuminating power of God's truth. The gospel, or "euangelion," is the good news of Jesus Christ. Historically, light has been a powerful metaphor in both Jewish and Christian thought, representing God's presence and guidance.

of the glory of Christ
The "glory" (Greek "doxa") refers to the divine majesty and honor of Christ. This phrase emphasizes the exalted nature of Jesus, who is not only the bearer of the gospel but its very essence. In the scriptural context, the glory of Christ is a reflection of His divine nature and His role as the Savior of humanity.

who is the image of God
The Greek word "eikon" means image or likeness. This phrase affirms the theological truth that Jesus Christ is the perfect representation of God the Father. In the historical and scriptural context, this is a profound statement of Christ's divinity and His unique role in revealing God to humanity. It echoes the creation narrative where humanity is made in the image of God, but Christ is the ultimate and perfect image, fully embodying God's nature and character.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 2 Corinthians, addressing the church in Corinth, providing guidance and encouragement amidst challenges.

2. The God of This Age
A reference to Satan, who is described as having influence over the present world system and blinding the minds of unbelievers.

3. Unbelievers
Those who have not accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ and are spiritually blinded.

4. The Gospel
The good news of Jesus Christ, His death, and resurrection, which brings salvation to those who believe.

5. Christ, the Image of God
Jesus Christ, who perfectly represents and reveals God to humanity.
Teaching Points
Spiritual Warfare Awareness
Recognize the reality of spiritual warfare and the influence of Satan in blinding unbelievers.

The Importance of Prayer
Pray for the spiritual eyes of unbelievers to be opened to the truth of the gospel.

Reflecting Christ's Image
As believers, strive to reflect the image of Christ in our daily lives, serving as a testimony to others.

The Power of the Gospel
Emphasize the transformative power of the gospel to bring light and understanding to those in spiritual darkness.

Evangelism and Perseverance
Be persistent in sharing the gospel, understanding that spiritual blindness can be overcome through God's power.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the role of "the god of this age" influence our approach to evangelism?

2. In what ways can we actively reflect the image of Christ in our communities?

3. How can we support each other in prayer to combat spiritual blindness in our loved ones?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure we are not influenced by the "god of this age"?

5. How do the connections to other scriptures enhance our understanding of spiritual blindness and the power of the gospel?
Connections to Other Scriptures
John 12:31
Discusses the ruler of this world being cast out, connecting to the idea of Satan's temporary influence.

Ephesians 2:2
Refers to the prince of the power of the air, highlighting Satan's role in leading unbelievers.

Colossians 1:15
Describes Christ as the image of the invisible God, reinforcing His divine nature and role in revealing God.

Acts 26:18
Speaks of turning people from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, aligning with the theme of spiritual blindness and enlightenment.
Christ as the Image of GodR. Tuck 2 Corinthians 4:4
Glory of the Apostolic Ministry; How its Duties Were DischargedC. Lipscomb 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
How Men Should PreachE. Hurndall 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Strong DelusionH. Verschoyle.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Blinded OnesA. W. Snape, M. A.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Glorious GospelJ. Burns, D. D.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The God of This World Blinding Man Against the Gospel2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Gospel and its AdversariesH. Allen, D. D.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Gospel Hidden to the LostN. W. Taylor, D. D.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Gospel VeiledJ.R. Thomson 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4
The Hidden GospelJ. Vaughan, M. A.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Image of the Invisible GodHomilist2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Mind Blinded Against the LightBp. Montagu Villiers.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Thwarting Tendency in LifeW. Wilberforce Newton.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The True Gospel no Hidden GospelC. H. Spurgeon.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The Veiled GospelW. G. Barrett.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
To Whom and Why the Gospel is HidE. D. Griffin, D. D.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
Unbelieving Men BlindedJ. Adam, D. D.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
Veiling the GospelD. Thomas, D. D.2 Corinthians 4:3-4
People
Corinthians, Galatians, Paul
Places
Achaia, Corinth
Topics
Age, Believe, Blind, Blinded, Case, Christ, Dawn, Enlightening, Faith, Forth, Glad, Glorious, Glory, Gospel, Image, Lest, Likeness, Minds, News, Present, Radiancy, Seeing, Shine, Shining, Shut, Sunshine, Thoughts, Tidings, Unbelievers, Unbelieving
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Corinthians 4:4

     1145   God, transcendent
     1403   God, revelation
     1441   revelation, necessity
     1444   revelation, NT
     1445   revelation, responses
     2024   Christ, glory of
     2063   Christ, perfection
     2203   Christ, titles of
     2545   Christ, opposition to
     4027   world, fallen
     4123   Satan, deceiver
     4124   Satan, kingdom of
     4811   darkness, symbol of sin
     5004   human race, and sin
     5016   heart, fallen and redeemed
     5023   image of God
     5034   likeness
     5135   blindness, spiritual
     5204   age
     6139   deadness, spiritual
     6186   evil scheming
     6257   unbelievers
     8203   character
     8206   Christlikeness
     8211   commitment, to world
     8321   perfection, divine
     8351   teachableness
     8425   evangelism, nature of
     8483   spiritual warfare, causes
     8484   spiritual warfare, enemies
     8735   evil, origins of
     8748   false religion

2 Corinthians 4:3-4

     5815   confusion

2 Corinthians 4:4-5

     2018   Christ, divinity

Library
The Winsome Jesus.
The Face of Jesus: Jesus drew crowds, men, women, children, bad people, enemies--His personality--face--impress of experiences--the glory of God in that face, 2 Corinthians 4:6. Hebrews 1:3. The Music of God in the Voice of Jesus: the eye--Jesus' eyes, Luke 4:16-30. John 8:59. 10:31. 7:32, 45, 46. 18:6. Mark 10:32. 9:36. 10:13-16. Luke 19:48.--His voice, Matthew 26:30. personal touch, Matthew 8:3, 15. 9:29. 17:7. 20:34. Mark 1:41. 7:33. Luke 5:13. 22:51. (John 14:16-20). His presence irresistible.
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Looking at the Unseen
'While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.'--2 COR. iv. 18. Men may be said to be divided into two classes, materialists and idealists, in the widest sense of those two words. The mass care for, and are occupied by, and regard as really solid good, those goods which can be touched and enjoyed by sense. The minority--students, thinkers, men of ideas, moralists, and the like--believe in, and care for, impalpable spiritual riches. Everybody admits that the
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Heart of the Gospel
Let me give you a parable. In the days of Nero there was great shortness of food in the city of Rome, although there was abundance of corn to be purchased at Alexandria. A certain man who owned a vessel went down to the sea coast, and there he noticed many hungry people straining their eyes toward the sea, watching for the vessels that were to come from Egypt with corn. When these vessels came to the shore, one by one, the poor people wrung their hands in bitter disappointment, for on board the galleys
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886

In the Bitter Cold of Winter the Trees Stand Bare of Leaves...
1. In the bitter cold of winter the trees stand bare of leaves, and it seems as if their life, too, had departed for ever, yet in the spring time they put forth new leaves and beautiful flowers, and the fruit begins to show itself. So was it with Me in My crucifixion and resurrection, and so it is with my faithful cross-bearers (2 Cor. iv.8-11; vi.4-10). Though they seem to be crushed and dead beneath their cross they still put forth the beautiful flowers and glorious fruits of eternal life which
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

Clairvoyance
"We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."--2 COR. iv. 18. "Everything that is, is double."--Hermes Trismegistus. "LOOK not at the things which are seen." How can we look not at the things which are seen? If they are seen, how can we help looking at them? "Look at the things which are not seen." How can we look at things which are not seen? Has religion some magic wishing-cap,
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life

Conclusion.
NEBICULA est; transibit,"--"It is a little cloud; it will pass away." This was said first, I believe, by Athanasius, of Julian the Apostate who, after a short reign of intense hostility to Christianity, perished with his work, "leaving no wreck behind."[97]97 The same may be applied to all the recent attempts to undermine the faith of humanity in the person of its divine Lord and Saviour. The clouds, great and small, pass away; the sun continues to shine: darkness has its hour; the light is eternal.
Philip Schaff—The Person of Christ

Meditations of the Blessed State of a Regenerate Man in Heaven.
Here my meditation dazzles, and my pen falls out of my hand; the one being not able to conceive, nor the other to describe, that most excellent bliss, and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. iv. 17; Rom. viii. 18)--whereof all the afflictions of this present life are not worthy--which all the elect shall with the blessed Trinity enjoy, from that time that they shall be received with Christ, as joint-heirs (Rom. viii. 17) into that everlasting kingdom of joy. Notwithstanding, we may take a scantling thereof.
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Out of the Depths
Heinrich Suso 2 Cor. iv. 17 "O Father! not my will, but Thine be done!" Thus with my lips I say; Yet lags the heart, the while the lips would run-- My heart, it sayeth "Nay." "Be comforted, O child of My delight, Though yet thy heart complain; For I would have thee suffer when I smite, Or pain would not be [g]ain. "Were it a chastening if it were not grief? Yet for a moment tears-- Then glows the spring where fell the yellow leaf, Of Heaven's eternal years. "For sorrow is the sorrow of an hour,
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Light of a Stone Most Precious
P. G. 2 Cor. iv. 6, 7 God in heaven hath a treasure, Riches none may count or tell; Hath a deep eternal pleasure, Christ, the Son He loveth well. God hath here on earth a treasure, None but He its price may know-- Deep unfathomable pleasure, Christ revealed in saints below. Christ, the light that fills the heavens Shining forth on earth beneath, Through His Spirit freely given Light of life midst shades of death; Down from heaven's unclouded glory God Himself the treasure brought, Closing thus
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

The Council of Nicæa.
An ecumenical council was a new experiment. Local councils had long since grown to be a recognised organ of the Church both for legislation and for judicial proceedings. But no precedent as yet prescribed, no ecclesiastical law or theological principle had as yet enthroned, the General Council' as the supreme expression of the Church's mind. Constantine had already referred the case of the Donatists first to a select council at Rome under bishop Miltiades, then to what Augustine (Ep. 43) has been
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Memoir of John Bunyan
THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS--BORN IN POVERTY--HIS EDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS--FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS AS A BRAZIER--ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER--RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN AMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE--HER DOWER. 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.'--2 Cor 4:7 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8. 'Though ye have lien among the
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Preaching (ii. ).
For Thy sake, beloved Lord, I will labour in Thy Word; On the knees, in patient prayer; At the desk, with studious care; In the pulpit, seeking still There to utter all Thy will. I pursue the subject of attractive preaching, taking still the word attractive in its worthiest sense, and again laying stress on the necessity of attractiveness of the right sort. We have looked a little already at some of the external requisites to this end; now let us approach some which have to do with matter more
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

Fourth Sunday after Trinity Consolation in Suffering, and Patience.
Text: Romans 8, 18-22. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Religious Joy.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."--Luke ii. 10, 11. There are two principal lessons which we are taught on the great Festival which we this day celebrate, lowliness and joy. This surely is a day, of all others, in which is set before us the heavenly excellence and the acceptableness in God's sight of that state which
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Patience of Man, which is Right and Laudable and Worthy of the Name...
2. The patience of man, which is right and laudable and worthy of the name of virtue, is understood to be that by which we tolerate evil things with an even mind, that we may not with a mind uneven desert good things, through which we may arrive at better. Wherefore the impatient, while they will not suffer ills, effect not a deliverance from ills, but only the suffering of heavier ills. Whereas the patient who choose rather by not committing to bear, than by not bearing to commit, evil, both make
St. Augustine—On Patience

Edwards -- Spiritual Light
Jonathan Edwards, the New England divine and metaphysician, was born at East Windsor, Connecticut, in 1703. He was graduated early from Yale College, where he had given much attention to philosophy, became tutor of his college, and at nineteen began to preach. His voice and manner did not lend themselves readily to pulpit oratory, but his clear, logical, and intense presentation of the truth produced a profound and permanent effect upon his hearers. He wrote what were considered the most important
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3

Faith in General.
"Through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."--Ephes. ii. 8. When the judicial act of the Triune God, justification, is announced to the conscience, faith begins to be active and expresses itself in works. This leads us to call the attention of our readers to the work of the Holy Spirit, which consists in the imparting of faith. We are saved through faith; and that faith is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. It is very specially a gift of the Triune God, by a peculiar
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write,
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Lastly, Let us Hear the Lord Himself Delivering Most Plain Judgment on this Matter. ...
23. Lastly, let us hear the Lord Himself delivering most plain judgment on this matter. For, upon His speaking after a divine and fearful manner concerning husband and wife not separating, save on account of fornication, His disciples said to Him, "If the case be such with a wife, it is not good to marry." [2066] To whom He saith, "Not all receive this saying. For there are eunuchs who were so born: but there are others who were made by men: and there are eunuchs, who made themselves eunuchs for
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

He Severely Reproves Abaelard for Scrutinizing Rashly and Impiously, and Extenuating the Power Of, the Secret Things of God.
He severely reproves Abaelard for scrutinizing rashly and impiously, and extenuating the power of, the secret things of God. 17. This is the righteousness of man in the blood of the Redeemer: which this son of perdition, by his scoffs and insinuations, is attempting to render vain; so much so, that he thinks and argues that the whole fact that the Lord of Glory emptied Himself, that He was made lower than the angels, that He was born of a woman, that He lived in the world, that He made trial of our
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Strength and Indwelling.
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

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