2 Corinthians 4:6-14

God said, “Let light shine out of darkness.” He made his light shine in our hearts. His light gives us the light to know God’s glory. His glory is shown in the face of Christ. Treasure is kept in clay jars. In the same way, we have the treasure of the good news in these earthly bodies of ours. That shows that the mighty power of the good news comes from God. It doesn’t come from us. We are pushed hard from all sides. But we are not beaten down. We are bewildered. But that doesn’t make us lose hope. Others make us suffer. But God does not desert us. We are knocked down. But we are not knocked out. We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies. In that way, the life of Jesus can be shown in our bodies. We who are alive are always in danger of death because we are serving Jesus. This happens so that his life can also be shown in our earthly bodies. Death is at work in us. But life is at work in you. It is written, “I believed, and so I have spoken.” We have that same spirit of faith. So we also believe and speak. We know that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. And he will also raise us up with Jesus. And he will present both you and us to himself.