Thoughts on the Return of Spring
Phillip Keller, in his book of essays titled Outdoor Moments with God, writes the following under the word “Renewal”:
According to the calendar spring is here. But outdoors in the harsh world . . . there are few signs of any seasonal change. . . . But yesterday all that changed. . . . It seemed so impossible! New life, new blooms, new leaves bursting from the earth. In spite of every adversity there was astonishing renewal. This was akin to resurrection from death and despair.
Here was hope!
I was in awe. (99)
“In awe,” in some sense, ought to describe every thoughtful person as he considers the seasons and the changing thereof. Early preachers of the Christian faith declared to their audience, “We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you in order that you should turn . . . to a living God, who made the Heaven and the Earth and the Sea, and all that is in them. . . . He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from [H]eaven and fruitful seasons . . .” (Acts 14:15, 17, NASV; cf. Romans 1:18-20).
In a remarkable four-volume set of books, Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, the Scottish preacher, Henry Duncan (1774-1846) observed in the first volume: “The changes of the seasons, display in themselves, a remarkable and beneficent arrangement . . . a beautiful and striking exhibition of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator” (Preface, Winter iii). At the outset of the second volume of this unusual set of books, the author begins with the following: “Spring has been celebrated in glowing terms by the poets of all ages” (Spring, 19). The eloquent description continues,
When we observe the earth gradually exchanging its winter robes for a mantle of the liveliest green, the flowers springing up in fresh luxuriance at our feet, and every shrub and tree putting forth its buds, which are soon to be beautifully expanded into blossoms and leaves, our first feelings are those of wonder and delight at the marvelous change . . . and we then naturally seek to contemplate the causes of such a universal transition. By what agency, we ask, does the vegetable world suddenly start from apparent death into all the beauty and exuberance of another Spring?
. . . What was lately barrenness becomes fertility; from desolation and death start up life and varied beauty. . . . Hence result all the beautiful and amazing phenomena of [S]pring.
. . . And how can we withhold our admiration from the matchless skill of the Creator. . . ? Hence, among other joyful recurrences, the sweet return of [S]pring, and all the delights that intervene between the appearance of the earliest sprout and the full glories of [S]ummer vegetation. . . . But need we wonder at this, seeing it is but in accordance with all the operations of the Great Supreme. (14-15, 18, emp. added)
“The sweet return of Spring”! How beautiful! How powerful these things are from the general revelation of God in creation, in conjunction with three relevant implications from the pen of Paul the apostle of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:1-18).
In what is his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul is making a defense of “this ministry” (4:1), which was his service as a “minister of the new covenant” (3:6), as an apostle of Jesus Christ in “the ministry of reconciliation . . . that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (5:13-19). As an “ambassador for Christ” (5:20), chosen by Jesus Christ Himself (5:20; cf. Romans 1:1, 5), Paul was an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth (1 Corinthians 15:3-10).
In the aforementioned passage of 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, Paul is not discussing the changing of the seasons. This chapter is not about any symbolism of Spring. Rather, this is about how Paul was entrusted with the treasure, which is the gospel of Christ, anchored to the three foundational historic facts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (4:7; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). However, as one gives thought to the return of Spring he sees three principles that parallel three implications in the power of the gospel of Christ. These are (1) Light over darkness, (2) Life over death, and (3) Hope over despair.
Light Over Darkness (4:1-6). There are those whose minds (thinking, thoughts, ability to reason) are blinded by unbelief through the Adversary who, through the “floating mass of thoughts, opinions, speculations, et al. current in the world at any time” (Rogers and Rogers 399) keeps them “from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (4:4). In contrast to these “who are perishing” (4:3), because of a lack of love for the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10), there are those for whom the gospel is not veiled. They receive the light of the knowledge of the glory of God through seeing the deity of Jesus Christ (4:6). It is “seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (4:4).
Life Over Death (4:7-15). Paul’s focus in the defense of his apostleship, which should be, in principle, the focus of all believers in defense of the faith, is the “excellence” (NKJV) or “surpassing” (ESV) power (4:7) of God that is revealed in the gospel (cf. 1 Peter 3:15; Romans 1:16-17).
This power of life over death is “in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9; Acts 26:8), whether from death “in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1); from tribulation or trouble attended by a threatening “sentence of death” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10); or from the grave when “all will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19). Paul in the text before us says, “[K]nowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you” (2 Corinthians 4:14). The verb knowing “expresses knowledge grasped . . . by the mind” (Rogers and Rogers 400). What comforting power the resurrection provided Paul, and it can provide this to every obedient believer today, no matter what we face—even death!
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:8-12, ESV)
Little wonder Paul identified his goal as “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death” (Philippians 3:10, emp. added). Warren wrote “belief in the resurrection [should be] a firm post in your heart” (157).
Hope Over Despair (4:16-18). Paul wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart” (4:16). Because we are sure of the resurrection, we will not lose heart! We will not become discouraged and give up! Whatever affliction or suffering we face, it will be light in a comparative sense. In comparison with (1) what we actually deserve, (2) what Jesus endured, (3) the glory of Heaven, (4) the awesomeness of eternity, (5) the companionship of having Christ with us in the moment of death, et al. “for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (4:17).
The power of the truths of light over darkness, life over death, and hope over despair are, in the ultimate and exclusive sense, found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ revealed in the inscripturated word (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21). However, the return of Spring is a reminder of such. As Lockyer beautifully summarized in his Seasons of the Lord:
April, the womb of nature, opens with life as trees break their buds to bear golden leaves. Resurrection is seen in the carpet of primroses, violets, and spring flowers covering the earth. April’s lady comes forth with all her glory to praise the Creator who furnished her. What a fitting time of the year this is to illustrate the victory of the Rose of Sharon who rose again, alive forevermore. (ix)
Charles C. Pugh III
Executive Director
Works Cited
Duncan, Henry. Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons; Illustrating the Perfections of God, in the Phenomena of the Year: Autumn/Winter. 2 vols in 1. New York: Carter & Bros, 1856.
- - -. Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons; Illustrating the Perfections of God, in the Phenomena of the Year: Spring/Summer. 2 vols. in 1. New York: Carter & Bros, 1856.
Keller, W. Phillip. Outdoor Moments with God. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1994.
Lockyer, Herbert. Seasons of the Lord. New York: Harper & Row, 1977.
Rogers, Cleon L., Jr, and Cleon L. Rogers, III. The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.
Warren, Thomas B. “Christ, Our Contemporary in Suffering and Death.” Christ, Our Contemporary. Pepperdine College Lectures. Nashville: Christian Family, 1963.