6For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7But this precious treasure--this light and power that now shine within us--is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own. 8We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. 9We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. 12So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you. 13But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, and so I speak." 14We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. 15All of these things are for your benefit. And as God's grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 16That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! 18So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

I find the entire chapter anointed but I decided to concentrate on the verses listed above. We see that there is a darkness that exists in our lives due to the sin nature that is present in all of us. Paul stated in Romans that "all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God." Therefore, there exists in everyone at some point a darkness and an empty void. We see further on in the scripture that God wanted light in this darkness in order to eradicate the darkness. The light in these Scriptures is "the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ." Jesus wanted the Temple of the Holy Spirit to be filled with this light in order to go out into the highways and the "ethnos" described in the Great commission in order to show everyone that the glorious power within all Christians is not out of our own human strength. But the light is from God, the light in the Temple is in a "perishable" container known as our flesh. It is through the perishable container of our flesh that Jesus, who conquered death, comes forth to be seen by all.

As I read verses eight through eighteen again, I noticed a deep parallel of the contents of Paul's letter to an event that has been documented by the FoxNews channel, an event discussed with people on the phone in our everyday contact, an event discussed with e-mails to the webpage, an event discussed in chatrooms, and an event analysis posted in various forums. The event I am talking about is September 11, 2001 when America suffered it's worst tragedy ever when the World Trade Center was destroyed and the Pentagon suffered massive damage. This shocking and heinous act raised the awareness, patriotism, spiritual awakening, and the unity of all Americans from all backgrounds, political affiliations, and perspectives. We saw a nation, especially two cities that became "pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken." Everything that symbolized the American military might and American economic commerce was attacked. However, the American people refused to become divided, broken, and humiliated. America became humbled, united, and bonded stronger in the wake of this atrocity than we had seen in years. "We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit." Many are still wondering why this happened because of the confusing answers given. Some said "gloom and doom". Some said "sowing and reaping". Some said "we are the Great Satan." Others explained that we had an alliance and an ally relationship with Israel that these people hated. Some said that the last of the bombers of the USS Cole was to be sentenced on this day. No matter what the reason, America did not fold their hands, raise a white flag and surrender to these terrorists. Instead, America chose to fight back by gaining allies and sending troops to Pakistan and Afghanistan to find Bin Laden. A small battle may have been lost, but America will, with God on our side, win the war.

In the streets of New York City, "Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." Many people in those streets have suffered directly or indirectly in one way shape or form. However, there are many on the frontlines at the edges of "ground zero" who choose to go out in their suffering to reach out to others who suffer more in order to give these people the hope and assurance that it is through the death and arising of Jesus that allows us to have life in Jesus. It is through these Christians on the street and many Christian relief organizations that are bringing the message and the light of Jesus to the needy people that live, commute, and commerce in their neighborhoods. It is these people who decided that the life of Jesus that is in their bodies (the temple of the Holy Spirit) must be seen by others to the point that the miracles and the supernaturally natural signs and wonders could come from only one place. Jesus. We love to sing a simple chorous to the lyrics of "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." That is what many Christian Americans did. They let the light shine, but they discovered something. The "little light" of Jesus was not so little after all. That light was so spiritually bright that the people sensed the light and came towards those lighthouses asking questions, seeking warmth and comfort, and most of all, seeking salvation and security in a chaotic world. Many of these people saw the face of death as they evacuated the World Trade Center and the surrounding areas. However, even though they fled to avoid death, many of the God fearing Christians came back to shine that light in order to give the life of Jesus to others. Through bodies that are dying both physically and spiritually to the flesh, these people were able to ask the question of "O death, where is thou sting" and use their faith to preach the Gospel of Jesus.

These people could have went home to nurse their wounds or chose to be irrelevant to society like Christian television was, but they instead chose to go forward to bring the Grace of God to the unsaved in order to bring others to Christ. These people did this out of compassion, not for an award from the President or the Mayor of NYC. These people did this because their Bible commanded them to minister unto the needy. It was not for their glory, but it was for God's glory this was done. As the bodies continue with the process of dying to the flesh, the Spirit of God became more and more alive and renewed in them as they allowed themselves to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit that transmitted the love, Gospel, and mercy of Christ to those consumed by their totems, taboos, transgressions, and temptations. It was by this act that these people made the first step of walking the trailway to temple living in the carnage done by a few terrorists giving praise to the totems, taboos, and transgressions of Allah.

Please Click here for part three of this article.