In 2 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul mentioned the condition of his body. He told us that he had a thorn in his flesh and that he enthusiastically asked of the Lord three times that it might depart from him. But the Lord said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness" (v. 9a). Therefore the apostle said, "Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me...for when I am weak, then I am powerful" (vv. 9b-10). What was the thorn in the apostle's flesh? We can bypass this question for now since the Bible does not answer it. But one thing is certain: this thorn in the flesh had the effect of weakening his body. The original word for weakness refers to weakness in the body. The same word is used in Matthew 8:17. Even the Corinthians knew that the apostle's body was weak (2 Cor. 10:10). The apostle himself said that when he was first with them, he was in weakness (1 Cor. 2:3). This does not mean that the apostle was lacking in spiritual power, for both the first and the second Epistles sufficiently reveal that he was full of spiritual power.
Moreover, the word "weakness" is the same word used to describe the physical weakness mentioned above. It is also used in two other passages to indicate the dying condition of the physical body.Therefore, from these verses we can see the apostle Paul's physical condition. His original physical condition was very weak, but did he always stay weak? No. He tells us that the power of Christ rested upon him to make him strong. We should pay attention to the "principle of contrast." The thorn never left Paul, and neither did the weakness that came with the thorn; yet the power of Christ rested upon his weak body and enabled him to meet every need. The power of Christ was in contrast to the weakness of Paul. This power did not take away the thorn or remove the weakness, but it lived in Paul, dealing with everything that his weak body could not handle. This may be likened to a wick that burns with a flame but is not consumed because the lamp is full of oil. The wick is still very weak, but the oil supplies everything that the flame requires of it.Here we see the principle of God's life being our body's strength. His life does not change the weak and mortal nature of our body; rather, it saturates the body with what it cannot provide. Therefore, according to his natural condition, Paul was the weakest, but according to the power he received from Christ, he was the strongest. The strength mentioned in this portion of the Bible specifically refers to the apostle's body.
We know how the apostle Paul worked continually day and night, laboring mentally and physically, doing a work that even three or four strong men could not handle. If his weak body had not received the Holy Spirit's enlivening, how could it have borne so much burden? It is a definite fact that God gave strength to Paul's body.How did God strengthen him? In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul mentioned the problem of his body. He said, "Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (vv. 10-11). What attracts our attention the most is that even though verses 10 and 11 are seemingly repetitive, they actually are not. Verse 10 speaks of the life of Jesus being manifested in our body; whereas verse 11 speaks of the life of Jesus being manifested in our mortal flesh. Many people can express the life of Jesus in their body but do not take a step further to do so in their mortal flesh. The distinction between these two is very great. When they are sick, many believers show real obedience and endure much without murmuring or anxiety. They sense the presence of the Lord and manifest His virtues in their countenance, voice, and action. By the Holy Spirit they indeed manifest the life of Jesus in their body. Nevertheless, they do not know that the Lord Jesus can heal their sickness, nor have they heard that His life is also for their humble body.
They never apply their faith to appropriate the Lord's healing of their body in the way that they did for the Lord's cleansing and enlivening of their dead spirit. As a result, they do not manifest the life of Jesus in their "mortal flesh." By the grace of the Lord they endure pain but do not receive healing. They have the experience of verse 10 but not of verse 11.In this verse we see how God heals us and strengthens us by the life of the Lord Jesus. This is very crucial. When our mortal body is strengthened, the nature of this body is not changed to be immortal. The nature of the body stays the same; it is the life which supplies strength to the body that is changed. In the past we depended on our natural life as the source of our strength, but now we depend on the life of Christ for our supply. We can be strengthened to work because we have the resurrection life of Christ for our body's sustenance.