Striking the Ground: Purpose? Effect? Fruit?

How Were the People Touched?

2 Corinthians 4:6-18

When we look carefully at 2 Corinthians 4:6–18, we begin to understand what happened to many people at Striking the Ground. The touch of God was not simply an emotional response to worship or an intense moment in His presence. According to Paul, the Glory of God does a deep work inside the believer. Consider!

1. Their hearts were illuminated — verse 6. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts…” The first work of Glory is illumination. Something becomes clear that was not clear before. People may have known biblical truths intellectually, but when God shines His light into the heart, truth becomes revelation. The person suddenly sees God differently, sees Christ differently, and even sees themselves differently. This is what Paul calls: “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.” The people were touched because God was giving them more than information about His Glory. He was giving them an inward awareness of His Glory. They began to know what before they had only heard about.

2. Something was deposited within them — verse 7. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels…” The Glory did not merely come upon the room. Paul says there is a treasure placed inside the vessel. The vessel is the person. The treasure is what comes from God. Therefore, when people encountered the presence of God, the purpose was not merely that they would feel something externally. God was depositing something internally.

• An awareness of Him.

• A hunger for Him.

• A greater sensitivity to His presence.

• A renewed love for Christ.

• A fresh desire for holiness.

• A burden for others.

• A renewed faith.

• A fresh boldness.

The vessel remained human, but now the vessel carried treasure.

3. They encountered a power greater than themselves — verse 7

Paul continues: “…that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” This is important. People were not being touched so that they could become impressed with a ministry, a speaker, or even themselves. They were encountering the realization: This is God. Paul directs our attention to moments in His presence when human strength, personality, intellect, and ability become secondary because we become aware of a power far greater than ourselves. That realization produces humility. It also produces faith. If the power is His, we are no longer limited to what we can accomplish in our own strength.

4. Their wounds and pressures were being met by His sustaining presence — verses 8–9. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” Many people come into gatherings carrying things nobody else sees. Grief. Weariness. Disappointment. Confusion. Family burdens. Ministry wounds. Fear.

Questions. Exhaustion.

Paul does not say the Glory means these things never happen.

Instead, the Glory produces something within the believer that keeps adversity from having the final word.

1. Troubled — but not crushed.

2. Perplexed — but not hopeless.

3. Cast down — but not destroyed.

The touch of God can therefore restore something inside a person that circumstances have been slowly wearing away.

5. The life of Jesus was being revealed in them — verses 10–11

Paul repeatedly says that the purpose is: “…that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” This is one of the deepest purposes of being touched by God. The purpose is not simply that we experience Jesus. It is that Jesus becomes increasingly visible through us. His compassion. His holiness. His courage. His love. His mercy. His authority. His willingness to serve. His concern for the broken.

The true evidence of Glory is not merely what happens while someone is lying on the floor, weeping, trembling, worshipping, or overwhelmed. The greater evidence comes afterward: Is the life of Jesus becoming more visible through that person?

6. Grace was being multiplied from person to person — verse 15

Paul writes: “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.”

This helps explain why Striking the Ground was about the people. The Glory was not intended to terminate upon one person. Grace spreads. One person is touched. That person touches another. A marriage changes. A family changes. A congregation changes. Someone begins praying again. Someone begins witnessing again. Someone begins believing again. Someone begins serving again. Someone carries the presence of God into their church, workplace, neighborhood, or family. The touch multiplies.

7. Their inward person was being renewed — verse 16

“Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” This may be one of the most important descriptions of what happened. Renewal. Some people did not need another sermon. They needed their inner person renewed. Their bodies may still have been tired. Their circumstances may not have changed immediately. Their problems may still have been waiting for them when they returned home. But something inside had changed.

1. Hope was renewed.

2. Faith was renewed.

3. Vision was renewed.

4. Love was renewed.

5. Spiritual hunger was renewed.

6. The inward man had been touched.

8. The Glory changed the weight of what they were carrying — verse 17. Paul then gives us an extraordinary expression: “…a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” This connects beautifully with Kevod — weight, substance, heaviness, majesty, Glory. People came carrying the weight of life. But they encountered another weight. The weight of His Glory. And when the weight of God becomes greater in our consciousness than the weight of our circumstances, perspective begins to change. The problem may still exist. But now something greater than the problem has entered the picture.

• His presence.

• His promises.

• His eternal purposes.

• His Glory.

9. Their vision was redirected — verse 18 Finally Paul says: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…” The Glory changes what we look at.

Before the touch, a person may be consumed with what is immediately visible. The diagnosis. The financial problem. The disappointment. The church difficulty. The family situation. The national situation. The unanswered prayer. But when God touches the inward person, spiritual vision begins to open.We start seeing beyond the immediate. We begin seeing eternity. We begin seeing His kingdom. We begin seeing what God is doing rather than only what circumstances are doing.

This is how the people were touched at Striking the Ground. They were illuminated. They received treasure. They encountered His power. They were strengthened in their weakness. The life of Jesus was awakened within them. Grace began multiplying. Their inward person was renewed. The weight of their circumstances encountered the greater weight of His Glory. And their eyes began moving from what is seen to what is unseen.

 That is why the gathering was ultimately about the people of God.The Glory did not fall simply to create a memorable meeting. The Glory came to do a work in the people.They were not merely touched by the Glory. They were being changed by the Glory so that they could become carriers of the Glory..