Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 4:18

"while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." — 2 Corinthians 4:18 (ASV)

But this production of glory was by no means automatic. Only as attention was focused on what was unseen did suffering lead to glory. Behind the contrast between “what is seen” and “what is unseen” is the Pauline tension between the “already” and the “not yet” (cf. Romans 8:24–25; 1 Corinthians 13:12), the contrast between what is now seen by mortals and what is as yet hidden from mortal gaze. Paul affirms that his affections are set “on things above” (Colossians 3:1–2), on lasting realities as yet unseen, on the age to come that is present in promises and blessings still to be fully realized.

This preoccupation with the realm “where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1) was not the result of an arbitrary choice; it was an informed decision. Paul was profoundly aware that the present age is transient (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:31), whereas the age to come is destined to last for ever; his afflictions therefore were temporary but his reward eternal.