TREASURE IN JARS OF CLAY
2 Corinthians 4
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
When Israel finally pushed out of Egypt through the leadership of Moses, the telling blow was the death of all the first born of the Egyptians, a show of power against the enemy that the Pharaoh could not resist.
When the Gospel was finally activated, the telling move was the death of God’s own son, a show of sacrificial love for man.
The foundation of the Gospel is love, not power.
We often misrepresent the Gospel because we have no faith in God to show strength in weakness but for Paul, this is the glory of God. He would go on to write, in 2 Corinthians 12, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Many Christians claim to believe that God gives them power. They shout the name of Jesus and claim victory. They flaunt wealth and exude success. And they preach the Gospel of power. God indeed is almighty but what they fail to see is that God chose to shroud the Gospel in weakness, in sacrifice, in pain, in humiliation, in vulnerability, in death; only to rise from the tomb in life. There is no room for these experiences in their Christianity.
Is this truly the Gospel or have we embraced secret and shameful ways; used deception, and distort the word of God? Should we not, like Paul, set forth the truth plainly and commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God?
“Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart.”