EARTHEN VESSELS
“For God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But
we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may
be of God, and not of us.”
(2 Corinthians 4:6, 7).
There
seems to be a contradiction between the two ideas expressed in the verses
above. On the one hand, we find that God
has shined His glorious light into every believer’s heart and opened their
minds to the glory of God that is found in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is a picture of power, hope, and great
strength. On the other hand, we have
been made to bear this unfathomable treasure in what is described as fragile,
earthen vessels – clay pots, if you will.
This is a picture of frailty and vulnerability. We are constantly encouraged by the Word of
God (with all of the precious promises that it offers us) to rise up with
boldness and confidence in Christ; but then we turn around and find ourselves
frustrated by our own weakness and seeming limitations. There is something extremely valuable however
– a treasure we’re told - that God has hidden in these corruptible containers. If the vessel seems humble and frail, it is
only that the excellence of the treasure that it holds may be glorified all the
more.
The
scripture goes on to say, “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; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered
unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our mortal flesh.” (2
Corinthians 4:8-11). The language that
the Apostle Paul uses here is definitive: “always bearing in the body the
dying,” and “always delivered unto death.” Paul is warning us that in this life these
things are inescapable. We WILL be troubled, we WILL be perplexed, we WILL be persecuted, and there will be
times when we ARE cast down. Through all these things however, and many
more besides, the glory of the knowledge of what we have in Christ will keep us
so that we need not be distressed, in despair, forsaken, or destroyed. Just
as a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, and as a worm spins its
own cocoon around itself and ceases to be a worm, our own self-life must die in
order for the germ of new life to emerge.
That rotting kernel becomes a living, new plant, and the worm is
transformed into a beautiful butterfly.
In the same way, we must die to self and put off this corruptible shell
in order to one day be delivered from bondage into the glorious liberty of the
children of God (Romans 8:21).
Jesus,
the Son of God, could only accomplish His Father’s will by suffering and dying
on the cross. There was no other way for
God to redeem mankind. Since sin and
death came about because of man, then redemption and reconciliation had to come
by man also. This is why the Word was
made flesh and dwelled among us. “For it became Him, for Whom are all things,
and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings.” (Hebrews 2:10). “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we
shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5). Peter also tells us, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same
mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that
he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men,
but to the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1, 2).
Be encouraged however, for our God will comfort us in all of our
tribulation. Although the sufferings may
abound, so also will the consolations of Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3-6). Just as surely as the Lord Himself walked
with the three young Hebrews in the midst of the fiery furnace, strengthening
them and encouraging them, Jesus will also walk with us and manifest Himself to
us through every hardship and temptation that we face.
Jesus’
first sign that He performed at the wedding in Cana was to turn water into
wine. It wasn’t just a cheap wine that
He provided for the wedding guests; it was the best wine - an expensive wine. What He chose to put that expensive wine in
was six stone vessels! These vessels
held about 30 gallons apiece and were used for ceremonial washing and
purification that was required by the Jewish law. That would have made 180 gallons of wine that
Jesus provided for that marriage feast!
Even if it was a rather large group of people, I find it hard to believe
that they could have gone through that much wine – especially since they had
already drunk all the wine that the groom had already provided!
So,
Jesus was signifying several things by this miracle. First, that God always supplies in
abundance. “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us.” (Ephesians 3:20). Whatever
we can imagine, and whatever we can ask, God can top that! We Christians tend to think too small. Jesus told His disciples, “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy
may be full.”
Second,
that the righteousness of the law that was contained in rituals, ceremonial
washings, and carnal ordinances was passing away. The new wine of the Spirit was ushering in a
new dispensation that would be defined by the righteousness which is by faith
in the finished work of Christ. “Which was a figure for the time then
present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make
him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks,
and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of
reformation.” (Hebrews 9:9, 10).
Finally, that God does not choose the rich, the wise, and the mighty;
but He chooses common vessels that will show forth His glory. “But
God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his
presence.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).
God was doing a new thing, although it was not really new, it had been
prophesied from the beginning and was just now being fulfilled in His Son. The new wine was being poured into new
bottles because the old ones would not be able to contain it without bursting!
There
is another story in Matthew that illustrates our theme. “And
being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came
a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she
brake the box, and poured it on his head.” (Matthew 14:3). Here again we have a picture of the release
of the Spirit through the breaking of the outward man. The alabaster box was beautiful to be sure,
but it was not even close to being as valuable as the precious ointment that it
contained within. Only when the box was
broken could the fragrance of that ointment be experienced. Our life is like that box. As long as it is strong and intact, the
treasure inside that is Christ is useless and can never be experienced. When that shell is cracked and broken, then
the Life of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh. It is then that men can best see Christ in
us.
The
Apostle Paul suffered a “thorn in the
flesh” which he prayed three times for God to remove. God did not remove it, but, instead, spoke
these words to His beloved saint, “My
grace is sufficient for thee: for My
strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Once Paul understood these words, it freed
him to embrace the difficulties of his life and his ministry knowing that the
Lord had a plan and a purpose for his suffering. He said, “Most gladly therefore will I rather
glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9, 10).
Do
you know a Christian who is always joyful and seems at perfect peace no matter
what circumstances he or she may be experiencing? They always seem to have a timely word to
speak to those whom they encounter. They
are quick to pray, quick to help out, and quick to encourage those who are
struggling. It may be apparent that
these precious souls are going through trials themselves, yet they seem to
flourish in tribulation. They are the
ones who have learned the same secret that Paul did: “My strength is made perfect
in weakness.” We tend to think that if we are really
close to the Lord, we will not have to go through hardships. We expect God to bless our way and clear a
plain path for us all the time. While
that is sometimes the case, we forget
that faith usually requires work, love requires labor, and hope requires
patience (1 Thessalonians 1:3).
Gideon
is a good example of God’s intention toward man. When the angel of the Lord first appeared to
Gideon, he said “The LORD is with thee,
thou mighty man of valour.” (Judges 6:12).
God always sees the end from the beginning and calls those things that
are not as though they already are. He
is not bound by either time or space. We
can only see what is, but God can see what will be. Gideon felt anything but mighty, or a man of
valor, and yet God saw what he was to become.
The Lord began immediately to sever any connection Gideon had to the
heathen god Baal his father and the other people in his town worshipped. After that, Gideon gathered an army to fight
against the Midianites who were oppressing Israel at the time. God began to whittle that army down to only
300 men in order that His servants would learn to trust Him alone and know that
they could not deliver themselves. When
Gideon’s little army surrounded the enemy camp and broke the earthen vessels
that contained the lamps of fire, the light burst forth, they all shouted the
victory, and their enemies were miraculously defeated! The same is true of us. When we can finally let go of our dependency
on the flesh, our own strength and abilities, then the Light of Jesus can
finally shine forth through us.
The
cross of Christ is the ultimate symbol of life from death. It was there that the Son of God, Who became
the Son of Man, gave His body to be broken so that His precious blood could
flow out and bring healing to the nations.
A river of Life gushed forth that day that all the forces of evil could
not resist. His was the greatest
sacrifice because it was not for His sins or shortcomings that He died, but for
ours! He was willing that His body be
broken for us that the Resurrection Life might be released to all those who
believe. God is working something
glorious in your life and mine! We may
not see His plan at first, but we can trust that He knows what He is
doing. We’re told that “All things work together for good.” It
is the “together” that is the
key. Not everything that comes our way is good, but God can take it and work it
together with everything else to bring about something that is truly good.
“Trust in the LORD with all thine
heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5, 6).
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