2 Corinthians 4:6-7
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of the darkness," has shone 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 jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
To all Christians, God has given an amazing treasure; He has shone us His awesome glory through His Son, and we have seen God Himself "In the face of Jesus Christ." That's not too tricky to understand, but then this passage throws a curve ball; it says that we've received this treasure in jars of clay. What could that even mean?
As Christians, it is all to easy to slip into the idea that to defend God's name, we have to act like we don't have any problems; after all, if we're supposed to be children of the King, we shouldn't let people know we're weak! But this couldn't be further from the message that God tells us in the Bible. When we act like we've become super humans invulnerable to damage, we rob God of the glory He deserves. You see, clay jars are weak and easily broken, just like we as people are weak and easily broken.When we act like we're strong drop resistant iron jars, we draw the attention to ourselves - "look at how durable I am!" That should never be our message! We should say, "Look at how weak and breakable I am. I have no great abilities, no great powers, not great strengths, but look at what's inside! Look! God can put His treasure even in a clay pot like me! He is awesome!" We should always point the praise away form ourselves and to God.
Paul, the writer of these verses, said in chapter 11 of the same book, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." Why would he ever say something like this? Because he knew that the more he showed people how weak he was, the more amazed people would be at how amazing God is. Our anthem should be the same, not to hide our weakness, but to openly say, "I'm just a jar of clay, what's truly amazing is what God has done with this little weak vessel."
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of the darkness," has shone 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 jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
To all Christians, God has given an amazing treasure; He has shone us His awesome glory through His Son, and we have seen God Himself "In the face of Jesus Christ." That's not too tricky to understand, but then this passage throws a curve ball; it says that we've received this treasure in jars of clay. What could that even mean?
As Christians, it is all to easy to slip into the idea that to defend God's name, we have to act like we don't have any problems; after all, if we're supposed to be children of the King, we shouldn't let people know we're weak! But this couldn't be further from the message that God tells us in the Bible. When we act like we've become super humans invulnerable to damage, we rob God of the glory He deserves. You see, clay jars are weak and easily broken, just like we as people are weak and easily broken.When we act like we're strong drop resistant iron jars, we draw the attention to ourselves - "look at how durable I am!" That should never be our message! We should say, "Look at how weak and breakable I am. I have no great abilities, no great powers, not great strengths, but look at what's inside! Look! God can put His treasure even in a clay pot like me! He is awesome!" We should always point the praise away form ourselves and to God.
Paul, the writer of these verses, said in chapter 11 of the same book, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." Why would he ever say something like this? Because he knew that the more he showed people how weak he was, the more amazed people would be at how amazing God is. Our anthem should be the same, not to hide our weakness, but to openly say, "I'm just a jar of clay, what's truly amazing is what God has done with this little weak vessel."