A Real Jarhead - 5/4/06

2 Corinthians 4:7, "We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us."

The treasure spoken of here in this verse is the light of the Good News about the glory and reality of Christ. It is this treasure that acts as the daily source of hope, joy, and purpose for the believer - even in the midst of trials and tragedy.

The verse just before this one reads, "God once said, 'Let the light shine out of darkness!'" This is what is meant when referring to Jesus as the light of the world. It is explained in this chapter that "the devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe." He has covered the globe in darkness, evil, and ignorance. Jesus Christ is the radiant light that pierced that darkness, overcoming it when He allowed His body to be pierced; His sinless blood cancelling the power of evil.

His glory cast out all shadows, and the gift of His love and grace along with the freedom He offers from the bondage of sin is the treasure we carry. Christians carry this light with them to continue shining in a dark world. But, the good news and power and love and grace and success that many Christians enjoy does not come from them. Anything good is from God. We are only clay jars - not equal in value or endurance to the treasure we carry inside. Clay is fragile, crude, and easily broken. It cannot match the purity and brilliance of the treasure inside - the Holy Spirit of the Lord and the knowledge of and relationship with Christ.

This scripture says that the treasure we hold shows that the great power is from God, not us. Nothing as pure and perfect and eternal as God can come from something as flawed and temporary as we are.

This reminds me of an argument by the philosopher John Locke in which he claims that the very idea of a perfect, holy God could only come from such a being. Basically, he argued that you cannot imagine or think of ANYTHING that you don't have some first-hand experience with. Every thought is based on something else we've seen, touched, heard, smelled, or tasted. Try it - the most imaginitive thought you can create cane be broken down into simple, un-original elements based in lifetime experiences. We possess NO knowledge of our own; everything we know has been passed to us from an outside source.

So, if we cannot be all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent, eternal, perfect, and holy - but we know of these qualities - that means something actually possessing these traits must exist. That also is a treasure held in the clay jar of our mind; the character of God revealed to mankind.

We serve a powerful God. He works in our lives daily. Some recognize His work and are in awe of it. Ohers labor under a lie and refuse to acknowledge His design and existence and stumble in darkness. But if you swallow your pride long enough to admit thyou don't have it all figured out seek Him, then His light will flood your life and change you forever. As Christians, we are commanded to carry this light to those who've never seen it. And that job will last the rest of our lives.