June 4, 2018 Monday

“For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who 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 earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed —  always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.” (2Corinthians 4:5-12 NKJV)

            It is so easy to let our sharing be about our congregation, our denomination and our beliefs.  But Paul reminds us our message is to call people to “Christ Jesus the Lord” and nothing else!  We are also to show and tell that we are servants of God because we have been purchased.

            Paul then goes on to present to us a view of God and a view of what it means to be a Christian.

God is not only the Creator but is also the re-creator of those who come to Jesus and are recycled by God.  God is able to take His excellent power and puts that treasure into “earthen vessels” (cracked pots) of our lives!

Christians are called to serve the God who loves them and redeems them.  We are to be reflections of God’s light into a dark world and share God’s knowledge and power.

            Then Paul offers us a picture of his own life as a Christian and prepares us for the trouble and persecution that often is part of being a Christian.  If we remain faithful in our suffering people will more easily see and understand the suffering of Jesus.

            We are called to always be “carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”  Our lives and faith in the midst of suffering is a manifestation of the death of Jesus and the life we have receive through Jesus!

            Indeed if we live by faith we become a manifestation of God that will help people see Jesus and be more likely to come to Jesus.  There is a story that Gandhi thought the Bible was a book of truth and said he would become a Christian if he ever saw someone live it out.

            Do you think people do not come to God because of how you live?  Do you think people come to God because of how you live?  Are you “carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body”?