II Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Powerful Message, Weak Messengers
I got tired of running out of cash. Many times when we travel, we use a credit card to pay for fuel because I can pay quite a bit of money just to fill up the diesel one time. If I am going a thousand miles, that’s a lot of cash to be carrying. So, very frequently, I don’t have any cash in my wallet. I got tired of running out of cash so I put a couple of bills deep in my wallet. Imagine my delight and surprise when not long ago I found the five dollar bills I didn’t even know I had. My first thought was, “Where did that come from?” Now on the one hand, you would expect to find money in a wallet, but on the other hand, what I found exceeded my expectations. What I found was not based upon how beautiful the wallet was, but upon the fact that I’d put it there to begin with.
Every once in a while we find something so amazing that we ask ourselves, “Where did that come from?” Maybe it is insight, humor, or some other quality that comes out in a person. While you would expect those things to come from a human, what comes from that particular human exceeds what you would otherwise expect from him.
II Corinthians 4 talks about a message that is given through humans, but certainly exceeds any person who has ever delivered it. We are talking about the message of God’s grace, God’s good news that His Son has been given for our salvation. II Corinthians 4:1 says, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.” “This ministry” that Paul had received and that we have received is the ministry of the gospel.
Verse 5 says, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.” My power does not come because I preach, but because the content of the message is characterized by Jesus. Verse 7 says, “But we have this treasure [the gospel] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” Verse 11 says, “That the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” This results, as he says in verse 15, in “the thanksgiving of many … to the glory of God.”
God is glorified when the power of our lives matches the power of His message, exceeding our natural strength and abilities. My power and value in life does not come from how gifted I am but in the message I give. This message should characterize my life. God is glorified when His powerful message is delivered in the power of His grace through me, the weak messenger. God’s message will be here longer and stronger than any person that gives it, which is why it is important that our lives reflect the gospel message.