What a beautiful masterpiece God is making out of you
puricarefiles
The Light of
the Gospel
“4 Therefore,
having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose
heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful,
underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with
God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend
ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And
even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing. 4 In their case the god of this
world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from
seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not
ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your
servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who
said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4 English Standard Version (ESV)
God prefers losers,
broken people who know their weaknesses, see their flaws, admit their faults, failures and mistakes,
and cry out to him for help.
God specializes in turning around
losers, mending broken people and displaying his power through them.
Why did God use flawed people
in the Bible? He could have raised perfect, prominent, dignified heroes without
any character flaws.
All the perfect people are
in heaven. The only ones on earth are the people with serious weaknesses.
So God works with
sinners because that’s all he has to work with. In heaven we will all be
perfected by God’s grace. But until then, he uses people who fall short in many
ways, and He does some amazing things through them.
If you are a self-made
champion you can win too much, too soon, too easily. You can garner all
the laurels for yourself and make a name for yourself, and put God out of the
picture.
Consider the list of God’s imperfect heroes:
Noah was a drunkard.
Abraham was a liar and a coward, He lied about his wife to save his life.
Sarah laughed at God and His promise.
Jacob was a deceiver, trickster, supplanter.
Moses was a murderer – he murdered an Egyptian.
Rahab was a harlot.
Gideon was fearful.
Jephthah made a foolish vow.
Samson was enslaved with lust and anger.
David was an adulterer and a murderer.
Solomon married foreign wives who turned his heart toward idolatry.
Elijah struggled with depression.
Jonah was disobedient and ran away from God.
Peter was hot-tempered and denied Christ.
Paul argued with Barnabas.
Barnabas compromised the gospel.
James and John wanted special seats in the kingdom.
All the apostles argued about who was the greatest among them.
Abraham was a liar and a coward, He lied about his wife to save his life.
Sarah laughed at God and His promise.
Jacob was a deceiver, trickster, supplanter.
Moses was a murderer – he murdered an Egyptian.
Rahab was a harlot.
Gideon was fearful.
Jephthah made a foolish vow.
Samson was enslaved with lust and anger.
David was an adulterer and a murderer.
Solomon married foreign wives who turned his heart toward idolatry.
Elijah struggled with depression.
Jonah was disobedient and ran away from God.
Peter was hot-tempered and denied Christ.
Paul argued with Barnabas.
Barnabas compromised the gospel.
James and John wanted special seats in the kingdom.
All the apostles argued about who was the greatest among them.
God prefers people who know their
weaknesses, admit their flaws, acknowledge their mistakes. They know they
needed God and cry out to him for help.
If God had chosen only people with no
character flaws, some of the credit would inevitably go to those heroes and not
to the Lord. By choosing flawed people with a bad background God alone gets
the glory when they accomplish amazing things by His power.
That was what the
apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7. “But we have this treasure in
jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from
us." (ESV)
That is how the Lord
shows his magnificent power by working through puny defective
character. In this verse are statements we need to consider.
-
the Gospel is a treasure. “We have this treasure.”
What does this
mean? We can see the answer in verses 3-6:
“If
our gospel is veiled" (v. 3).
“The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (v. 4).
God “made his light shine in our hearts" (v. 6)
“The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (v. 4).
God “made his light shine in our hearts" (v. 6)
The unbelievers are blinded by Satan who
keeps them from seeing the glory of the gospel of Christ. But then verse 6 puts
the credit where it belongs when it says that God “made
his light shine in our hearts.”
God saved us not because
of anything we have done. Our condition was so hopeless that apart from God’s
grace, we had no hope at all. We would never have discovered the truth about
Jesus on our own. “Once I was blind but now I see.”
- God has hidden his treasure in “jars of clay.”
Sometimes valuable
treasures are found in ordinary clay pots.
The Dead Sea scrolls were found by a
Bedouin shepherd in a cave. Since he could not decipher the scrolls, he had no
idea what they said.
He used some scrolls for fuel and sold three. Other
scrolls were discovered in the same cave and in nearby caves.
Later it was confirmed that he
discovered the greatest collection of biblical manuscripts found in the 20th century - the Dead Sea Scrolls. Those scrolls
contained parts of every Old Testament book except the book of Esther - all of
them dated a thousand years earlier than any copy known at that time.
You never know what you might
find in an ordinary clay pot.
The original koine Greek word used for “jars
of clay” in
verse 7 refers to ordinary earthenware. These clay pots were used by common people to store grain, hide
valuables, and to keep oil for lighting their lamps. These cheap pots were
fragile - easily broken.
And God hides in that
those clay pots the priceless treasure of the gospel.
And God is still doing
it. God blesses the world by hiding the precious message of the gospel in “clay pots” that are not impressive by the
standards of the world. We would not qualify if that is the way God would do it.
But God has a special purpose in mind. He
does it to demonstrate Who the true source of spiritual power is.
The Greek word for power is “dunamis,”
from which we get the English words “dynamite” and “dynamo” – we can outright
imagine what kind of power it is.
God’s power is unique, working
in various ways - uniting people, tearing down walls, restoring marriages,
rebuilds families, lifts up the rejected, heals the broken-hearted, forgives
the deepest sins, imparts hope to the depressed in the darkest hour,
shines light in the valley of death.
So you sometimes feel like a
cracked pot, a broken jar, a discarded piece of pottery. You sense your own
weaknesses and failures and cry out for answers and help for new directions in
life.
God has the right comrades for
you- imperfect, unqualified people – the Church.
Get in line and join with the rest of God’s
cracked clay pots and see what he can do through you – He is
the Potter, we are the clay.
“8 But
now, O Lord, you are our
Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)
A huge chunk of
beautiful marble lay in the courtyard of the Florence, Italy, cathedral for
almost a hundred years. The sculptor commissioned to carve it had made a
mistake while attempting to carve the stone, and most people thought it was
beyond repair.
But in 1505, another
young sculptor by the name of Michelangelo came across the piece and thought he
could do something with it. For three years, he worked steadily, carefully
shaping the marble into an 18-foot-tall image of the young shepherd boy David –
a sculpture that would define the great artist’s career.
Much like Michelangelo, God is our
Sculptor. He finds us broken, lost, and in desperate need of work. Then, after
we put our faith in Christ, He begins to chisel us – scraping and chipping away our imperfections
and making us more and more into the image He wants us to be.
This sculpting we undergo
is not always a pleasant experience. That’s because sometimes we have idols and
imperfections chipped away to which we’ve grown very attached. But our Master
Sculptor knows what He’s doing. Trust Him to mold you throughout your life into
the masterpiece He’s created you to be and thank Him that He’s set you free
from the imperfections that hinder you!
God
would want to change your life if you let Him.
Ask God to help
you submit to His daily sculpting in your life as He transforms you into His
image.
God has
made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in
your own life through a relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ, and have
eternal life.
Say the following prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have
separated me from you.
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Be Broken! The sacrifices of God are a
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“Have Thine Own Way, Lord” Adelaide A. Pollard
lyrics
1. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
2. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
3. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
4. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.
Senior Living Ministries
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