In verse 6, Paul proclaimed victoriously
the marvelous work of God in his life and that of every believer. As he had experienced,
the Light of God also shone out of darkness into every believer’s heart and revealed
the knowledge of His glory through Christ. Paul was in effect saying that it
was God Who had given him the ministry.
In verse 7, he described himself
as an ordinary earthen vessel, a cheap clay pot. He was nothing much to look
at. Like a clay pot, his life might not cost much but what’s within him was an indescribable
treasure. What is this treasure? Paul wasn’t talking about his immortal soul.
He was referring to what he had said in the previous paragraph. It’s the Light that
shone into his heart that made him a Christian, gave him his ministry and caused
him to see the glory of God in the face of Christ. Like Paul, all of us have
the similar experience. God had shone His Light into our hearts and made us His
own. Then He grants us the privilege of serving Him and continues to allow us
to encounter His glory through the presence of Christ in our lives. Why did God
do that? Verse 7 says that it is to manifest the exceptionally great power of God
in the believer’s life and ministry. It is to make known that the source of
that power is God and never the believer himself or herself. Human weaknesses
are opportunities for God to manifest Himself and His power. We need to know
that achievement in a Christian’s life and ministry never originates from the
Christian himself. The source has and will always be from the incomparable power
of God. Hence achievements cannot be measured in human terms.
Why achievements cannot be measured in human terms? In human
terms, being afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck would not sound like accomplishment.
To Paul, they were achievements because through them all, God granted him His
incomparable power to endure. Although those experiences were tough yet he was
not crushed, not driven to despair, not left forsaken nor destroyed. In verse
10, he said that what he was going through was like carrying the dying of Jesus
in his body. Paul related himself to the death of Jesus. He lived a life of
constant denial of self. He refused to think of himself as of primary
importance and worthy of consideration. Why? So that the life of Christ might be
manifested through him and all his suffering. As he denied himself and gave
himself to death, Jesus would be manifested through him. And in so doing he
would be ministering life to the Corinthians.
From the experiences of Paul let us keep Luke 9:23-25 in mind.
Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny
himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever
wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake,
he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses
or forfeits himself?
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