“Therefore,
since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful
ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth
plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of
God. And even if our gospel is veiled,
it is veiled to those who are perishing.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of
God. For we do not preach ourselves; but
Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of
darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. “
(2
Corinthians 4:1-7 NIV)
For the past few weeks, on Sunday
mornings, we have been looking at the subject of “The Power of The
Gospel”. We have used a variety of
passages to look at how the gospel is about a righteousness from God, not of our
own doing, that it is foolish in the eyes of the world, but it is a gospel of
the truth about God and His effective plan for our salvation through His Son,
Jesus Christ. It is a gospel that we
proclaim as effectively as we can, whenever we can, but the power in its being
understood comes from God, the Holy Spirit.
To further make the point that the
power in the effectiveness of the gospel is from God, and not from us, we can
remember this passage from 2 Corinthians 4.
As a pastor, and minister of the gospel, I am often reminded that no
matter how badly I might want to have someone grasp and receive the message
that I share on any given Sunday, (or at any other time for that matter), the
power to cause them to grasp and understand the message does not lie with
me.
Paul, in rather humbling terms,
describes how the power of the gospel lies with God, and not from us. We are but weak, fragile vessels in the
process. While a clay jar was an
important part of their everyday lives, they did not stand up well when dropped
or knocked over. While they might have a
beautiful design on the exterior, or be kept for special purposes, they were
still to be handled carefully. Given our
weakness, and our likeliness of failure, it’s amazing to me that God is even
able to use us.
We are instructed elsewhere to
remember who has made the clay jar, and that it is He who gets to determine its
purpose and use. It is He who makes our
work effective, and fruitful. The “god
of this age” (the devil) has blinded many eyes from seeing the light of the
gospel, but when the light of God’s Holy Spirit shines through, and spiritual
awakening happens, it is a glorious thing—a true work of God.
It is to the glory of God that He
awakens us; that He allows His light to shine in our darkness. It is good for us to remember that the power
of the gospel resides in the One who originated the whole plan of man’s redemption. The power does not rest in the messenger, but
in the one who sent him; not in the vessel, but in the one who made the vessel
and filled it with living water.
So we are to carry the message of
the gospel, to proclaim it regularly, and then pray! Pray that God will make that message powerful
and effective so that lives can be transformed, and changed forever. We should pray that He would be glorified by
using these weak, fragile vessels to carry this life changing message.
By
His Grace Alone,
Pastor
Bruce Jacobsen
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