The Treasure of Excellency in Our Vessel
God “is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). The next verse tells us, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” We are earthen, clay, vessels but we have a treasure in us.
God puts Himself as the treasure into us to show that “the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). The following verses describe very difficult situations to show that the power is of God and not of us.
We Christians have this treasure within and manifest it to those around us. The Lord spoke about Paul in Acts 9:15, “this man is a chosen vessel to Me, to bear My name before both the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” Each one of us is a vessel to bear His name, that is to manifest His person, whether in a lesser or a greater way.
For this manifesting, we follow the example in Matthew 25:4, “the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” We need to be filled with the Spirit (portrayed as the oil in this parable) to manifest Christ. He is the treasure in each one of us today and will be the immense treasure in the corporate vessel of New Jerusalem.
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Posted by Don on July 19, 2024
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/07/19/the-treasure-of-excellency-in-our-vessel/
