Our bodies are made from the dust of the earth, and for the duration of our earthly lives, we live in frail, feeble, perishing bodies that are decaying and dying. Seemingly they are of little worth to the great, powerful, omnipotent eternal Creator who is to be praised forever and ever. Yet God has taken our apparently useless, insignificant human forms and poured into them a revelation of the gospel of His only begotten Son.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” -2 Corinthians 4:7
God has poured into our hearts the divine light of His love and glory, the truth of His salvation and grace, the rich treasure of the news of Jesus. He alone can save a sinner from the penalty and power of sin, death, and hell. God caused the treasured light of knowledge of the glory of God, to fill and flood our weak, physical bodies so He might live in us and work through us, for our eternal benefit and His praise and glory.
We have this treasure of earthen vessels with an excellent power within, that proves God is for us and not against us.
Satan is the god of this world and an enemy to our souls who seeks to blind our eyes to this tremendous truth, or to at least deceive us with a satanic lie.
But, there’s a light that shines in our hearts to those of us who believe and it restores our souls. On the road to Damascus, Paul (Saul) was not only spiritually blinded but also by the glory of the risen Jesus, ascended, and blinded His physical eyes as well. But that blindness to the truth in Paul was removed and his eyes were opened to the beauty of Jesus and he saw clearly, both physically and spiritually.
From dust we are and to dust we will return. Our bodies are indeed earthen vessels, but the treasure that has taken up residence within us is the Spirit of Jesus our Lord. It is the glory of Jesus within us that the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians wants us to rejoice at the greatness and the privilege we have. It is through faith in Jesus that we have this treasure in us and that is an incomparable greatness of the power within that comes from God and not ourselves.
When we are saved and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, Jesus breathes into our bodies that were dead in our trespasses and sins. That’s when the Holy Spirit of God took up permanent residence in our weak, mortal frames. It’s the moment we trusted Jesus for our forgiveness of sins and gave us everlasting life.
The light of the knowledge of the glory of God began to stream into our hearts and gave us salvation and His indwelling Spirit is the greatest treasure of God who resides in our mortal bodies.
The Creator of the universe who caused light to shine out of darkness, and the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus so that His life may dwell in us and His love may shine in our hearts, that we may share His grace and show the excellency of His power to those that remain dead in their trespasses and sins.
There is no worth in us that we should be so honored, as the contrast between our frail, feeble, perishing bodies and His divine strength and eternal light demonstrates that by His goodness and grace. This heavenly treasure had been placed in our bodies.
This is the mystery of Jesus in us the hope of glory given to us so that His power may be shown in our lives. We have become temples of the Holy Spirit who uses God’s light to guide us into truth, so we can proclaim His truth and grace to others.
Let us praise His name for His inestimable grace towards us.
From Pity to Praise 