Clay pottery has been around for thousands of years. Clay pots can be very plain and functional, or very ornate and beautiful. Either way, after the clay is formed, it has to be properly dried, heated in a kiln, and then covered in a glaze. But even if all that is done precisely, the best clay jar is still fragile. Clay by its very nature is subject to imperfections, cracks, and breakage. Clay is temporary.
Now, imagine having a priceless treasure – gold or diamonds – and storing it in a jar of clay! This is the analogy Paul uses for the Christian life in 2 Corinthians 4:
“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. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
Our amazing, all powerful God, created all that exists. He spoke creation into being. He spoke, and out of darkness came light. This is the same power that has shone into our hearts to bring us from darkness to light, from death to life. Praise God we now have light in our lives! What is that light? It is the knowledge of God’s glory. How do we know and understand the glory of God? We see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is the full glory of God manifested in the flesh (Jn. 1:14, Heb. 1:3). Jesus is the light that has shone into our hearts to give us eternal life, and to guide us in this life now.
And in God’s wisdom, the glorious treasure of Christ is contained in a jar of clay. You are that clay jar. The priceless treasure of Christ dwells in your heart, but you are frail, perishable, breakable. Why would God put such a priceless treasure in such a feeble container? God does it this way to show that the extraordinary power in our lives is from God – and not from us. No one can ever look at a Christian – still weak, wounded, suffering, and sinful – and say, “Wow, look at her! What an amazing treasure!” It should be obvious to you and everyone else that the light and power of our lives belongs to God. Not to us.
The glory of God in our lives actually becomes even more obvious when we suffer. While we may be worn, cracked, and broken – somehow the jar is never shattered!
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”
Christians are afflicted in every way imaginable – sin, sickness, suffering – but we are not crushed. We are perplexed and confounded – thinking “How could this be happening? Where is God?” – but never driven to hopelessness and despair. We are persecuted – oppressed by Satan and man – but we are not abandoned by God. We may be struck down by the hardships of life, but we are not destroyed!
The suffering we experience is like the death of Jesus in our own bodies. Since Jesus suffered, bled, and died, through our faith we are crucified with him (Gal. 2:20). We are united with him in his death, so that we may also be united with him in his life. And so, in the midst of our suffering, the resurrection life of Jesus is manifested in our lives!
The resurrection life of Christ is alive in us when we suffer: when we are diagnosed with cancer, when we are abandoned by someone we trusted, when a loved one is hurt, when we face injustice from the world, financial ruin, or spiritual attack. You may be afflicted in every way imaginable, but you will not be crushed! We carry the death of Jesus so his life can sustain us. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11). And the resurrection of Christ is not only at work in us, but it works through us into the lives of others.
Yes, we are weak, frail jars of clay, but we are filled with a powerful, indestructible treasure! And so, we can stand with Jesus in faith.
“Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”
We believe in Jesus. And because we believe, we speak. We speak truth to those around us who are also suffering. We speak peace in the midst of confusion, courage in the midst of danger, and hope in the midst of despair. We know that the same God who raised the Lord Jesus from death to life will raise us into the presence of God. When this truth and treasure fills us, that grace extends out to more and more people. And as it does, thanksgiving increases in more and more people, all to the glory of God.
Therefore, Christian, when you suffer – when you are afflicted or afraid, perplexed or perturbed, persecuted or pestered, sick or sad, weak or wounded, struck down or fed up – do not lose heart.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
We do not – we should not, we cannot – lose heart. We don’t give up or give in. On the outside you may be wasting away, but on the inside you are being renewed day by day. Every day the treasure inside of us strengthens us. Every day we are empowered with resurrection life. Every day we become more and more like Christ.
Whatever affliction we face in this life is preparing and producing an eternal weight of glory that is absolutely incomparable to anything we’ve experienced in this life. Now the reality is that often our hardships don’t feel light – they feel deep, dark, and heavy. They also don’t feel momentary – they seem to go on and on. But the problem is that our suffering doesn’t feel light or momentary because we don’t understand the glory we are comparing it to. We need to stop looking at what can be seen – the temporary comfort and fading pleasure of this world – and we need to look to what is unseen with our natural eyes. What we see is temporal, but what is unseen is eternal.
Christian, when you face suffering and hardship, don’t lose heart. Look to what is eternal. Look to the eternal treasure in you – look to the face of Christ, the very glory of God! You are a jar of clay – but it is a jar filled with a treasure of insurmountable power!
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