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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.
2 Corinthians 4:7, 9a (NLT)
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Think of yourself as a fragile clay jar.
If you had senses and a mind to process those senses, you wouldn’t feel very secure. You would see threats all around you, threats that would serve to take advantage of your fragility.
One fall and that would be that. You would shatter into pieces and be rendered no longer of use. A shattered jar isn’t going to hold anything. There isn’t much hope for repair so the trash can is the usual destination.
A fall isn’t the only potential hazard. For a fragile clay jar won’t withstand blunt force. A hammer strike or a solid hit from another sold object would break the jar, either completely or at a minimum, put a hole in it.
The point is that fragile clay jars are vulnerable and therefore need special protection to maintain their integrity. As we have seen over the past two messages, Paul related Christian believers to fragile clay jars but he made sure his readers knew that Christians were set apart and therefore superior to a regular clay jar. This is because God filled Jesus followers with a special treasure, the gift of His Holy Spirit as well as His light and knowledge. Yes, Christians were fragile but they also contained a power that was greater than themselves, an incredible power that only God could give.
It was this power that would provide Christ believers strength to withstand the threats they faced, especially persecution. Paul knew all too well that there were people who rejected Jesus and were on a mission to eradicate Christianity all together. These persecutors hunted down Christians and threatened them with bodily harm and even death. Following Jesus wasn’t for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.
But note that although Christians were hunted down, they never were in a place where God wasn’t with them. He never abandoned or forsook His beloved children. He was with them and for them, and He still is today. This should give us a blessed assurance and confidence while in the midst of our enemies, an assurance and confidence reinforced by these words Paul wrote at the end of the eighth chapter of his letter to the Romans:
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. vv. 31-35, 37-39
As Christians, we will always find ourselves under attack. This is because Satan, our enemy, will never rest when it comes to trying to destroy every good and perfect thing God tries to achieve.
The good news is that Satan has no chance for victory. He has already been defeated by the same God that continues to show that nothing can separate His people from His love that is in Jesus, our Savior. Keep this in mind the next time you, the fragile clay jar you are, comes under attack by someone.
God is with you and for you.
Tomorrow, we’ll finish this series.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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