Sunday Scribbles: Treasure Leaking From Cracked Pots

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Corinthians 4:7 ESV).

What is this treasure? To fully understand verse 7 you have to back up to verse 6. The word "but" is a dead giveaway that you are missing something if you don't back up. Remember, context is king!

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 (2 Corinthians 4:6).

This treasure is the light of the glory of God, Jesus Christ.


Where is this treasure?

In jars of clay.

Jars of clay. Where does this analogy come from? I'm glad you asked.

Jars of clay, pottery, clay pots, the potter are all terms from Old Testament Scriptures carried into the New. These were terms people knew and understood from their routines of everyday real life. The New Testament comes alive with so much more illumination when read through the lens of the Old.

Isaiah 29:16 (NIV) You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?

Isaiah 64:8 (ESV) But now, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.

Paul comparing God's people to jars of clay and God being the Potter makes perfect sense now when reading 2 Corinthians 2:6-7.

Now, let's get to more of the good stuff!

We are pots formed by God, who have also been broken and cracked by sin. But God chooses to use broken down cracked pots; those who have surrendered to the hand of the Potter, to leak His Light ,by His power, into a world of darkness.

His Treasure. The Light of the world. The glory of God. Jesus Christ.

God uses broken and contrite hearts. (Psalm 51:17)

Confession. Repentance. Restoration. (Psalm 51:7-12)

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you (Psalm 51:13 ESV).

Want to know a little more about the Treasure? Jesus is described in Hebrews 1:3 as the radiance of God's glory and the exact imprint of His [God's] nature! 

Isn't that awesome? God chooses you and me - those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, (the Potter), healed of our brokeness from sin, restored and molded into new creations, crafted to spill Treasure - God's Light and God's glory into the world.

Thank You, Jesus, for empowering me through Your Holy Spirit to leak Your light, Your treasure, from this cracked pot into a dark world. I worship You, and You alone. I live for You, and You alone. May all who catch of glimpse of Your light shining out of me today see You, and You alone. Amen."

My Pleasure,
Melanie