The Island-Fish

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  “O ye passengers, whom may God preserve! come up quickly in to the ship, hasten to embark, and leave your merchandise, and flee with your lives, and save yourselves from destruction; for this apparent island, upon which ye are, is not really an island, but it is a great fish that hath become stationary in the midst of the sea, and the sand hath accumulated upon it, so that it hath become like an island, and trees have grown upon it since times of old; and when ye lighted the fire upon it, the fish felt the heat, and put itself in motion, and now it will descend with you into the sea, and ye will all be drowned: then seek for yourselves escape before destruction, and leave the merchandise.—The passengers, therefore, hearing the words of the master of the ship, hastened to go up into the vessel, leaving the merchandise, and their other goods, and their copper cooking-pots, and their fire-pots; and some reached the ship, and others reached it not. The island had moved, and descended...

Courageous Spirituality (part 4): “Array God’s Power”

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“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 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." (2 Cor 4:5-7, ESV)

The power of God is meant for display. Paul pictures our body as a jar of clay into which God has placed the treasure of the gospel. How does this happen? Why does this happen? Paul tells us in verse 6: the reason they preached Christ Jesus as Lord and not themselves was because they saw the glory of God in the face of Christ. Once God reveals the darkness of sin by bringing in the light, who can keep that to themselves?

Part of the beauty of God’s glory is that He is consistent. The same God who shines this light is the same God who created light (Gen 1), the Father of Lights (James 1) who sent His Son to be the Light of the world (Jn 8:12). In other words, our task is not to store the light of His glory, but let His glory be seen through us. We are merely containers. Lanterns, if you will.

He shines through us “so everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.” (2 Cor 4:7b).

This means we can:
  1. Be secure: Receive your ministry the way you receive mercy because the way you receive mercy affects the way you give ministry. 
  2. Be sincere (open and honorable): There is no need for secrecy. 
  3. Be straight. No need to distort the Word of God (2 Cor 4:2b).
  4. Be singular. Preach Christ Jesus as Lord (2 Cor 4:5).

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