Unto You, be all the glory

"For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. For we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." 2 Cor. 4:6-7

 God commanded light to shine OUT of darkness. 

 We pray for God to change us, break us, and make us into what He wants us to be however we often expect Him to do that a certain way. God never works according to the dictations of man. It’s comical at times because we pray for something like humility but then get upset when God humiliates us. We pray for desperation but then complain because we feel lacking. We pray for the likeness of Christ but then run from our Cross. We ask God to “give” us these things, expecting Him to almost simply thrust them upon us one day, but that is not how He works most of the time. He works from the inside out. It reminds me of the phrase, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called”. I am experiencing this being worked out in me through some major real-life application to say the least! It amazes me that out of utter uselessness Our Father makes things useful. Out of lifelessness, He creates. Out of crippling weakness, He develops unshakable strength. In the midst of brokenness, He births unquestionable stability. Out of sorrow and suffering He brings forth joy unspeakable. Light shines out of darkness. He doesn't bring the darkness out but instead shines the light in. God IS light and in Him is no darkness (1 John 1:5). So, the overflow of Himself into our vessel is what transforms us. The flood of who He is, in all His fullness, produces a purging that can be generated by no man. We can try to orchestrate it and produce results but until everything becomes about Him and Him alone all we are in actuality are weak humans trying to limit a sovereign God. The power of the Holy Spirit at work within every believer enables us to walk free from the inability to produce results according to the limitations imposed on us by our flesh. It is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).

Why has He done this? To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

For this is the mystery of the gospel is it not? Christ IN you, the hope of glory. What glory? Ours? So the world can see what amazing, dedicated people of God we are? No! It’s the glory of the Father in Jesus who endured the agonies of the Cross so we could be one with them. This is the whole reason for the being of man and this is what our lives are to be about. This refinement process, of burning us out of ourselves, is the process of the very character of the Creator of the universe being formed within us. When we see that He has brought us up to the high road of walking with Him in the light, being able to distinguish the darkness becomes a natural reflex. Our eyes have been trained to respond to the light, the pathways to our understanding have been enlightened so that we are now able to see what the hope of our calling in Him is- to be conformed to His image (in the face of Jesus Christ). If we are conformed to His image then we become conformed to light. So, the very nature of God Himself rules and reigns in our hearts and minds through the Holy Spirit…wow~

For we have this treasure in earthen vessels. For what reason?  
So that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us.

What is this excellence of the power of God? This is the whole point of the gospel! The power of God unto salvation. Not the power of God unto saving us from hell or heartache, but unto salvation. Salvation from what? What other than the sin that so easily ensnares us? (Heb. 12:1) He has made us free from the power of sin and self and given us the ability to walk in the same power that raised Christ from the dead! This is the newness of life! Maybe it’s just me but that stirs me up. Sometimes I think we forget what we have. We get caught up in trying to “serve” Him that we lose sight of Him. This is the hope that is in us! (1 Pet. 3:15) This is how we become the light of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14). And why do we have this hope, what is the purpose of this power, of the knowledge of the glory of God? The glory of God! It’s like one huge circle. The light is shown so we can have the knowledge of the glory of God. The knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (the mystery of the gospel) is imparted into these earthen vessels so that it may be evident that it’s all about the glory of God! It sounds so redundant but this is the reason for living is it not my brothers and sisters?

So I encourage you today, whatever you’re going through and faced with, press on to the upward call of the revelation of Jesus Christ in your mortal flesh. Run this race with all endurance! Be holy, just as He is holy. Lift up your eyes to your Father where your help comes from and conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here (in the situation you’re in and on this earth) in fear, working out your salvation; remembering that this is just a monetary, light affliction which is working for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Remember that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. For He was foreordained before the foundation of the world was, but was manifest, both on the Cross and now in your flesh, for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God and you walk in the newness of life. (Heb 12:1, 1 Pet. 1:17-20, Ps. 121:1, Phil. 2:12, 2 Cor. 4:17).

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from the perturbations of love is Hell." ~C.S. Lewis