From the Pastor’s Heart, October, 2023
The Christian life is not hard—it’s impossible. Only God can do it. Those of us who wish to go all in for God must at some point realize that we can’t, but He can. As I think about the Christian life, I am drawn to II Corinthians 3 & 4. The law shows us we cannot keep it (3:4,5). There is a glory to the law as it is from God, and it describes God (3:7-11). The law, however, blinds us to the greater glory. Moses’ glory came from his personal relationship with the LORD. When he put a veil over his face people only saw the law and could not see grace (3:12-15). When a person turns to Jesus Christ the veil is taken away and he reflects God’s glory. (3:16-18). The more we have a relationship with the Lord, the more we, by showing His glory, begin to look like Him (3:18). We preach this truth, pointing to Christ, not ourselves (4:1-5). Satan tries to blind people. One method is to convince people that Christianity is just a religion—a bunch of rules (4:3,4). But actually, our “religion” is a relationship that leads us to show forth the person, Jesus Christ (4:4-6). We believers contain a treasure (Christ, through the Holy Spirit) and all the events in our lives work to remove our flesh (our own efforts) and let the life of God shine forth, reflecting Christ (4:7-18). It is all about Jesus, not us or anything we can do on our own. “We have this TREASURE in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us (4:7). May we grasp the grace of God that puts everything on His shoulders and relieves us of the burden of performance.
In Christ’s Love,
Harry
