“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7
What are the primary ways that God reveals Himself to the world, that they might know that He is God? The first is creation. This is because it came first, the magnitude of which is so great that man has no excuse before God to not believe in Him. Scripture declares that His attributes are seen in creation, “…His eternal power and Godhead,” (Rom. 1:20). Not only is His power on display day and night in the created earth and heavens, but the attributes of His holiness, wisdom, goodness, and beauty. Every day and night the creation unceasingly declares the glory of God.
The second, and most gloriously complete, powerful, and precise revelation of God is in Christ Himself. His coming, from the unveiling of His goodness and beauty at His very lowly and discrete birth in the stable of Bethlehem, to the revelation of His power to save the souls of men by the sacrifice of Himself on Calvary, God’s glory is unceasingly proclaimed for all to see. Never a man spoke like Christ, and never a man lived like Christ. He is that One who declared, “He who hath seen me hath seen the Father, …the Father and I are one.” He was, and is, that One who is the express image of God, and yet, at the same time declaring, “…before Abraham was I AM.” Christ stepped out of eternity, humbled Himself to the most extreme extent, allowing Himself be judged by men, sentenced to death by those whom He came to save, for the purpose of proving for time and eternity, the beauty, and complete power of His love. His purpose was revealed to be an eternal one, born in the heart of God from before the creation of the world. Before mankind sinned, He had already committed Himself to the suffering of the Cross many years later, so that, by His shed blood, and the taking upon Himself the sins of the world, and the wrath of the Father upon sin, He would provide a way for all men to be saved. Because He took personally upon Himself the sins of all men, and paid the price that their wickedness incurred, He alone became the One who could forgive their sin. By His authority, and none other, sin could now be fully forgiven. By the power of His resurrection, He would not only reveal, that the last enemy, death, was conquered, but that He would impart to fallen, forgiven men, that same resurrection power to escape the destructive, downward pull and direction where death would take them. He, the author and finisher of faith, would reveal also that He was the eternal Truth, and Life. By the proclamation of His gospel, Christ would reveal to all who would listen, and come to Him, that HE was the certain Way to be saved.
There is a third way that God reveals to men that He is God, and it is through His church, Christ’s living body on this earth today, and every member of it. From the moment of the new birth, being born again of the Spirit, Christ by the Spirit has come to dwell in the heart. The Apostle Paul writes that, “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” What treasure? It is Christ by the Spirit. This is God’s way to reveal to the world, “…the excellency of His power,” 2 Cor. 4:7) being of God and not of men, and this in the measure of Christ dwelling in the heart by faith. Christ is both the fountain and river of living water, powerful and flowing, the constant, abiding Light unto the world in the life of every believer. The manifest fragrance, and reality, of Christ’s Life is to fill the believer walking by the Spirit.
Paul again wrote: “…God…hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6)
Dear Father, Fill us with Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.