Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Tag: Earthern vessels

Jesus in the NT :: 2nd Corinthians

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On December 14, 2011

In Christian

The book of 2nd Corinthians gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the New Testament (N.T).

Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Church in Corinth, refers to all those who have believed in Jesus Christ as an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Come to think of it, we are ambassadors, because Jesus Christ himself was an ambassador; in fact, the greatest ambassador of all time – the ambassador of God to man.

An ambassador is one who has a mission; who belongs to the king/county he/she represents; who is an alien in the country where they are sent to serve; who is armed and dangerous; and who is willing to die for his mission. As aforementioned, the greatest ambassador of all is Jesus Christ himself, for He is God’s ambassador to mankind. Jesus had a mission (to save sinners). He belonged to God (for He and God the Father are one). He was an alien on earth (for he came to the world he created, and it knew him not; his very own rejected him). He was armed (with the power of God) and dangerous (against the spiritual forces of wickedness) and He willingly died for the salvation of mankind (He said, I lay down my life).

Apostle Paul also refers to Jesus as the priceless precious treasure hidden in jars of clay (earthern vessels) (2 Corinthians 4:7). Three of the four gospels records the story of the woman (Mary) with an alabaster jar full of perfume, with which she anoints Jesus symbolic of his preparation unto death (Mark 14:3-9; Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:2-8). The scripture records that the perfume was valuable and that she broke the jar. See the perfume is what is valuable, not the jar itself. The sweet aroma of life that is in Jesus Christ within us is what is valuable and not our bodies (the jar of clay) itself. In India, you will find piggy banks that are made of clay and the only way you can take the contents that are stored within is to break the pot. Likewise we must be broken so that Jesus Christ, the priceless treasure, within us can be shared and experienced by others.

In 2nd Corinthians, Jesus is the Ambassador of God to man; the hidden treasure in us, the jars of clay.

2 Corinthians 5:19-21 (KJV)
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (KJV)
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Winning Wars :: Lamp and Trumpet

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On October 11, 2010

In Christian, Winning Wars

The book of Judges, in chapter 7, records a fascinating account of the Lord leading an army of 300 men with Gideon as their leader, against the Midianite army whose number is likened to be like that of the sands of the sea (Judges 7:7,12). Interestingly, instead of arming the men with weapons of warfare, Gideon gives to each man, to hold in his hand a pitcher with a lamp within and a trumpet. Upon reaching the vicinity of the enemy camp, the trumpets are sounded, the pitchers are broken and each man holds in his left hand a lamp and in his right the trumpet to blow proclaiming, the sword of the Lord, and victory in won.

As an earthern vessel (pitcher) (2 Corinthians 4:7), we have in us, the Light (lamp) of the world, Jesus Christ (John 9:5). Just as the pitchers were broken, we must be broken (put on the mind of humility) so that the Light of the world, shall shine forth over the darkness of sin and death. We must also take in our hands, the trumpet to sound and proclaim the sword of the Lord, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). In other words, we must be vocal of our faith in Jesus Christ.

For victory in the war that happens in heavenly realms, we must have Jesus Christ (lamp) in us (pitchers) and not be afraid to proclaim Him with booming (trumpet) sound.

Photos

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On November 6, 2009

In Christian, Reuben

On November 2, 2009, the penultimate day of our vacation in Mexico, after kayaking in the afternoon, Reuben started building some sand castles on the beach and as we searched for the camera to take a picture of what he had built, we realized that it was not in the bag that we usually carried it in. I went to the room to look for it and when I did not see it there, I started to panic. Panic stricken I asked Reuben to pray and we both prayed as Sangeetha walked over to the restaurant where we had lunch to see if we had left it there. I eagerly waited for Sangeetha to return with the good news that she had found it but that was not the case.

This is when it dawned on me that what I really felt concerned about was not the camera itself but the photos that was in the chip within the camera. We had taken about 200+ photos since the beginning of our vacation, including some family pictures at Chichen Itza, which is one of the seven wonders of the world. The camera is just a shell and was replaceable but the memories that were captured in the chip within were not only irreplaceable but priceless as well.

Likewise the shell of our bodies (jars of clay) is not what we should be concerned about but what we contain within it in our hearts (chip) is what truly matters. And what truly matters is the treasure of Jesus Christ (who is priceless and irreplaceable) whom we should hold within our jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:5-7) in our hearts.

Eventually, we did find the camera which was in the room carefully stowed away by the housekeeping service personnel and now I believe that this experience was given to teach me a valuable lesson. i.e., what really matters is the treasure of Jesus Christ hidden in those who believe in His name and not our ephemeral bodies that will metamorphose one day into celestial ones.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (KJV)
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

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