Wednesday

Related Verses
2 Cor. 4:7
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.

2 Cor. 2:10
10 But whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for also what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for your sake in the person of Christ;

2 Cor. 4:5-6, 10
5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.
6 Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
10 Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

Gen. 2:7
7 Jehovah God formed man with the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Psa. 27:4
4 One thing I have asked from Jehovah; That do I seek: To dwell in the house of Jehovah All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, And to inquire in His temple.

Psa. 63:2, 5
2 So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, Seeing Your power and Your glory.
5 My soul is satisfied as with the rich fatness, And my mouth praises You with lips of joyous shouting,

Related Reading
God’s shining in our hearts brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything. Because of the shining in our hearts, we have this treasure, a treasure that is wonderful, precious, and marvelous. The treasure in the weak earthen vessels is the very God in Christ shined into us…A priceless treasure is contained in worthless vessels! This has made the worthless vessels ministers of the new covenant with a priceless ministry. This has been accomplished by the divine power in resurrection. The excellency of the power is surely of God and not out of us. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3209) 

—

The treasure is the glorious Christ, the embodiment of God, becoming our life and everything to us. This treasure, the indwelling Christ, in us, the earthen vessels, is the divine source of the supply for the Christian life. It is by the excellent power of this treasure that the apostles as the ministers of the new covenant were capable of living a crucified life that the resurrection life of Christ, whom they ministered, might be manifested. 

The expression this treasure in 2 Corinthians 4:7 refers to verse 6, where Paul speaks of the face of Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated “face” in verse 6 is the same word translated “person” in 2:10, which refers to the part around the eyes, the look as the index of the inward thoughts and feelings, which shows forth and manifests the whole person. This indicates that unless we have the index of Christ’s face, He cannot be a treasure to us in reality…On the one hand, we can all declare that we are the earthen vessels and that Christ is the treasure within us. On the other hand, we need to see that it is only when we are living in the presence of Christ, looking at the index of His being, that we will sense that He is a treasure to us. In the whole universe there is nothing that is more precious than beholding the face of Jesus Christ. The more we live in His presence, the more we will sense His presence. 

If we learn to forsake our old person and instead take Christ as our person by looking at the index of His eyes and enjoying His presence, we will have a sweet sense of the preciousness of the indwelling Christ. This experience will cause us not only to be happy but also to shine; the glory of Christ will shine out from within us. 

The Christ of glory as the excellent treasure is received by the believers through the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ…Christ is the most excellent One in the whole universe; there is nothing that is more excellent than He. Since we have Christ as the treasure, the most excellent One and the most lovely One, we do not love the world. It is not that we should not love the world but that the world is inferior to the treasure, the excellent and lovely Christ. 

The illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, has shined on us. The gospel of the glory of Christ in 4:4 corresponds with the knowledge of the glory of God in verse 6. We need to note that according to verse 6 the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. This indicates that the gospel preached by the apostle was not a doctrine, theology, or teaching; rather, it was a lovely person on whose face we can see the glory of God, the image of God. When we experience the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ, this shining brings into us Christ as the image of God. We are attracted to such a Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3209-3210) 

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 317; Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 10