Because we have received God’s mercy, we do not lose heart as we minister Christ’s love and grace to others. We renounce shameful and under-headed ways to share Christ’s grace. We don’t walk in deceitfulness or cleverness. Our message of God’s love is simple and open. If it is hidden, it is hidden to those blinded by the enemy who don’t believe. We don’t share what we don’t know. We share the grace of Jesus that lives in us. It is God who has made this light shine in our hearts so we can know His glory that is revealed in Christ. It is His light within us that radiates His grace and truth. His light shines in our hearts, but we are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. Our fragile lives reveal any abundant power is from God, not ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:1-7).
Paul knew that within himself Christ, the hope of glory, lived. He knew that God’s righteousness was the only thing that made him worthy. He was accepted and loved by God and lived out of God’s acceptance and love. Christ had presented Paul to God holy and without any fault. Out of his identity in Christ—out of Jesus alive in his surrendered life, Paul radiated the light and love of God. Dying daily to the lie of his flesh that told him he wasn’t worthy to serve God, Paul surrendered to the truth of Christ’s life in him. And out of his yielded life, Christ's light shone, and God’s power was manifested.
Paul was human, like us. He struggled at times. He was hard-pressed but not crushed, perplexed by life but not in despair (2 Corinthians 4:8). He knew who he was in Christ. He knew the Resurrection power of God was alive in him. He knew the very finished work of Christ, the hope of glory was his (Colossians 1:27). We have this same treasure of grace within us (2 Corinthians 4:7). God desires us to know who we are in Christ, to die daily to self, and allow the treasure of His grace to flow through our surrendered lives.
Just as God created light on the first day of creation (Genesis 1:3-5)—and even before He made the sun, moon, or stars on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19)—God created man to let the light of His life and love shine in his heart.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4, NKJV).
The world cannot comprehend His love because God reveals Himself to our hearts, not our heads. Yes, the Lord informs our minds, but faith comes from the heart (Romans 10:10). When we follow the inner witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we truly worship God. We allow the light of our faith to radiate.
Paul encourages us not to be discouraged or quit but to be confident in our relationship with Christ. We lose heart when we try to prove our worth or even to prove His. We don’t need to prove His worth. That is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility. That is what Paul was saying in these verses. Allow Christ to live in you. Allow Him to be Lord.
Christ has delivered you from the power of darkness (Colossians 1:17). Be free in His light and the power of His might. Just as Paul, know your position in Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to magnify Christ in you. When you know your worth—your position in Christ, His light within you shines, dispelling the darkness of your circumstances and drawing others to the truth that lives in you.
God asks us to let Him live through us—not to live for Him out of a sense of obligation. When we live for Him out of duty, we serve Him out of our flesh instead of His power and strength. When we allow Him to live through us, He does abundantly more than we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). His power is working in us.
When you follow the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, your heart surrenders to the gift of His new life. He is your Lord. The treasure of Christ lives in you and radiates out of your life, producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Nothing in your life produces these qualities or God's power. Don’t struggle out of your flesh. Only the light of Christ, the hope of glory, living within you dispels any darkness of unbelief. Surrender to His light within.
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