Divine Treasure.

Is Jesus Christ a treasure to you? After wiping the sweat away from wrestling in the theologically deep waters of 2 Corinthians 3-4:6, I felt exhausted. It’s a tough section. Like an intellectual marathon beginning with a Pauline commentary on the events of Exodus 32-34 to offering a theological defense of how certain Corinthians rejection of the Gospel message neither discredits The Gospel’s veracity or Paul’s apostleship. I’ll be honest, it’s easy to get bogged down in these deep waters among all the talk of covenants, shining faces, and the devil’s blindfold. Can I encourage you? Don’t be afraid of deep waters. Wrestle with those intellectually challenging bible text, run the intellectual marathons. I even dare say memorize them so you can chew on them all day long—at work, at home, even while you sleep. Don’t be afraid of deep waters. Because Scuba divers who merely scour the shallows never find treasure do they?

Back to my thought. Let me just give you a concise summarization of Paul’s thoughts from 2 Corinthians 3:1-4:6: Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are brought into the presence of God and transformed, not consumed. Now let me ask you a question: Is Jesus Christ a treasure to you? Don’t give me that Sunday school head nod and passively half-heartedly agree. Search the chambers of your heart for The Lord sees every corner, He sees all truth. This is why I say that you should wrestle with the tough texts, because Paul has been unpacking some Gospel diamonds for us, and sweet heavens they are diamonds to be treasured! Just to name a few: 1) We are given life, not condemnation. Don’t skim that over—We get real substantive life that lasts forever and ever (3:6, Cross-reference John 3:16), 2) We who were formerly slaves receive freedom, the chains of our vices are removed. Sin holds no power over those who have turned to The Lord and are hearts are tender to the working of the Holy Spirit (3:16-17, Cross-reference Romans 6:1-14), 3) We are transformed from “glory to glory”—God has decisively taken rebellious creatures made from dust and through the power of the Holy Spirit He is transforming us into the image of Christ. As R.C. Sproul once wrote, “From dust to glory.” Like a scuba diver scouring the deep I could see the sparkling diamonds radiating in my mind’s eye as I felt the weight of Paul’s pen press into my soul…

“But we have this treasurein jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” –2 Corinthians 4:7 (Emphasis added)

I asked myself: Is this Gospel a treasure to me? Or is it just another story to me? I’ll ask you the same thing. What’s the Gospel to you?

Here’s what I think. Boredom must be a consequence of sinfulness. Riddle me this: How is it possible for a person to read this revelation of what Christ has accomplished for us and not marvel endlessly at it? I am firm in this conviction: If we truly grasp but a mere small glimmer of what God has accomplished and eternally purchased for us in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ our heart of hearts would palpitate furiously within us. Your heart would overflow with joyful, affectionate, warm worship for Christ our Savior. If for a moment you but see that outside of Christ you are a ruined sinner, enemy of God, guilty, vile, condemned to die in a dreadful eternal hell—then Christ will be the supreme treasured possession of your life.  I am increasingly convinced that many have lost the wonder of this Gospel. At some point other “things” have become as treasure to us and in so doing the only true treasure has grown dim in our eyes. Have we become like scuba divers playing in the shallows with worldly trinkets and toys? A loss of wonder is evidenced by a lack of devotion to Christ—is spending time with God a burdensome task you check off or the very joy of your day? Does skimming social media entertain you more than searching the heart of God in the Scriptures? Does your mind wander to various issues during cooperate worship with the church? Answer this: Is Christ really your treasure?Spend some time marveling at this treasured Gospel. Consider just what Christ has done for you. Don’t lose the wonder. Come out from your shallow pool and jump into deeper waters. There is divine treasure to be found.