Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
We are not sufficient to supply the resources we need for the life He has called us to live. But as believers we need not despair because our sufficiency is from God.
We are Earthen Vessels filled with Heavenly Treasure. God has set a pattern into the Christian life. He has crafted us as earthen vessels. We are weak and ordinary, as if made by clay. Earthen, frail, vulnerable, and inadequate, believers are meant for a purpose but are entirely insufficient for its demands. God knows we are made of common, ordinary dust.
And yet:
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
The wonder of being a vessel is that vessels are designed to contain something. And that is where the believer’s meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in life rests—in the treasure we are meant to contain. And yet still, the believer is but an earthen vessel. Though a container, we might refer to the believer as a simple, clay flower pot. Now a clay pot is no big thing, but containing the right flower, its worth is magnified—magnified for how it reflects the beauty of the flower. This is a good picture of what the Christian life is supposed to be. The believer has great treasure kept within earthen vessels of his body and soul, in fact, within our very life. Paul has told us of this great treasure:For we are to God the fragrance of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:15
That very word, fragrance, fits the imagery of a flower in a container. We are a fragrance of Christ. This fragrance comes not from the clay pot, but from that which resides in the pot. If one is to be the fragrance of Christ, that sweet-smelling aroma can only originate from Christ Himself. A clay pot only has an ordinary earthen fragrance and can never smell as a fresh flower. The fragrance comes from Christ Himself, because the life of Jesus is manifested in the believer’s body. The life of Christ is the treasure housed within the believer’s earthen vessel, within the believer’s mortal flesh.
Christ in us, our hope of glory. Colossians 1:27
Paul’s point here is the believer hosts incredible treasure in an ignoble, earthen vessel. God has ordained this to be that "the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." If any excellent power is seen in and through the believer’s life, it is to be seen clearly as something foreign to his nature—it must be clear that God is the power of excellency residing in the believer.
Of course, this is not the manner in which humanity regularly thinks. Man generally focuses upon the earthen vessel. He shines it, paints it, polishes it, shapes it, postures it, and does whatever he can to keep it from perishing. But the outer man is perishing daily. There is no way to stop the process brought on by the Curse. The believer is encouraged to recognize these vessels are only meant for a temporary season. As long as the inner man is being renewed day by day, the believer walks the right path and God is having His way in the man.
The dynamic, animating force that is to develop, drive, and produce a Christian life is to come from the contents of the vessel, not the vessel itself. This power is to come from the treasure rather from the human in whom the treasure dwells—from the flower rather than from the clay flower pot. This is a picture of insufficient vessels, containing sufficient treasure.
