Fragile Vessels with Divine Treasure: Book Three

By Dr. Nosayaba Evbuomwan

"Fragile Vessels with Divine Treasure is an oxymoronic title, just like the words 'bitter-sweet,' and you are confronted with that oxymoron throughout the book: a fragile humanity with huge capacity for divinity with the paradox of the Almighty Father permitting the crushing of our fragile humanity in order to produce a more beautiful humanity a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jun 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890419361

Dr. Nosayaba Evbuomwan

Dr. Nosayaba Evbuomwan is noted for his revelatory and insightful teaching and exposition of the Scriptures. He was called to the ministry from an early age, and his involvement and leadership span over four decades as he was serving in various capacities in Nigeria, the UK, and the USA. Dr. Evbuomwan's ministry work has found extensive reception in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Chile, and Peru. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from City University of London, UK.

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DR. NOSAYABA EVBUOMWAN

Fragile Vessels with Divine Treasure

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2024 by Dr. Nosayaba Evbuomwan

Scripture quotations are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 979-8-89041-935-4

ISBN 979-8-89041-936-1 (ebook)

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who chose me and delivered me from a young age into an eternal relationship with Him. He has been everything to me, and I am forever grateful for counting me worthy of His divine treasure, yet a fragile vessel.

Acknowledgments

Dr. Anne Olufunmilayo Evbuomwan, my able and loving wife, gets the first mention for her continuous encouragement and support during the writing of this book.

Many thanks are due to my friend and co-laborer, Pastor Taiwo Ayeni, for his meticulous editing, suggestions, and formatting.

My brother, friend, and classmate Ikeazor (Kizor) Akaraiwe, an esteemed legal practitioner and senior advocate of Nigeria (S.A.N), agreed to write the Foreword for this book less than sixty seconds after sending my request text to him. Despite your busy schedule, you took the time to write such a masterful foreword, for which I am truly grateful.

A beloved sister, Ebele Orakpo, a journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria, excellently transcribed the original sermon series on which the book is based. Your meticulous work is much appreciated.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1

Fragile Earthen Vessels—Origin, Characteristics, and Types

Chapter 2

Fragile But Chosen

Chapter 3

Fragile, Yet with Capacity for Treasure

Chapter 4

Fragile But Formed (Part 1)

Chapter 5

Fragile But Formed (Part 2) The Impact of the Treasure

Chapter 6

Fragile Yet Treasure-Worthy

Chapter 7

Fragile Vessels with Divine Treasure

Chapter 8

Fragile for God’s Glory

Chapter 9

Your Failure Is Not Final

Chapter 10

Jeremiah’s Word Picture

Conclusion

About the Author

Foreword

Just as the two disciples on the road to Emmaus observed their encounter with the stranger who talked with them from Jerusalem to Emmaus, saying, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? I confess to an epiphany as I went through the manuscript of Fragile Vessels with Divine Treasure (hereinafter referred to as "Fragile Vessels").

A Foreword is the first word, and while it should inspire you to want to read the book, it ought not to be a hagiography, that fawning adulation that sanctifies both fault and failure. Yet the book Fragile Vessels is almost faultless in substance, structure, and language. And I say almost only to avoid being hagiographical.

Fragile Vessels will force you to stop, think, and meditate. Every thought expressed in the book proceeds from deep thinking and personal experience. There is a healthy sprinkling of examples drawn from both contemporary secular and spiritual leaders, thus making the book highly relatable.

Just as Paul the apostle’s capacity for reasoning and argument makes you suspect that the author of those epistles had some legal training, the brevity, clarity, and precision of thought in Fragile Vessels makes you suspect that a scientific mind is behind the writing of a nonscientific subject.

But what did I say just now? Did I say that the book is about a nonscientific subject? Well, I am not so sure. The author handles what is essentially a biblical and motivational theme with scientific yet spiritual and secular relatability. For example, to pick Chapter 1 (Fragile Earthen Vessels) at random, in paragraph numbered B titled Vessel and subparagraph three of the same paragraph B contain scientifically structured explanations of Types of Vessels, causing you to see undoubtedly the workings of a scientific mind.

Proceeding further to Chapter 4 (Fragile But Formed) with its metallurgical metaphor of the microstructure of how iron changes to steel under certain conditions with examples drawn from ferric oxide, steel of 400 megapascal strength and steel of 800 megapascal, and equating this with the formation of Christian, godly character you are confronted with a scientific book, which in simplicity combines scientific explanation of God’s workings in mankind with scriptures; a pleasant and clarifying admixture of science and scriptural truth.

Fragile Vessels with Divine Treasure is an oxymoronic title, just like the words bitter-sweet, and you are confronted with that oxymoron throughout the book: a fragile humanity with huge capacity for divinity with the paradox of the Almighty Father permitting the crushing of our fragile humanity in order to produce a more beautiful humanity able to partner with divinity.

Many shades of this thought are distributed throughout the chapters. Apart from Chapter 1 on Fragile Earthen Vessels, the other chapters are equally oxymoronically titled. Fragile But Chosen (Chapter 2), Fragile Yet with Capacity for Treasure (Chapter 3), Fragile But Formed, Parts 1 and 2,

respectively (Chapters 4 and 5), which spoke personally to me and from which I drew inspiration from the scientifically inspired parallel between the formation of diamonds from the crushing of the coal and the transformation of a fragile creature such as I am into a treasure as well as the stories of T. D. Jakes and Pastor Enoch A. Adeboye.

It is not just the titles that are oxymoronic; the contents are startling in their substantiality and contrast. Fragile Yet Treasure Worthy (Chapter 6), Fragile Vessels with Divine Treasure (Chapter 7). Fragile for God’s Glory (Chapter 8), Your Failure Is Not Final (Chapter 9). Chapter 10, Jeremiah’s Word Picture, uses the metaphorical description of the various processes by which the potter converts marred clay into a work of artistic proportions to further illustrate the workings of the divine hand upon the lives of those who look to Him.

As a good teacher does a recap at the end of a lesson, the author does a recap of the book in the Conclusion. Though I avoid hagiographies, I am constrained to describe the author as a good teacher. My view is not predicated upon what I know of him but on the ease with which he has communicated with now-rare good English and with clarity.

If I have any regrets at all writing this Foreword, it is that my hectic schedule as a legal practitioner has not afforded me the opportunity to read the manuscript more thoughtfully in order to come up with a Foreword that would have done better justice to the merits of this wonderful work. I make myself a solemn promise, however, to take my time and go through the manuscript more thoroughly the approaching holiday season.

I commend the book as a distinct work of art, science, and spiritual endeavor.

By my hand, this 17th day of December 2023.

Ikeazor Kizor Akaraiwe

Legal Practitioner/Senior Advocate of Nigeria

Enugu, Nigeria, West Africa

Introduction

How great is our God, and how great is His name! Our God is a good God, gracious, plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness. He extends His goodness to man in such a way that even the angels began to wonder why. In Psalm 8, verse 4, David declares,

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?

God’s visitation ensures that man was put in dominion over the works of God, and He put all things under his feet (verse 6). Who can question Him? God is God all by Himself, and He can do whatever He pleases. This God can do without us, but in His infinite wisdom, He chose to use us. Isaiah, in his writing, says, Compared with the awesomeness of God, the whole earth put together is less than nothing, i.e., in the negative, or less than zero, so why would God care about us so much?

The truth is that even the human mind cannot fully comprehend the excellence, majesty, and glory of our great God. Why would this immortal, invisible, and only wise God, who has no beginning and no end, choose to dwell in weak and feeble human earthen vessels like us? God’s thoughts are indeed too wonderful for us to comprehend. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).

Right from creation, we see that God created man to be a partner with Him on the earth. God’s intention was for Adam to be His ambassador on the earth.

So, when He said, "…Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…" (Genesis 1:26), man was then given authority and dominion to rule on the earth. The starting point from then on was that Adam was commanded to name all the animals, which he did. Whatever he called them was what they became known as. What a super-intelligent feat! Who knows what else Adam could have done had he not fallen from that glory given to man by God?

As noted above, this first Adam, however, failed in the Garden of Eden. In subsequent generations and centuries, God continued to speak to humanity, albeit to a sample nation, Israel. In the fullness of time, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, came on the scene, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily showed us the Father’s desire and intent for man and what we were supposed to be like here on the earth (Colossians 2:9). Having completed the redemption plan, and rising from the dead, He ascended into heaven. Fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit who was to come alongside us, was fully outpoured in the earth.

At last, men and women can now be restored to God’s original intent simply by accepting and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. From the moment we accept Him, He gives us the power to become sons of God (John 1:12). He, Christ, the anointed one, and His anointing in us become our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Christ is that great light that shines out of us to the world so that our heavenly Father is glorified (Matthew 5:16). Christ Jesus is also the treasure in us, the earthen vessels. Paul, writing in Galatians 2:20, says we no longer live, but Christ lives in us, and the life we now live is by the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, who dwells in us. The manifestation of the excellency of His power through Christ thus brings God glory, for we were created for His pleasure and glory (Revelation 4:11).

In this book, the intention is to examine 2 Corinthians 4:7 as explicitly as possible to help us understand and appreciate its implications and ramifications for us as the Body of Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:7).

This earthen vessel is you and I, and the treasure in us is Christ, His anointing and glory. God bless you as you read this book and increase in the revelation of God, His will, and purpose for your life.

Chapter 1

Fragile Earthen Vessels

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Origin, Characteristics, and Types

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Earthen Vessels

Earthen vessels can be formed into any shape depending on what they are meant to be used for. God created man from the dust of the earth, and man is, thus, an earthen vessel. The raw material, earth, is dust or sand and, in this form, appears to be unattractive, dirty, and of low value. Its composition in varying proportions, however, are chemical elements that exhibit complex properties. There are six main types, and these are:

Clay

Sandy

Silty

Peaty

Chalky

Loamy

However, based on geographic reports, there are about one hundred and forty (140) other soil classifications that exist globally!

Earthen Vessels Showcase God’s Glory

The fragility of the earthen vessel means that it cannot claim glory, and so all the glory belongs to God. Just like the clay cannot question the potter, the same is true of the earthen vessel. It must be dependent on God and accept how it is formed and whatever shape it is made to meet God’s intended purpose.

Every earthen vessel is created for an intended purpose by God, and for this reason, it has a defined destiny—it must fulfill to the glory of God. Since it is formed from dust, it can be manufactured via several processes of mixing, spinning, heating/burning, drying, and decorating for any intended purpose. The process of making the vessel is crucial to what it can be used for. The earthen vessel, therefore, must be patient to allow the potter to make it into that shape and form, that can help to fulfill its intended use.

It is worth noting that the fragility and dependence of the earthen vessel also means that it can be influenced by the environment. The severity of the environment can have either a positive or negative effect on the earthen vessel. The impact of the environment could limit or hinder the fulfillment of the purpose of the vessel but does not remove, stop, or limit the treasure within it. The treasure is always there "…as the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Romans 11:29).

To Showcase God’s Glory, the Earthen Vessel Must Submit to God

The question now is, is the vessel willing to co-operate with God so that the purpose for which it is created is fulfilled?

To answer this valid question, it means the vessel must rest in the Lord and be surrendered to Him. As earthen vessels, we must be aware that the environment we find ourselves in matters, as it can influence our lives. The implication here is that for "the treasure in an earthen vessel" to truly manifest, we must take time to be situated in the right location, at the right time, and for the right purpose. The mobility of the vessel within the environment is also very crucial.

This means I must be careful as an earthen vessel on how I indiscriminately move around from church to church and from location to location. I must be led by the Holy Spirit and be truly following the "cloud of glory." I must be a sheep, hearing His voice and following Him. It is from this perspective that I can truly say,

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want (Psalm 23:1).

This will then truly become my experience. My mobility as an earthen vessel must, therefore, be for God to use me for His glory. Thus, allowing His treasure in me to exhibit His manifold wisdom and excellency and enabling me to avoid wandering in the wilderness of non-fulfillment, lack of direction, and purpose.

For the reasons raised above,