2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
This morning, I am led to begin a new section of our covenants messages that will hopefully help all of us to see the consistency of God’s teachings on this all-important, life-directing subject. We are both God’s friends and His servants of the Covenant of Grace. If our faith is deep, genuine, and obedient, then our covenant relationship with Him actually reaches every nook and cranny of our lives. I have always believed that if we truly abide in God, that our whole lives are a “living sacrifice of service pleasing and acceptable to Him,” [RO 12: 1]. Because of that service and friendship with God, we are “in His word” daily, pray often, and know what His will for our lives is. As I mentioned the other day, I believe we can be in contact with God, ready to listen for His commands, even when we are not in prayer. In other words, God’s leadership extends to ethics in the workplace, our attitude and willingness to be in touch with him even when we are cleaning toilets, doing the wash, dusting, or shopping for groceries. God is with us if we paint a picture or are painting the walls in our homes. He is with us when we are on vacation or hard at work. He is with us all the time wherever we are or whatever we are doing. I find that a comfort and hope you do too.
The apostle Paul takes up the subject of our servanthood to the Covenant of Grace in 2 COR 3: 1-18, and that is what I’m led to write about today. The opening paragraph of this passage is Paul’s contrast between the Law written on stone tablets and the Spirit indwelt in believers living “in Christ.” Remember that in RO 10: 4, we are told that “Christ is the fulfillment of the Law.” That doesn’t mean the at the Ten Commandments are no longer useful, but it does mean that once Christ’s blood was shed on the cross for us, we no longer live under the old covenant of the Law, but now live under the much-improved Covenant of Grace. RO 7: 7 tells us that the law is designed to help us know what is God’s will and what isn’t, but it doesn’t bring us salvation. Only Christ’s death on the cross could do that when married to our repentance. I love the words of 2 COR 3: 2-3, “You yourselves are the letter we have, written on our hearts for everyone to know and read. It is clear that Christ Himself wrote this letter and sent it by us. It is written, not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on stone tablets but on human hearts.” Now, that’s pretty awesome when you compare it to God’s oft-repeated will that we should have His laws written on our hearts, that we should declare Him to be our one and only God, and that He can claim us as His people [JER 31: 33-34].
You all know that we are the recipients of an invitation which God Himself initiated to come to faith and join Him in His work. No other belief system beside Judaism and Christianity can claim this. All the other ones begin with the people reaching to God, not the other way around. This invitation was offered to us when we least deserved it and were still God’s enemies. That makes it all the more remarkable. Consider what that says about the nature of God. At the time we were asked to join God in His work (and even now) we had no built-in ability to do it. God had to give us that too, and I believe He did. That’s why we have no right to boast about it. All of what we have and what we are came from our Creator. 2 COR 3: 6, “It is He Who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law, but of the Spirit. The written law brings death; but the Spirit brings life.” I like to think of that as God’s special “rescue mission.” Think about it; He sacrifices His Son on the cross and pays the ransom to free us from slavery in the marketplace of sin.
The issue of a veil placed over Moses’ face because it reflected God’s glory so intently that the people couldn’t look at him after he came away from a meeting with God was always a bit confusing to me until I read 2 COR 3: 7-11. [See also EX 34: 29]. This passage explains that even this reflected glory fades and can’t be compared to that which emanates from God Himself. We are reminded that the glory from the Spirit is so much greater than that which came from the Law and faded. That is one more reason why the Covenant of Grace is such an improvement over the old covenant. While the Law brought condemnation, the Spirit brings salvation! The glory from the Spirit lasts forever; that from the Law doesn’t.
The veil that remains to this day over most of the Jewish people is a one that will not allow them to recognize that Christ is their Messiah at this time. The last three words of this sentence are my way of saying that I believe implicitly in RO 11: 25 which tells us this stubbornness is temporary. God is in control, and things will change in His perfect time. For now, their minds are closed to this part of the God’s truth. 2 COR 3: 14b-16 tells us this veil is only removed when one is joined to Christ. That’s why those of us who are Messianic Jews are so privileged to have had that veil removed. With that privilege we also have the responsibility to “be a light to the nations,” [IS 49: 6] which is why I write these messages to you and serve God in other ways. Where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom (17). Remember JN 8: 32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” 2 COR 3: 18, “All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, Who is the Spirit, transforms us into His likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.” We need to ponder exactly how that applies to every aspect of our lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, You are an awesome God Who blesses His children abundantly. We acknowledge those blessings, and pledge to You our eternal gratitude, obedience, adoration, worship, loyalty, and diligence. Repeatedly, You have allowed us to see the wisdom in listening to Your commands and carrying them out at the time and in the way that pleases You. Your presence in our lives defines them without ever removing our free agency. Without You we are nothing and have nothing. We need only look at those lost, evil people who terrorize the more righteous ones throughout human history to understand the poverty of spirit a human has on his own. Once we are joined to Christ by our repentance and our faith in Him, we head for eternal life and are saved. Without this, we are condemned to eternal misery. You imbue us with the ability to join You in Your work, something that we can’t do without these gifts given to us by You. It is because of You that we hunger for Your word, desire to listen for and carry out Your will, and drink in Your righteousness. We never deserved it and don’t now, but because of Your loving compassion, we have it. Your desires have become our desires; Your bliss is our bliss. We come before You today with our spiritual vessels empty, ready for the Holy Spirit to fill them. We beseech You to direct us to whatever Your will for us is today and always. We confess any sin that remains in us to hinder this process. We offer ourselves at Your altar in humility as Your friends ready to serve You and the great Covenant of Grace You have given us. In Christ’s name, amen.
The contrast between the old covenant and new covenant is a subject that really deserves some emphasis. To demonstrate the consistency of God’s will throughout mankind’s history, it really helps to compare 2 COR 3: 3 with EZK 11: 19-20. These are the subjects which God directs me to take up tomorrow. How can we avoid feeling loved by God when we see what He has done for us? It’s a magnificent truth which lends encouragement and comfort to our lives even when we are suffering. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn