It is all about relationships

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

As I worked out at the gym yesterday a young man ask how I was doing.  It took a moment for my old mind to recall how I knew him.  I first saw him about six years earlier coming into the gym with his mother and dad, and he was a little guy in size, but he worked hard in the gym and I was always amazed at what he could do for his size.  A couple of years ago I complimented him and shared how I had watched him develop at the gym and ask what were his goals?  It was like I turned on a light bulb, he shared where he was going to college that he was a walk on for a football team and that he wanted to be a doctor.

Yesterday, as we visited he shared how his goals had changed and the reason why, it once more reminded me that it is all about relationships; this is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”  As we look at these verses it is all about relationship, it is all about the Father loving you and me so much that He gave His only Son to take our punishment, to buy us out of the control of sin, it is about the glory within us because of the Spirit of the living God.

Shall we visit verses 7-11, “Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.”

The letters of stone were the Ten Commandments and they were not attainable for sinful people, all they did was condemn not justify.  The Commandments were a mirror showing us the need of forgiveness, the need for a redeemer, and Romans 7:13 will give you more understanding of this fact.  It is often said that the Bible is a love letter to us from the Father, and that is so clear in Romans 5:6-11.

As we look at 2 Corinthians 3  verses 8-9, “will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.”  Christ in you the hope of glory, you will find that in Colossians 1:27, but you would be wise and I know you are, to read Colossians 1:26-28.  Returning to 2 Corinthians verses 8-9, they are telling us of a new covenant, resulting in righteousness through the indwelling Spirit.

Verses 10-11 are a contrast of the two covenants in the degree of glory; one is fading and the other shines brightly.  But if the flesh controls it will not let the Spirit’s light show, so let your light shine, by submitting to the Spirit and not the flesh.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice