Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we
WEEK 19
THE ACHING HEART SATISFIED IN
CHRIST
2 CORINTHIANS 3
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades
away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
ALMIGHTY GOD, Your judgments are unsearchable
and Your ways unfathomable; from You and through You and to You are all things.1
We are not sufficient in ourselves
to claim anything as coming from us. Our only adequacy is what we receive from Your gracious hand. You created us; not we ourselves. By Your grace alone we are Your people
and the sheep of Your pasture.2
You have made us partakers in a glorious New Covenant. In Jesus Christ we can see the unveiled brightness
of Your glory face-to-face.3
We are therefore participants in the ministry of righteousness,
and living reflections of that glory which does not fade away.
All the tainted glory of this fallen world is fading away. We rejoice in that knowledge,
and we look forward to the coming of Your kingdom,
when the glory of Christ will shine brightly
throughout all the earth. In the meantime, we earnestly desire to be vessels of His glory,
reflecting the beauty of His moral perfection
and establishing the honor of His name so that all the world may see and hear.
Yet we know, Lord, that sin has blinded the minds
of those who do not know Christ. A veil has been erected that obscures eternal truth
from the hearts of so many. Make us a living letter—not with ink and paper
but by the Spirit of the Living God— to be known and read by all, so that the ministry of righteousness
may truly abound in glory.
We grieve over the heartache caused by sin. We know that the consequences of evildoing are always bitter. Although temptation invariably comes to us
with promises of ease, comfort, pleasure, and self-gratification, we have learned the hard way that every fruit of evil
is thoroughly and inevitably corrupt. We know from the testimony of Your Word
that sin is what unleashed pain and suffering
into the universe in the first place. Help us to be mindful of that when we are tempted,
and help us to hate sin
even more than we despise sin's consequences.
How our hearts rejoice that Christ has been manifested
to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.4
He satisfies the longing soul
and fills the hungry soul with goodness.5
He delivers our souls from death
and He keeps our feet from stumbling
so that we might walk before You in the light of life.6
He is the One who said,
"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."7
Only He can salve all the pains of our hearts
and satisfy the deepest longings of our souls.
That is why, dear Father,
we come to worship You in Jesus' name. By Him we have obtained access into Your presence. Because of His sacrifice on our behalf,
we have received full pardon for all our sins. We come clothed in the spotless garment
of His perfect righteousness.
Nevertheless, we come with a deep sense of spiritual poverty,
marveling that we can be so loved and lavished with such grace when we are so often forgetful of Your goodness
and so prone to self-indulgence. Lord, we thank You for that endless forgiveness that comes to us,
and we praise You for having prepared for us
a glorious eternal destiny. We trust You fully for the grace needed
to sustain us until our dying day
or until that day when we meet the Lord in the air
to be with Him forevermore.8
Hear our prayer, Father, for we offer it according to Your will
and in Your Son's precious name. Amen.
1. Romans 11:33,36 2. Psalm 100:3 3. 2 Corinthians 4:6 4. Hebrews 9:26 5. Psalm 107:9 6. Psalm 56:13 7. Matthew 11:27-30 8. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; John 14:1-3