II Corinthians 3

Do others see Jesus Christ living in us?  Do we reflect Jesus in our lives?  Does what we say and profess about our faith agree and correlate with how we live our lives?  The apostle Paul told the Corinthian Christians in II Corinthians 3:2-3 that they were to be living letters or examples to those who do not know Christ Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Paul said in II Corinthians 3:2-3, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.  You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

We also by the example of our lives are living letters "known and read by everybody."  We must be God's "letter from Christ" to the world around us.  We can be that kind of living letter or example to the world around us, because we have been transformed by the blood of Jesus.  As redeemed children of God we also have the Holy Spirit now living in us.  Hence, we must reflect Christ in our lives.  We must be a living letter "written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God."  Since many people never read a Bible, we must be Christ's living and walking "letter from Christ."  The people of the world are watching us closely.  Do they perceive and recognize Christ in our lives?

Many people today have a veil over their hearts.  They refuse to acknowledge the Lord Jesus. The veil over their hearts according to II Corinthians 3:14b "has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away."  The Holy Spirit has worked in our hearts as believers and has removed that veil of unbelief, and II Corinthians 3:17b goes on to remind us that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Because we have experienced that awesome freedom, joy, and forgiveness found only in Christ; we can and must reflect the Lord Jesus in our lives.  II Corinthians 3:18 says, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed into His likeness."  As a mirror is a reflection of us, so we in and through our lives must be a reflection of the Lord Jesus.  We must reflect the Lord Jesus in our attitudes, thoughts, actions, and in our character.  We must reflect the Lord's glory to those around us,  We must become "transformed into His likeness."

In order to be able to reflect the Lord Jesus' glory in our lives we ourselves must truly contemplate and behold the Lord Jesus in all of His glory.  We can begin to contemplate and behold the Lord's glory by reading and immersing ourselves in God's Holy Word.  As we focus on the Lord Jesus and get to know Him better through His Holy Word, we cannot help but begin to trust and love Him more and more.  Hence, we are much more likely to then follow the Lord's paths and will for our lives, and in the process we will bring increasing glory to the Lord's name.  As we behold and contemplate Christ in His Holy Word, we become more like the Lord Jesus.  In this way we bring glory to His name.

Also as we read and immerse ourselves in God's Holy Word, we more and more see God's holiness and our own sinfulness.  This leads to repentance and a turning away from sin in our lives.  Hence, as we are beholding and contemplating Christ in all His holiness; we are becoming more like Jesus Christ and becoming a better reflection of Him to the world around us.  As we truly behold Jesus in all of His glory and holiness, we become better living letters for Christ to the world around us.  We then like II Corinthians 3:18b says "are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."  May it be our passion to grow in our love for the Lord Jesus!  May it be our passion to grow in our perception of the glory of our Lord and Savior. May it be our passion to better reflect the Lord Jesus in our lives!