Tuesday 14th June - 2 Corinthians 3
Today’s chapter is 2 Corinthians 3, you can read it here
Tom writes:
“We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likely with ever-increasing glory” That is a screen-saver verse. It’s a verse to lift our spirits when we feel lost or discouraged or alone. Let it encourage you now. The encouragement is two-fold. It tells us we already reflect the Lord’s glory. I already reflect God. You reflect God. Now that is quite a statement but Paul is happy to make it about the cranky corrupt Corinthians. And so we know he’d make it about us as well. This is because our reflection of God’s glory is not down to our skill or holiness but is due to God himself being a seal in our hearts. From the outside we may look no more “holy” or “devoted” than we did last week, or even than before we came to Jesus. But from God’s perspective we already reflect his glory. We look like God to God because he sees his Spirit when he looks into our hearts. This is enormously comforting. And, indeed, any Spirit-filled person will see something of God in me if they look with open eyes. This is because the Spirit of the Living God is writing a letter on our hearts. Holy Spirit is inscribing words and ideas onto you and you probably don’t even realise it.
What an amazing truth that is. But it gets better. There is more of God that Holy Spirit will reflect in us. There is more writing that he will inscribe each day for the rest of our lives. Each day that we open ourselves to Holy Spirit is a day when God looks down on us and sees a little bit more of himself in us. Simply by Holy Spirit being in us, our mirror that reflects God’s glory is incrementally cleaned. And as the mirror is cleaned it changes us - it changes our desires and our inclinations. We find ourselves becoming more like Jesus in our inner being and - like water soaking through a sponge - that eventually starts to flow out of our outer being. God is changing us by his Spirit. And so we can rest secure and be assured. We have sweet freedom from our own self-destructiveness. And we have sweet freedom from the rules and regulations of religion. Our primary imperative is to let Holy Spirit give life to us. And we do that through turning to the Lord and keeping our eyes fixed on Him throughout our day. “Come, Holy Spirit” is a wonderful prayer to pray, especially when God answers it, which he does every time we give him the space.
Question for reflection
What do you find most encouraging about this passage?