Written on the tablets of the flesh

 

Written on the tablets of the flesh

 

2 Corinthians 3:3-5: "You are a letter from Christ, written not with ink (diakonedeisa) but with the Spirit (pneumati) of the living God; not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of the flesh (sarkinais). And since we have this conviction toward God through Christ (dia tou Christou), we are not self-satisfied (hikanoi) as if we were of ourselves, but our satisfaction (hikanotes) comes from God."

 

"Diakonedeisa" (διακονηθεῖσα) means "through our service." To serve means to establish others as people of God. The Spirit of the living God signifies Immanuel. It becomes the living Logos within the heart of the saint right now. It is not believing in Jesus Christ of 2,000 years ago, but being united with the Logos, who is alive in the hearts of the saints now. Pneumati means the Holy Spirit. Sarkinais means flesh (fresh).

 

Dia tou Christou means "through Christ." When one enters into Christ, assurance of God arises. Hikanoi means fulfillment (being filled). Humanism thinks that religious sentiment is satisfied on its own. Our fulfillment is achieved only through God.

 

God fulfills the saints to make them workers of the New Covenant. Being a worker of the New Covenant means becoming an heir of the Kingdom of God. Becoming an heir of the Kingdom of God means being guided by the Holy Spirit, not by the Law.

 

In the Book of Exodus, Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Law (the Ten Commandments). After forty days, he came down having received the Law (the Ten Commandments), and the glory of God appeared on Moses' face as a radiance. However, because the people were afraid, Moses covered his face with a veil. Yet, that glory is a glory that will pass away.

 

The office of performing the ministry of the Holy Spirit is one that possesses God's glory. Since the Spirit of God is with the hearts of the saints, God's glory is always present. However, Moses represents God's glory that was shown only briefly.

 

2 Corinthians 3:9-11: "If the ministry of condemnation (katachryseos) had glory, the ministry of righteousness will have even greater glory. For what was glorious (tedoksasmenon) has no glory (to merei) because of a greater (hyperbalousis) glory. But what is perishable has glory, so what endures is even more glorious."

 

The ministry of condemnation (judging sin) refers to the Law. It means that glory appeared to Moses, who had come down the mountain having received the Law. The ministry of righteousness is the office that ministers to help people become citizens of the Kingdom of God. What was glorified signifies the manifestation of the light of God's glory through the Law of Moses. The word "to mere" (partial) was not translated. This implies that Moses' glory was partial. "Hyperbalusis" (ὑπερβαλλούσης) means "excellent." The greater glory is that those who are guided by the Holy Spirit receive greater glory. Therefore, following the Law implies that there is nothing glorious about it.

 

The glory that will pass away is the glory that appeared on Moses' face. "The glory that will last forever" refers to the glory of being guided by the Holy Spirit. The hope of the saints is to become heirs of the Kingdom of God and manifest God's glory. Moses covering his face with a veil signifies a glory that will pass away, yet the ministers of Christ do not do so.

 

Just as the Jews of Jesus' time obscured the glory of Moses, who came down with the Law, they still cannot see the glory of God. The Jews have the perception that meeting the living Jehovah God leads to death. In the hearts of the Jews, Moses' veil remains hidden by fear. That is why they are unable to accept Jesus Christ. It is nearly impossible for Jews to turn to Christ, but if that were to happen, the veil would be removed. This means that it is that difficult for Jews to accept the Gospel.

 

2 Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit (Pneumatos) of the Lord."

 

When the Holy Spirit comes into the heart of a believer, Jesus Christ, the Ho Logos, is present and will be clearly manifested to the believer; it means that one comes to see His glory as if looking into a mirror. Through this, the image of God is restored in the believer as well. Although translated as "the same image," the Greek is *ten auten eikona* (τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα), which means "the same image." In other words, the believer becomes the same image as Him in Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:15 states, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." The image of God does not refer to character, but is Christ. The statement that Christ is the image of God implies that Immanuel applies to Him. Therefore, Immanuel applies to the saints as well.

 

Those who are not in Christ do not have Immanuel. Consequently, they become those who have departed from God. Members of the church community hear that although God's image existed when He created humans, that image disappeared due to Adam's sin, and therefore they must strive diligently to restore God's image. Genesis 1:26-27 states, "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'" This is followed by the words, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

 

The image of God is not restored through human effort; rather, only those who enter into Christ become Immanuel through God's grace. Those who enter into Christ are those who believe that they have died with Jesus and resurrected with Him. In John 1:18, it says, "No one has ever seen God; but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed Him." In John 14:9, it says, "Jesus said to him, 'Philip, I have been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, "Show us the Father"?'" This means that God is in Jesus Christ. The image of God signifies Immanuel, and everyone who is in Christ becomes the image of God.