"Ye are… the epistle of Christ. . . written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. . . . But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:3,18).
The first principle and basis of all Christian truth is that there is a Mediator between man and God. Because man could not come to God, Another has taken up the cause of man and worked out an acceptance for him. One result of this is that we have been made "the epistle of Christ" (blotted ones no doubt in ourselves), or a transcript of Christ, "written . . . with the Spirit of the living God." The Word says that we "are" this, not merely we ought to be. Though in ourselves most imperfect and failing, the definition given by the Spirit of God of a Christian is that he is a transcript of Christ.
The natural thought of many a soul is this:"Well, if that be true, I do not know what to think of myself; I do not see this transcript in myself." No, and you ought not to see it. Moses did not see his own face shine. Moses saw God’s face shine, and others saw Moses’face shine.
The glory of the Lord as seen in Moses’ face alarmed the people; they could not bear that glory. But we see it now with open unveiled face in Christ (verse 18), and yet are not afraid. We find liberty, comfort, and joy in looking at it; we gaze on it and instead of fearing, rejoice. How does this immense difference come about? It is "the ministration of the Spirit" and "of righteousness" (verses 8,9). It is Christ alive in the glory that I see:not Christ down here_sweet as that was_but Christ at the right hand of God. Yet though that glory is in the heavens, I can steadfastly behold it. All that glory_and He is in the midst of the glory and majesty of the throne of God itself_does not make me afraid, because this wonderful truth comes in that the glory of God is in the face of a Man who has put away my sins and who is there in proof of it (Heb. 1:3). I should at one time have been afraid to hear His voice, and have said with the children of Israel, "Let not God speak with us" (Exod. 20:19), or, like Adam with a guilty conscience, have sought to hide myself away (Gen. 3:8); but I do not say so now. No, let me hear His voice. I cannot see the glory of Christ now without knowing that I am saved. How comes He there? He is a Man who has been down here mixing with publicans and sinners_the friend of such, choosing such as His companions; He is a Man who has borne the wrath of God on account of sin; He is a Man who has borne my sins in His own body on the tree.
I could not see Christ in the glory if there were one spot or stain of sin not put away. The more I see of the glory the more I see the perfectness of the work that Christ has wrought, and of the righteousness wherein I am accepted. Every ray of that glory is seen in the face of One who has confessed my sins as His own, and died for them on the cross; of One who has glorified God on the earth, and finished the work that the Father had given Him to do. The glory that I see is the glory of redemption. Having glorified God about the sin_"I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do" (John 17:4)_God has glorified Him with Himself there.
When I see Him in that glory, instead of seeing my sins I see that they are gone. I have seen my sins laid on the Mediator; I have seen my sins confessed on the head of the scapegoat, and they have been borne away (Lev. 16). Once my sins were found upon the head of that blessed One; but they are gone, never more to be found. Were it a dead Christ that I saw, I might fear that my sins would be found again; but with Christ alive in the glory the search is in vain. He who bore them all has been received up to the throne of God, and no sin can be there.
Further, I am changed into His likeness. "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." It is the Holy Spirit taking of the things of Christ and revealing them to the soul that is the power of present practical conformity to Christ. It is Christ Himself that I love; Christ that I admire; Christ that I care for; Christ whose flesh I eat and whose blood I drink. What wonder is it, then, if I am like Christ? The Christian thus becomes the epistle of Christ; he speaks for Christ, owns Christ, acts for Christ. He does not want to be rich, he has riches in Christ_unsearchable riches. He does not want the pleasures of the world; he has pleasures at God’s right hand for evermore.
Does the heart still say, "Oh, but I do not and cannot see this transcript in myself"? That may be so, but you see Christ, and is not that better? It is not my looking at myself, but it is my looking at Christ that is God’s appointed means for my growing in the likeness of Christ. If I would copy the work of some great artist, is it by fixing my eyes on the imitation, and being taken up with regrets about my failing attempt, that I shall be likely to succeed? No, but by looking at my model, by fixing my eyes there, tracing the various points, and getting into the spirit of the thing. The Holy Spirit has revealed to my soul Christ in the glory as the assurance of my acceptance; therefore I can look steadfastly, without fear, at the glory, and rejoice at the measure of its brightness. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, could look up steadfastly into heaven and see the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God_and his face shone as the face of an angel (Acts 7). And look at his death! Just like his Master, he prayed for his very murderers. Stephen died saying, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge"; Christ died saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." In him there was the expression of Christ’s love for His enemies. By the Holy Spirit he was changed into the same image.
The soul at perfect liberty with God looks peacefully and happily at the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ. And because it sees that glory, and knows its expression, it walks before God in holy confidence. At ease in the presence of God, the Christian there drinks into the spirit of that which befits the presence of God, and becomes the "epistle of Christ" to the world, showing out to all that he has been there. May we more and more make our boast in Him in whose face all this glory is displayed_the Lamb who has died for us and cleansed away our sins by His own most precious blood.
(From Changed into His Image.)