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In this message we shall cover the following New Testament symbols of the believers: letters of Christ, mirrors, earthen vessels, pillars, luminaries in the world, good soldiers of Christ, and laboring husbandmen.
In 2 Corinthians 3:2 and 3 we have yet another symbol of the believers — letters of Christ. Verse 2 says, “You are our letter, inscribed in our hearts, known and read by all men.” The believers were the fruit of the apostles’ labor, commending the apostles and their ministry to others. Thus, they became the apostles’ living letters of commendation, letters written by the apostles with the indwelling Christ as the content in every part of the believers’ inner being.
Verse 3 is the continuation of verse 2: “Being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart.” In verse 2 Paul speaks of “our letter,” and in verse 3, of “a letter of Christ.” It seems that here there are two kinds of letters — the apostles’ letter and the letter of Christ. The believers, as the apostles’ letter, were a letter of Christ. But which comes first, “a letter of Christ” or “our letter?” The letter of Christ must come first. The believers are the apostles’ letter because they are first a letter of Christ.
As letters of Christ the believers are inscribed with the Spirit of the living God as the writing element. The Spirit of the living God, who is the living God Himself, is not an instrument, like a pen for writing, but the very element, like the ink, with which the apostles minister Christ as the content for the writing of living letters that convey Christ. The writer of this letter is not the Spirit of God; the writer is the apostles. The Spirit of the living God is the “ink,” the element, the essence, of the writing. This means that the Spirit of the living God is the element with which the letters of Christ are written.
The writing that takes place in our hearts has the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit as the element. This element is actually the processed Triune God. As the processed Triune God is written into us, we become letters of Christ.
In verse 3 Paul says that the letter of Christ is inscribed “not in tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart.” Our heart, as the composition of our conscience (the leading part of our spirit), mind, emotion, and will, is the tablet upon which the living letters of Christ are written with the living Spirit of God. This implies that Christ is written into every part of our inner being with the Spirit of the living God to make us His living letters so that He may be expressed in us and read by others in us.
Because this letter is written on our heart, a composition of the soul and the conscience, the leading part of our spirit, the letter of Christ is actually written on our spirit and soul. When the apostles minister Christ, they minister Him into the heart and spirit of the believers. First, Christ as the life-giving Spirit is ministered into a believer’s spirit. This means that Christ is written in the spirit of that believer. Then by further ministry Christ spreads into the mind, the emotion, and the will. Eventually, Christ will be written into every part of our inner being. In the words of Ephesians 3:17, this is Christ settling Himself, or making His home, in our heart. Christ making His home in our heart equals the writing of Christ throughout our inner being. This writing causes a believer to become a living letter of Christ. Such a person expresses Christ in whatever he says and does. He becomes a living letter for others to read.
In 3:3 a letter of Christ does not mean a letter written by Christ; rather, this letter is a composition that uses Christ as the alphabet and conveys Christ as the contents. A letter of Christ is one composed of Christ as the contents to convey Christ and express Him.
A letter of Christ is composed using Christ as the words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. From first to last, Christ is every part of such a letter. Therefore, a letter of Christ speaks Christ, for every part of the letter expresses Him. We all should be such living letters of Christ so that others may read and know Christ in our being.
Finally, the believers as letters of Christ are read by all men (3:2). We are living letters of Christ, living epistles, and others can read the Christ who has been inscribed into us. We need to exhibit to others the Christ who has been written into us. The more Christ is written into our being, the more others will be able to read Him in us.
In 2 Corinthians 3:18 the believers are symbolized by mirrors: “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” In this verse “we” denotes the apostles, who, as examples and representatives of all believers, are ministers of Christ. Because the apostles are our examples and representatives, what they are we should be also. Therefore, this verse is related to us and reveals that we are mirrors. First, the heart turns to the Lord so that the veil may be taken away (v. 16); second, the Lord as the Spirit frees us from the bondage of the law (v. 17); and last, with unveiled face we, as a mirror, behold and reflect the glory of the Lord and thus are transformed into His image from glory to glory.
According to verse 18, we behold and reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord. The words “beholding and reflecting as a mirror” translate a single word in Greek. Here we have the beholding, the reflecting, and a mirror. Beholding is to see the Lord for ourselves; reflecting is for others to see Him through us. A mirror reflects what it beholds. As a mirror beholds, it reflects what it beholds. We are mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord.
The glory in 3:18 is the glory of the Lord as the resurrected and ascended One, who is both God and man, passing through incarnation, human living, and crucifixion, accomplishing full redemption, entering into resurrection, and becoming a life-giving Spirit. This Spirit dwells in us to make Christ and all He has accomplished, obtained, and attained real to us so that we may be one with Him and be transformed into His image from glory to glory.
In our experience we all should be mirrors looking at the Lord and reflecting Him. However, if we would be mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord, we need to be unveiled. There must not be any veils covering us. Suppose a mirror is proper in every way. It is in the right position with respect to the object it is to behold and reflect. But the mirror is covered with a veil. As long as a mirror is covered with cloth, veiled, it loses its function. The veil keeps the mirror both from beholding and from reflecting. Likewise, if we are veiled, we cannot behold and reflect the Lord’s glory. But if, by the mercy and grace of the Lord, all the veils are removed, we shall be mirrors beholding and reflecting the Lord with unveiled face.
If we want to be unveiled, we need to pray, “Lord, take away anything that is covering me. Lord, remove my veils. I want to be completely open and absolutely unveiled so that I may behold and reflect You.” Then with an unveiled face we shall behold and reflect the glory of the Lord, and we shall be transformed into His image from glory to glory.
When we with unveiled face are beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord, He infuses us with the elements of what He is and what He has done. Thus, we are being transformed metabolically to have His life shape by His life power with His life essence, transfigured, mainly by the renewing of our mind (Rom 12:2), into His image. The words “being transformed” in 3:18 indicate that we are in the process of transformation.
We need to be deeply impressed with what it means to be transformed. To be transformed is to have Christ added into our being to replace what we are so that Christ may increase and our natural life may decrease. As the process of transformation takes place within us, the old element of our natural being is carried away, and the glory, the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit, is added into us to replace the natural element. This is what it means to be transformed.
Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us that we are being transformed into “the same image.” This image is the image of the resurrected and glorified Christ. The “same image” means that we are being conformed to the resurrected and glorified Christ, being made the same as He is (Rom. 8:29).
In 3:18 we are also told that we are being transformed into the same image “from glory to glory.” This means that we are being transformed from one degree of glory to another degree. This indicates a continuing process in life in resurrection.
The process of being transformed from glory to glory is “from the Lord Spirit.” “From” indicates that transformation is proceeding from the Spirit rather than being caused by Him.
Today glory is the resurrected Christ, and this Christ is the Spirit. This means that the Lord as the glory is the Spirit living in us and dwelling in our spirit. Now that we have the Spirit indwelling our spirit, we need to exercise our spirit to contact the Lord. The more we exercise our spirit with an unveiled face, the more we shall behold the Lord. As we are gazing on Him, we shall also reflect Him. While we are beholding and reflecting Him in this way, His element, His essence, will be added to our being. This new element will replace and discharge the element of our old, natural life. Then we shall experience transformation, a metabolic change. We shall be transformed into the Lord’s image.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” Here we have another symbol of the believers — earthen vessels. God’s shining, which is God’s dispensing, in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6) brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything. Because of the shining in our hearts, we have this treasure, a treasure that is wonderful, precious, and marvelous. However, we who contain this treasure are earthen vessels, worthless and fragile. A priceless treasure is contained in these worthless vessels.
The Christ of glory as the excellent treasure is received by the believers through the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Second Corinthians 4:4 speaks of “the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” Here we have four matters: illumination, gospel, glory, and Christ. Verse 6 goes on to say, “The God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” God’s shining in our hearts results in the illumination of knowing the glory of God in the face of Christ, that is, in the enlightenment that causes us to know the glory of the gospel of Christ. This illumination, this enlightenment, that makes the glory of Christ’s gospel known to us issues from the shining of God in our hearts. God’s shining in the universe produced the old creation. His shining in our hearts has made us a new creation, for this shining brings into us, earthen vessels, the marvelous treasure of the Christ of glory.
In our preaching of the gospel there should be an illumination, a shining. We need to preach the gospel in a very illuminating way. This means that while we are preaching, God shines into the hearts of those to whom we are speaking. To preach in this way is to present not merely a gospel of certain facts but a gospel of glory. Those who receive the gospel of glory will have Christ as the precious treasure dispensed into them. Then, like us, they will be earthen vessels containing this treasure.
According to 2 Corinthians 4:7, we have this treasure in earthen vessels “that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” The Greek word translated excellence may also be rendered transcendence, surpassingness, exceeding greatness. The fact that we are earthen vessels proves that the excellence of the power is of God and not of us. In ourselves we are earthen vessels, fragile and worthless. How can we shine forth the glory of the gospel? We do this with the power that is of God. Although we are earthen vessels, God has shined this precious treasure into us. Now this treasure becomes the source of the power energizing us and enabling us to shine forth God’s glory. Therefore, this treasure, the indwelling Christ, in the earthen vessels is the divine source of supply for the Christian life. It is by the excellent power of this treasure that we can now live a crucified life so that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested for the shining of the gospel of the glory of Christ.
The shining reality of Christ is the treasure in us, the earthen vessels. Outwardly we are earthen vessels, but inwardly we have a priceless treasure — Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God to be the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This treasure has a power, and this power is excellent. Christ as the life-giving Spirit in us is the One who shines and works. This is the treasure we have in us.
In chapters two, three, and four of 2 Corinthians Paul uses five very significant and expressive symbols of the believers: captives in a triumphant procession for the celebration of Christ’s victory, incense-bearers scattering the fragrance of Christ, letters written with Christ as the content, mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of Christ in order to be transformed into His glorious image, and earthen vessels containing the Christ of glory as the excellent treasure. We need to be deeply impressed with the significance of these symbols. We need to have the consciousness that we are captives of Christ and also His incense-bearers, those bearing Him as incense. We should not simply work for Him but should spread abroad the sweet fragrance of Christ. We also need to realize that we are letters written with the “ink” of the Triune God. Moreover, we are mirrors beholding and reflecting Christ and earthen vessels containing Him. How marvelous! We need to consider these symbols again and again, for they illustrate matters that are deep, profound, and experiential. May we experience all the matters indicated by these symbols. We all need to be such believers.
According to Galatians 2:9 and Revelation 3:12, the believers are symbolized by pillars. First, the pillars are the prominent ones among the believers in the church today. This is indicated in Galatians 2:9 where Paul speaks of “James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars.” These pillars were prominent ones in the church at Jerusalem.
The pillars are also the overcomers among the believers in the temple of God in the coming age and in eternity. Revelation 3:12 says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore.” Here we see that the overcomer will be made a pillar built into the temple of God. Because he is built into God’s building, “he shall by no means go out anymore.” This promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom as a prize to the overcomer.
In Revelation 3:12 the word “make” is very significant. The Lord says that He will make the overcomer into a pillar. The Lord makes us pillars by transforming us, that is, by carrying away our natural element and by replacing it with His divine essence. Therefore, the meaning of “make” in 3:12 is to constitute us into something, to construct us in a creative way. In the church life today the Lord is making us, constituting us, into pillars in the temple of God. The Lord’s work in the church is to work Himself into us as the divine flow to carry away our natural being and replace it with His substance that we may be gradually processed by His transforming element. As the result of this transforming work, we become pillars in the temple of God.
Revelation 3:12 tells us that the overcomers will be pillars in the temple of God in the coming age. However, Revelation 21:22, speaking of the New Jerusalem in the coming age and in eternity, says, “I saw no temple in it, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” Here we see that in the New Jerusalem the Triune God Himself will be the temple. This means that for the overcomers to be pillars in the temple means that they will be pillars in the Triune God. This involves being mingled with the Triune God and constituted of Him. This is a mystery.
Even in today’s church life, the overcoming saints are pillars in the Triune God. Furthermore, these saints sometimes have the consciousness that the church is actually nothing other than the Triune God. This fact is indicated by the golden lampstands as a symbol of the church (Rev. 1:12, 20). Furthermore, the lampstand is the embodiment and expression of the Triune God. The gold of the lampstand signifies the nature of the Father; the form signifies Christ as the embodiment and image of God; and the seven lamps signify the Spirit as the expression. Therefore, the lampstand is the embodiment of the Triune God and also a symbol of the church. Hence, it is not too much to say that, in actuality, the church is the Triune God, because the lampstand is the church and also the embodiment of the Triune God. Now we can see that the pillars in the church today are pillars in the Triune God. In the coming age these overcoming believers will be pillars in the temple of God, which is God Himself. From this we see that being made a pillar involves the Triune God being mingled with and constituted into the faithful overcomers.
Philippians 2:15 reveals that the believers are luminaries in the world: “That you may become blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” Literally the Greek word translated “lights” here is luminaries, which reflect the light of the sun, Christ. As children of God with the divine life and nature, we have a special function — the function of shining. Because we have the divine life and nature, we have become luminaries reflecting Christ as the real sun. Whenever we cooperate with God’s inward operation (Phil. 2:13) according to the divine life and nature, we shine with the light of Christ.
In 2:15 Paul speaks of the believers as children of God. This implies regeneration, the new birth. To be a child of God means that we have been born of God, that God has been conceived within us. When we became children of God, God was conceived in our being. This means that when we were born of God in our spirit, we were mingled with Him. God has been conceived within us, and we have been born of Him to become His children.
The expression “children of God” in 2:15 is very rich in its implications. It implies that God has actually been born into us and that we possess His life and nature. Sometimes we may say, “I am just a sinner saved by grace.” Although this, of course, is true, it is very shallow compared with the revelation in the New Testament. If we know the truth of the Word, we shall not say that we are merely sinners saved by grace. We shall have the boldness to declare, “I am a child of God born of the Spirit!” No doubt, we are sinners who have been saved by God’s grace. But because we have been born of God, we are now His children. How marvelous!
We can be children of God only by having the life of God. How wonderful it is to have God’s life! Just as a child has the life of his parents, so as children of God we have the life of God. All those who are truly children of God need to realize that they have the divine life within them. It is this life that makes us luminaries.
As children of God we should be blameless and guileless. The Greek word rendered “guileless” also means simple, artless, innocent; hence, harmless (Matt. 10:16). The Greek root of this word means unmixed. Blameless describes our outward behavior, and guileless, our inward character. If we are blameless and guileless, we shall be without blemish. To be without blemish is the total quality of being blameless and guileless.
Philippians 2:15 goes on to tell us that as children of God who are blameless and guileless, we are without blemish “in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation.” The Greek word rendered “perverted” literally means warped, twisted. The generation in which we live is crooked, warped, and twisted. However, as children of God we must be different. Because we are God’s children, we should be both blameless and guileless, without blemish.
As lights, or luminaries, the believers shine among the sinful generation by reflecting the light of the sun, Christ (Mal. 4:2; Luke 1:78). Actually, we have no light in ourselves. Our shining is simply the reflection of light which we receive from another source. Christ is the light, the real sun, and we reflect Him. Therefore, our shining is our reflection of Christ as the source of our light.
Ultimately, the New Jerusalem as the aggregate of all the redeemed and perfected saints, will be a great luminary, shining the glory of God in Christ over all the nations (Rev. 21:11, 24a).
The believers are also soldiers of Christ. Second Timothy 2:3 says, “Take your share in suffering evil as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” The apostles considered their ministry a warfare for Christ, just as the priestly service was considered a military service, a warfare, in Numbers 4:23, 30, 35 (lit.). Whenever we minister Christ to others, we find ourselves in a battle. Hence, we should be soldiers fighting for God’s interest.
In 2 Timothy 2:3 Paul speaks of suffering evil as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. The first aspect of being a good soldier of Christ is to share in suffering evil. To suffer evil means to suffer persecution. A minister of Christ is one who shares in the suffering of such evil.
In 2 Timothy 2:4 Paul goes on to say, “No one serving as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of life, that he may please the one who enlisted him.” The word for “life” here in Greek is bios, indicating the physical life in this age. To fight a good fight (4:7) for the Lord’s interest on this earth we must be cleared of any earthly entanglement. The matter of our material, physical life should not entangle us as we are endeavoring to minister Christ to others. This ministry is a fighting, and the fighting requires that we be free from entanglement. On the one hand, the priestly service is a ministry to God; on the other hand, it is a warfare against God’s enemies. As the priests were bearing the ark of testimony, they had to be prepared to fight against those who might attack this testimony.
The good soldiers of Christ should not carry on a war at their own expense. “Who at any time carries on a war at his own expense?” (1 Cor. 9:7a). This word was spoken as part of Paul’s vindication of his rights as an apostle. Paul’s reference to carrying on a war implies that formerly the believers at Corinth were captives and that Paul had fought for them so that they might be released from Satan and set at liberty. It should not have been necessary for him to carry on such a war at his own expense. It is not fair that a good soldier of Christ must do so.
Second Timothy 2:6 says, “The laboring husbandman must be the first to partake of the fruits.” Here Paul likens Timothy to a husbandman, a farmer. Just as a soldier must win the victory and an athlete must receive the crown, so a husbandman must partake of the fruits, the food.
The most significant thing related to being a laboring husbandman, a farmer, is labor. A farmer must labor day and night. But it is an encouragement to him, a comfort, that he is also the first to enjoy the fruits.
As laboring husbandmen, we should await the precious fruit through longsuffering (James 5:7; 1 Cor. 9:10b). Waiting for this precious fruit requires patience. As athletes we should be quick, but as farmers we need to be patient. If out of impatience a farmer would pluck up the tiny sprouts, his crop would be ruined. Likewise, if he drives his cattle too much, he may hurt them. With both crops and livestock, farmers must learn to have patience.
James 5:7 says, “Behold, the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, being longsuffering over it until it receives the early and late rain.” The word “longsuffering” here expresses patience toward persons, as toward those who persecuted the prophets. In addition to being patient with persons, we also need to be patient with our circumstances. Through patience we shall receive the precious fruit.
In 1 Corinthians 9:10b Paul says, “The plower should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope of partaking.” Here Paul again likens the church to a farm. In 3:9 he had already told the believers at Corinth that they were God’s farm. As a laboring husbandman, Paul plowed the ground and threshed in hope of partaking. Like Paul and Timothy, all believers in Christ should be laboring husbandmen.
