2 Corinthians 3:7-18

During this Easter season, I’ve had opportunity to reflect on the reality that I have new life in Jesus. How amazing it is when we consider how we once walked in darkness but because of Jesus and his shed blood on the cross we have life in Him now. From nothing to everything. From death to life. From sadness to joy. All because of the new covenant. Paul had to remind the church in Corinth of that stark contrast between what they once knew to what they now where in Christ.

Read 2 Corinthians 3:7-18

In order to remind the church of who they were in Jesus, Paul contrasted the new covenant under Jesus with the old Mosaic covenant, which he refers to as the ministry of death. Why does Paul call the Mosaic covenant the ministry of death? Paul’s understanding of the old covenant was that it was incomplete. It had its purpose for a time but found its completion in Jesus. There was no permanence. Sacrifice had to continually be made for Israel. This is why Paul mentions how Moses had to veil his face so that Israel would not perish upon seeing the glory of the Lord. They were unable to see the full completion of God’s salvation plan though the old covenant because the person the entire new covenant rested upon, Jesus, had not yet arrived in the flesh. Imagine trying to watch a movie from behind a bed sheet. You might see flashes of a picture, or faintly make out what was going on, but you can’t see it clearly until someone takes away the bed sheet. That’s how it was under the old covenant. All you could do was look forward to the day that the veil would be removed. By comparison, Paul was a minister of the new covenant in Jesus. Unlike Israel, the church now has had the veil removed because of the cross. The reconciliation that the new covenant brings is permanent and not lacking in anything.

This was the weight of Paul’s argument that the new covenant was better by far than the old covenant. The old covenant in the end was not permanent. But the new covenant is eternal. And through Jesus, the veil has been lifted from our eyes. So if we are now under the new covenant in Jesus with the veil removed, what does that mean for us? Read 2 Corinthians 3:18.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Because of the new covenant, we are being transformed into the image of Him who’s glory we see with unveiled face. How amazing is that? All because of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross for us.

Take some time to reflect on what it means to have our lives transformed in Christ.