In 3:2 and 3 Paul uses the metaphor of a letter: “You are our letter, inscribed in our hearts, known and read by all men; 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.” Here we see that those under the ministry of the apostles are letters composed by the apostles. These letters are composed with the Spirit of the living God, with the life-imparting and life-dispensing Spirit. The God that Paul served is the living God, and He is now the dispensing Spirit.
We should not regard the Spirit as being separate from God. In 3:17 Paul goes on to say, “The Lord is the Spirit.” In the same verse Paul also speaks of the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit is the Lord, and the Lord is the Spirit. In like manner, the Spirit of the living God is actually the living God Himself. When Paul says that the apostles inscribed a letter with the Spirit of the living God, this does not mean that the Spirit of the living God is only the Spirit and not God Himself. No, the Spirit of the living God is God. The living God is the Triune God, the One who has passed through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection and has now been consummated in the life-giving, life-imparting, and life-dispensing Spirit. With this Spirit the apostles inscribed upon the saints to make them a letter of Christ written by them.
In 3:18 Paul goes on to indicate that we are mirrors: “And 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.” 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.
In order to behold and reflect the glory of the Lord, we need to be unveiled. Our face should be fully unveiled so that we may see clearly and reflect properly. Formerly, we were veiled. But now, through the ministry of the apostles, the veil has been taken away. As those with an unveiled face, we can behold Christ and reflect Him. While we are beholding and reflecting, we are being transformed by the divine dispensing of the divine element into our inner being. We are being transformed from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
In 4:7 Paul says, “But 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 metaphor—vessels. God’s shining, which is God’s dispensing, in our hearts (4:6) brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything. But we who contain this treasure are earthen vessels, worthless and fragile. A priceless treasure is contained in these worthless vessels. This has made the worthless vessels ministers of the new covenant with a priceless ministry. This is by the divine power in resurrection. The excellence of this power is surely of God and not of us.
We have seen that in the apostles’ speaking concerning their ministry for God’s new covenant, five very significant and expressive metaphors are used to illustrate how they, as the ministers of the new covenant, and their ministry are constituted, how they behave and live, and how their ministry is carried out. The first metaphor is that of captives in a triumphant procession for the celebration of Christ’s victory (2:14a), then incense-bearers to scatter the fragrance of Christ (2:14b-16), letters written with Christ as the content (3:1-3), mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of Christ in order to be transformed into His glorious image (3:18), and finally earthen vessels to contain the Christ of glory as the excellent treasure (4:7). These vessels may be compared to a camera, into which the image of Christ enters through the illumination of God’s shining (4:4, 6).
The reason Paul uses metaphors in 2 Corinthians is that the things he is ministering to us are very rich, deep, and experiential. Ordinary words are not adequate to speak of them; it is necessary to use metaphors.
We need to be impressed with the significance of these metaphors. First, 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 divine ink of the Triune God. Moreover, we are mirrors beholding and reflecting Christ and vessels containing Him. How marvelous! We need to consider these metaphors again and again, for they illustrate things that are deep, profound, and experiential. We need to experience all the matters indicated by these five metaphors.