Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Glory of the New Covenant | New Testament | 2 Corinthians 3

Episode Date: July 3, 2023

Do you know the power of the covenant that you've been invited into? In today's episode, Patrick shares from 2 Corinthians 3 to discuss the joy in living a life with God. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Corinthians 3

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Have you ever heard an argument from the lesser to the greater? Let me give you an example. A parent might say to a child, if I expected you to treat people kindly before you had the ability to empathize and walk in someone else's shoes, how much more should I expect you to be kind now that you can empathize? Or an employer might make a lesser to the greater argument.

If I expected you to do good work right after your training, how much more so now that you've been doing this job for so many years? Or a coach might make a lesser to the greater argument. If you could dribble the ball when you were in kindergarten, how much more so should you be able to handle the ball now that you're in high school? In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul makes a similar argument. He says that the old covenant God made with Israel through Moses was in fact a glorious covenant, even though that law condemned everyone to death. But if that covenant, which was old and condemned people to death, was great in its own right, how much greater then is the new covenant that Jesus brings, which brings life with it? Okay,

verse 7. Now, if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in the letters of stone, he's talking about the tablets Moses engraved with the Ten Commandments, if that came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, And again, he's describing how when Moses came down with those tablets from Sinai, his face was glowing with the glory of God. He says, if it was full of glory, transitory though it was, well, not the ministry of the spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness. For what was glorious has no glory now, in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory, that old covenant, if that came with glory,

how much greater is the glory of that which lasts. Do you understand the glory into which you've been invited? Paul is saying that a transitory covenant, in other words, a covenant that was only for a limited period of time, a covenant that showed Israel their sin and thereby brought death. He says, if that covenant was glorious in its own right, how much more so is the new covenant which forgives sins and brings life? How much more glorious is that?

Well, why is it glorious? Well, it's glorious because of what God does through this covenant. Again, verse 12, therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away, but their minds were made dull. For to this day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, he's talking about the first five books of the Bible, a veil covers their heart. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord to Jesus, the veil is taken away.

Now, the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is Spirit. The glorious covenant of life in Jesus is glorious, because through it we're not merely condemned to the law. Through it, we are filled with God's Spirit,

so that we can obey the law, and through that obedience, be transformed into the image of Jesus who perfectly upheld the law. I want this beauty to capture your heart. Every human is made in God's image. In other words, we are all made to look and live and act like God. We're all made to reflect his glory by imaging his love, mercy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But the tragedy is that sin mars this image inside of us. When we sin, we transform the glorious structure of God's image into a glorious ruin. Have you ever visited an ancient ruin? Maybe the Coliseum in Rome or the Mayan ruins in Tulum or the wailing wall in Jerusalem. Sin makes us like those ruins. You can see the former grandeur, but the grandeur has passed. The paint is

gone. Plants in water erode the stone. Rubble is strewn on the ground. But what's so amazing about the new covenant and what makes it so glorious is that because through Jesus, God is doing a renovation project on your life. He's better at flipping glorious ruins than Chip and Joanna Gaines. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, he's building what's broken. He's replacing what's lost. He's repainting what's fallen into disrepair. Do you know the glory that you've been invited into? Do you know the glory God wants to construct it in your life? If you do, don't you just want to rejoice and thank God? Don't you want to participate with him by living in step with his spirit? Today, don't resist his spirit.

Don't throw down the stones he's put back into place or peel off the paint that he's expertly applied. No, live like the glory you are. Enjoy the freedom that comes with being restored to be what you were always made to be. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.