• 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 - The Surpassing Glory of God's Promises in Christ (Rev. Erik Veerman)

  • Feb 23 2025
  • Length: 31 mins
  • Podcast

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 - The Surpassing Glory of God's Promises in Christ (Rev. Erik Veerman)

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  • The Surpassing Glory of God’s Promises in Christ 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 Our sermon text is from 2 Corinthians 3 verses 7-18. We learned in the beginning of chapter 3 that the apostle Paul was a minister of a New Covenant. That new covenant is received through the Spirit and resulted in life. That is contrasted with the letter of the law, which, as Paul put it, kills. The rest of chapter 3 unpacks the old and new covenants. As I read, listen for the similarities and differences between the two. Reading of 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 Prayer I don’t know if you have been following it, but later this week, 7 planets will be visible in the night sky at the same time. That is a rare event. In fact, it’s been quite the season of interesting astrological occurrences. Maybe you experienced the partial solar eclipse last year. Or 5 years ago, you saw the great conjunction. That was when Jupiter and Saturn overlapped in the sky. Apparently, that only happens once every 400 years. And coming up in just 3 weeks, there will be a total lunar eclipse. You are probably wondering, how does this relate to 2 Corinthians 3? Well, 2 Corinthians 3 is considered by some to be the most difficult chapter to understand in all of Paul’s letters. That’s debatable, of course, but it certainly contains some lofty concepts. At this chapter’s core is the theological intersection between the Old and New Testaments. That’s significant. And obviously important. And that brings us to the moon and sun and planets. You see, the central point is that the glory of the old covenant was a fading reflection of the glory of the new to come. The new covenant has come and it has eclipsed the glory of the old. It’s like the way the moon and planets reflect the light of the sun at night. But when the sun rises, its light is so bright that it completely outshines the moon and planets. The old covenant reflected the new before the new came, but the new has come, and the old has now passed away. By the way, this is one of two main passages of Scripture that compare the old covenant with the new. Hebrews chapter 8-10 is the other. We read part of chapter 10 earlier. The difference between Hebrews 8-10 and 2 Corinthians 3 is that Hebrews works through how God accomplished his promises in the new covenant. He’s done that through Jesus perfect sacrifice for sin. In 2 Corinthians 3, we learn about the permanent nature of the new covenant and that we receive its benefits through the Spirit. So both teach about the old and new covenant but with different emphases. Earlier this week I spent some time analyzing how 2 Corinthians 3 compares the old and the new. I put a little chart together as I went. You can see that on page 4 of the bulletin. Really, it was for my benefit as I tried to get my mind around the contrast. But I included it in case it may be helpful to you. You can see that Paul’s primary purpose here is a comparison of the two. · He gives us the nature of the covenants. The old carved on stone and the new written by the Spirit on our hearts. · He speaks of the fading glory of the one and the eternal glory of the other. · The old primarily focused on Israel, but the new expands that to God’s people from all nations. · Even more, those who live by the old live with a veil over their hearts. But for those who have been freed by Christ, that veil is lifted and they are being transformed. · But the most weighty of all the comparisons is the eternal outcome. Those who put their trust in the old and reject the new are condemned. But those whose hearts have been transformed by the Spirit and who trust in Christ receive righteousness and life through the Spirit. It's really amazing how much is here in just a couple of paragraphs. Alright. We are going to focus in, first, on understanding the comparison, verses 7-11. And then we’ll look at implications of that, today, in verses 12-18. You can see a few summary bullets there. Now, you may be wondering, why does it take such work to unlock the differences between the two? That is a great question. I wondered the same. Because it does seem that Paul jumps around and repeats himself. Why didn’t he just spell it out in a clear linear way? The answer is, to his readers, he did. Paul spelled it out in a way they would understand. He used a Greco-Roman rhetorical argument called “a fortiori.” Lesser to greater. That will be on the test after the service. Just kidding. I had no idea that such a thing existed before this week. The argument goes that if something lesser is true, how much more sure and true is the thing that is greater. Its purpose is to elevate the greater reality. To do that there’s a comparison and an elevation. And another comparison and another elevation. And then a further elaboration on a comparison and a further elevation. We can see that in these verses. One thing that clearly comes out is the ...
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