A Letter from Christ

You may have heard the expression, “living letters of Christ.” But what does it mean to be a living letter?

Let’s think of what a letter (or email if-you-will) is. A letter has an author and a recipient and bears information. It is written or typed and delivered either physically or electronically. In most cases, when the recipient receives and reads the letter or email, he/she replies back.

So what does the Apostle Paul mean when he writes to the believers in Corinth, “you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2Cor. 3:3)?

Let’s apply our definition of a letter. The author or sender is Christ and the letter is addressed to “all” as Paul writes in the preceding verse. The letter is neither written in ink nor typed, but it’s a very special kind of letter that is written by “the Spirit of the living God.” It is written neither on tablets of stone nor paper nor digital applications, but “on tablets of human hearts.” The letter is “delivered by us,” Paul writes; i.e. by the apostles. And do the recipients reply to the letter? Paul answers this in the previous chapter when he talks about us being the “aroma of Christ” and depending on the recipient, we are either a fragrance “from death to death” or “from life to life” (2Cor. 2:15-16). In other words, the response is either life or death.

What a serious letter! Sent from Christ to everyone, written by the Spirit on human hearts, delivered by the apostles, and the response is either life or death!

But we left out one important aspect of the letter; the content. What does the letter contain? What kind of content can bring either life or death? What message would a letter from Christ to humanity contain?

Well, it must contain words. But when God wanted to reveal Himself, He didn’t reveal Himself through detached words. He revealed Himself through the Word, the Logos, Christ Himself. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14). The content of God’s letter to humanity is Christ Himself, and Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is saying that we are this letter! So if we want to be “letters from Christ,” we must bear Christ in us! It is unfathomable, but the Lord Himself prayed for us that we would remain in Him and He in us; “just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). Jesus concludes His prayer, “O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:25).

Is the concept of the letter becoming clearer now? Christ continues to make Himself known to us and continues to live in us as we live in Him, and in so doing delivers His message to a world that does not know Him! What a responsibility! What an unspeakable blessing and honor!

But how can we clearly and accurately reflect this message? By becoming more and more like Him and less and less like us. By abiding in Him and in His word. By being immersed in His story rather than in our own miserable little stories.

And when we do, we will gradually grow into becoming a letter from Christ written by the Spirit of the Living God, known and read by all. The word “known” in the original Greek is γινώσκω (ginóskó) which means “to come to know or perceive.” The word “read” in the Greek is ἀναγινώσκω (anaginóskó) which means “to know certainly, to know again.” In other words, when people meet us, letters from Christ, they will begin to know Christ and then will know Him again with certainty. The more we live out Christ in us, the more people will see Christ, know Christ, and know Him with certainty. And when they do, it will not be simply another person or religion that they’re knowing. They will move from death to life! As Ravi Zacharias succinctly puts it, “Jesus Christ did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive.”

Friends, it does not take much effort to recognize that the world around us is growing darker and darker by the minute. Let’s pray that the Lord would give us His eyes, that we would see the true state of death of the people around us; beyond the fakeness and facades which just serve to hide much pain, shame, and despair. People need Christ more than ever. We are His letter to a desperate humanity. Will we cry out with the prophet Isaiah, “Here I am! Send me,” or will we curl up into our own little stories, our own hurts, our own busyness, and turn deaf ears and blind eyes to a humanity in utter anguish?

Time is short. Let’s get to work my friends. How can we miss such a glorious job opportunity?!

Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to write “us” and let’s click “send” with Him. Then let’s watch in awe as He raises the dead to life in Him!