In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he wrote, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart”. (II Cor.3:2,3) God’s word, translated into human life, is a most important epistle, “known and read by all men”. People will know the author of our life, whether it be Christ or Satan.
Historical Writing Material – Many different materials have been used for writing. Men first wrote on stones, or on clay tablets. Then they learned how to use the skins of animals to make parchment. Later, papyrus was used to make writing material. Today, we are able to obtain a wide variety of things on which we can write. All writing materials must be pre-pared before being used. The animal skins had to be scraped, washed, stretched and dried; the papyrus was rubbed down with pumice; and our paper today is made from rags and pulp wood.
God’s Writing Material – The human mind (or spiritual heart) is the writing material God uses. He writes a living message into the living hearts of mankind. Likewise, the heart must be prepared beforehand by hearing, believing and obeying the gospel. Only then are we ready to become an epistle of Christ. “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness”. (Rom.6:17,18)
God’s Writing Tool – He does not write with pen and ink, nor does He write with His fin-ger, as He gave the Ten Commandments. (Ex. 31:18) But we, as human epistles, are writ-ten “by the Spirit of the living God”. In the first century the Spirit worked miraculously, giving God’s revelation and inspiration to the apostles and prophets. The Spirit spoke and wrote through them. (I Cor.2:9-13) During that time the Holy Spirit inspired these men to produce the inspired book, which serves as God’s writing tool until the end of time. And just as they heard the word from the inspired men, we hear the word from the inspired book, welcoming it “not as the word of men, but as it is truth, the word of God which also effectively works in those who believe”. (I Thess.2:13)
The Message of the Letters – The message written on our hearts and expressed in our lives depends on our response to it. When we receive and obey what God has written, the message will be loud and clear. People will read and know the Christ, His church, hHs plan of salvation, His name, His pattern of worship, hHs mission and the life H e has ordered as they read our individual epistles. How does your epistle read?
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