by Pastor Rich Carlson

In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, I find five metaphors that describe what a Christian is.
According to Paul:
• “I am the aroma of Christ” (2:15)
• “I am a letter from Christ” (3:3)
• “I am a reflection of Christ” (3:18)
• “I am a jar of clay holding the treasure of the knowledge of God’s glory” (4:7)
• “I am an ambassador for Christ” (5:20)

Paul’s illustration of being the “aroma of Christ” focuses on forgiving, comforting, and reaffirming my love for those who have done wrong (2:7, 8). The reason for these actions is “so that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes” (2:11). So we "smell" like Christ when we act like Him—in a loving and forgiving way. We are to smell like Christ not just to those who are being saved, but also to those who are perishing (2:15).

In the section that talks about being a “letter from Christ,” Paul’s illustration parallels letters of reference or recommendation. When someone wants to hire me they ask for letters of recommendation so they can learn more about me. Paul says that when he wants to tell people about Jesus he says, “Look at my friends here. They are my letters of recommendation about what God is like and what Jesus does” (see 3:2, 3). I am a living letter of recommendation for God. This is only possible through the Spirit of God, which gives me the life I have in Christ (see 3:6). I’d like to be a good reference letter for Jesus.

In the section that talks about being a “reflection of Christ,” Paul refers to Moses and the need he had to veil his face because he reflected the glory of God so strongly before the Israelites (3:7, 13). But the veil has been removed, Paul says, by the glory of Jesus (3:14), and I have the potential of reflecting His glory more and more as I am “transformed into His likeness” (3:18). So I reflect Him by allowing His Spirit to fill me, change me, mold me, and form me until I am just like Him. No veil necessary. Jesus wants me to show people what He is doing in my life.

And since we have this important ministry of reflecting Christ, Paul tells us three things we can do to accomplish this task (4:2). We need to:
• renounce secret and shameful ways
• avoid deception
• avoid distorting the word of God

The “god of this age has blinded the eyes of unbelievers so they cannot see the glory of God," Paul wrote (4:4). He needs you and me to reflect it for Him to them. Reflecting takes no effort—it’s a matter of correctly positioning myself in relation to Him and the world.

In the section that talks about being a “jar of clay,” Paul wasn’t talking about a certain music group! He talks about holding the knowledge of the glory of God in something with which I must be very careful. Clay jars must be crafted carefully on the potter’s wheel and can be easily distorted by the slightest wrong move. They can be broken easily if not fired correctly in the kiln. But they can be reshaped, strengthened, and made beautiful if left in the hands of the Potter!

Paul continues, saying that we may be:
hard pressed on every side, but not crushed
perplexed, but not in despair
persecuted, but not abandoned
struck down, but not destroyed.

The world may seek to destroy me, but as long as I realize that I am just clay and know what the Potter is capable of doing, then the “outward effect of the world” may make it seem like I am wasting away, but “inwardly I am being renewed day by day” (4:16). I will “fix my eyes on what is unseen and eternal” (4:18), and won’t worry about my earthen vessel nearly as much as my eternal glory in Jesus. That’s how I keep this whole thing in perspective—my jar of clay, my mortal body, is temporary at best. But my eternal glory, my hope, my faith, is centered in what is to come. The jar may break, God’s promise won’t.

And finally, in the section that talks about being an “ambassador” for Christ, Paul concludes that it is as if God is making His appeal through me to a dying world. And what is the appeal?
• He died for me (5:14)
• I should live for Him (5:15)
• I should regard no one from a worldly point of view (5:16)
• I am a new creature—the old is gone the new has come—and I must live like it (5:17)
• God already reconciled me to Himself (5:18)
• He has given me the job of reconciling others to Him (5:18, 19)
• Reconciliation is about assurance of forgiveness
• God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for me, so that in Him I might become the righteousness of God (5:21)

An ambassador lives in a foreign country with only one task, to rightly represent the leader of her or his country. I have been called to be God’s ambassador. I live in a foreign country—this world is not my home. My job is to rightly represent my King, to be His ambassador. I know I am just a clay pot. But that fact reminds me of where my strength needs to come from. I want to reflect God. I want to be a good letter of reference for Him. I even want to smell like His aroma.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.