And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3: 18, NRSV
Dear Lord, please make Your Word plain to us as we study, for Christ’s sake; Amen
Have you ever longed to be more Christlike? I have. Do you long for the day when anyone who comes in contact with you, will find it easy to fall in love with the God you serve? I do. Are you looking forward to the day when even Christians, who already know and love the Lord, will love Him even more because they met you? I am. And that is why this is one of my favorite texts. Together, we will seek to understand how, “by beholding,” our lives can be changed into something so beautiful, that the Savior we present, will be hard to resist.
The first question we need to answer is, “By beholding who?” And to answer that question we will go to the incident from which the imagery is taken. “Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God…whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with [H]im, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with [H]im (God)” (Exodus 34: 29, 34, 35, NRSV). Emphasis provided.
Moses would go in to talk with God without a veil over his face. By beholding the glory of the LORD, he received of the glory. When he left the presence of Him whose “face was like the sun shining with full force” (Revelation 1: 16, NRSV), his face was also shining. By beholding the face of the Son of God, he was transformed into His likeness. There is something about baring ourselves before God. We can take off the veil in God’s presence. Whatever it is that we feel the need to put on in order to talk to others, we can take off when we come before God. We can be ourselves, we can come just as we are, into His presence. It is when we come with, “nothing between,” that the transformation takes place. When the veil is removed we can see clearly. In 1 Corinthians 13: 12 we read, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I am known.” We long for that fullness of knowledge, which begins with us seeing God “face to face,” with nothing between.
Our text says “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord…are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit…and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (3: 18, 17). Gradually, but surely, we shall be free to take on the mind of Christ, and then, by His grace, we shall go from glory to higher glory as we walk in the Spirit.
Tomorrow we will continue. Until then, be blessed!