Unveiled Glory

Second Corinthians, which book
we have been in on and off for the last
several weeks. For those of you just joining
us or rejoining us, essentially we started on a at our 10 year
anniversary, I picked this passage. 2 Corinthians 2, beginning in
verse 12, just as kind of a focus on the church and on the ministry.
And I fully intended just to preach those few verses in 2
Corinthians 2, and then became more and more drawn back into
this passage, as you know. And there we’ve been, as I said,
on and off for the last several months. In this great section,
2 Corinthians 2, verse 12 through chapter 6, verse 10, Paul is
addressing the ministry, the gospel ministry, the ministry
of the church, the ministry of Christ. And as we began, I suggested
that chapter 2, verse 12 through 17 sets forth the bedrock of
ministry. And that’s where we began. And
just by way of a very brief review, that’s where we pick up this
morning. If you turn back to chapter two, verse 12, you see
that, first of all, in ministry, there is a sovereignty, God’s
sovereignty. And God’s sovereign providence
in ministry, a door was opened to Paul in the Lord. And that
is ever the case. That’s ever the need if a ministry
is going to be effective and survive and be fruitful. There
is the promise of absolute victory that is part of the bedrock of
ministry. A door was opened to me in the
Lord. And then Paul says, God always leads us in triumph in
Christ. There is that promise of ultimate
victory for the Christian, for those serving Christ and proclaiming
Christ. There is even more astoundingly,
the representation of Christ that we somehow stand here as
a representative of Christ Himself. Paul said we are a fragrant aroma
of Christ. We have a sweet aroma of the
knowledge of Him in every place. And it’s us, God working through
us that gives us that representation of Christ. The ministry of the
gospel is built not only in God’s sovereign providence and the
promise of absolute victory, but fourthly, selfless humility.
Paul said, finally, who is adequate for these things? And ultimately,
in that great section where we saw those five foundational elements
of gospel ministry, the fifth was the proclamation of God’s
Word. What ministry would be complete
without that? In fact, I would even say that you can’t even
call it ministry. Regardless of who is touting
the program, if there is no proclamation of God’s Word. Paul built upon that the foundation
was laid, as it were, and he turned in. If we turn it rather
in 2nd Corinthians, chapter three, we began to look at the momentum
of ministry. The foundation was laid and now
Paul wants to seize upon that and build upon that. He says
that there is momentum in ministry. There is a cause to press on. There are energizing elements
of ministry that keep us and press us on to further service
and further fruitfulness. The first of all, as Paul acknowledged,
was fruitfulness in ministry. He said, you are our letter.
Paul said, if you want proof that God was at work among us,
look at your own lives. There was optimism in ministry.
Paul said, such confidence we have through Christ towards God.
After we see how God has used us, after we see what God has
done through us, feeble as we are, great confidence. And finally, the provision. We’re
not adequate in and of ourselves. It’s God that makes us adequate.
That’s the foundation that Paul has laid And as we glide into this new
passage, we have only to observe that Paul pointed out with great
clarity that the ministry, this glorious gospel ministry whose
foundation is laid, who gives us great impetus to move forward
with greater service, is a glorious ministry. And we looked in 2
Corinthians chapter 3, verse 7 through 11, the glorious nature
of the gospel ministry. And that leads directly into
this passage before us this morning. The blessings of the gospel ministry,
if you would read along with me, beginning in verse 12 of
chapter 3. Therefore, having such a hope,
We use great boldness in our speech and are not like Moses,
who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel
would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened.
For until this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same
veil remains unlifted because it is removed in Christ. But
to this day, whenever Moses is read, A veil lies over their
heart. But whenever a person turns to
the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now, the Lord is the Spirit.
And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we
all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory. Just as from the Lord, the Spirit. I suggested that the immediate
context of these great words are 2 Corinthians 3, 7-11, the
glorious nature of the gospel ministry. Paul had laid it out
to them. And he even says at the outset of this passage, therefore,
because of the glorious nature of the Christian ministry, having
such a hope Once we see that God Himself has attended this
glorious gospel ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ with great
glory, we have hope. We have confidence. Paul will
go on to say we have boldness. We saw last week that the gospel
ministry of our Lord is attended with glory. Paul said it is with
glory. And not only is it with glory,
it’s with exceeding glory and it’s with enduring glory, verses
9 and 11 respectively. Paul uses this hope in the glorious
ministry to set forth a contrast. That’s where he’s going. It’s
as if someone said, yes, Paul, we know that the ministry is
glorious. It’s a glorious ministry. We’ll
give you that. But what’s really in it for me? What are the things
that accrue to the believer? Paul says that there are rich
and glorious blessings that belong to the believer because of this
glorious ministry of the gospel. And Paul, as I said, sets up
a contrast. It’s the old ministry versus
the new. It’s the ministry of Moses and
the law A ministry in obscurity and shadows as opposed to the
ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a ministry in all of
God’s glory. And Paul says because of that,
we use great boldness in our speech and are not like Moses,
who used to put a veil over his face. Paul seizes upon an illustration. He uses that word veil five times
in this little section, verses 12-18. And that word veil is
variously used in Scripture. A veil often was worn by a woman
for discretion, for the sake of discretion, Genesis 24-65. But it’s a rich biblical illustration
here, rich in biblical imagery. Most notably, it referred to
the veil that separated the holy place the curtain, as it were,
that separated the holy place and the holy of holies. That’s
really the veil that Paul has in mind that was used both in
the tabernacle and the temple. In the directions for constructing
that curtain, God made it quite clear. what the specifics, what the
particulars were for this curtain. Exodus 26 verse 31. You shall
make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine
twisted linen. It should be made with cherubim
and the work of skillful workmen. You shall hang it on four pillars
of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold
on four sockets of silver. You shall hang up the veil under
the clasps and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there
within the veil, and the veil shall serve you there as a partition
between the holy place and the holy of holies.” So then the
veil had this function of obscuring or hiding God’s glory in the
holy of holies from the people, even from the majority of the
priests. It is that same veil. You will remember that was torn
in two at the crucifixion of Christ, which was a graphic and
symbolic indication that God’s glory was being ultimately revealed
through Jesus Christ. Matthew 27 records it now. From
the sixth hour, darkness fell on the land until the ninth hour.
About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying,
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is my God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? And some of those who were standing
there when they heard it began saying, this man is calling for
Elijah. Immediately, one of them ran,
taking a sponge. He filled it with sour wine and
put it on a reed and gave him a drink. But the rest of him
said, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out with a loud
voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple
was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks
were split. That’s the veil. That’s the veil
that Paul has in mind as he writes these words, as he utilizes this
illustration. But there were other veils in
Israel’s economy. Remember, though, the function
of the veil was to hide or obscure God’s glory. A more full revelation
of himself. Paul, in this particular passage,
uses the imagery in two distinct ways. Two different statements
regarding a veil. Look at v. 13. In v. 13, it’s
Moses, the one who veils his own face. In v. 15, it’s Israel’s heart that
is perpetually veiled. Let’s begin this morning by considering
this two-fold illustration. First of all, let’s look at Moses’
veil. In v. 13, Paul says, we are not
like Moses. who used to put a veil over his
face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the
end of what was fading away.” The phrase at the end of the
sentence is a key one. What was fading away. It’s key
to understanding the meaning of this entire section. It speaks
of the temporarily glorified ministry of Moses. The end of
this, which the veil prevented the Israelites from seeing was
the disappearance of the glory. The glory on Moses face, remember,
was fading. It was a fading glory. And it
was that that he was trying to prevent the Israelites from seeing. Exodus 34. picks it up. But the Greek here seems to imply
that Moses placed this veil on his face after speaking to the
people so that they might not see the fading glory on his face. And that’s what Israel or that’s
what rather Exodus speaks of. Listen, Exodus 34, beginning
in verse 30. So when Aaron and all the sons
of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shown. They
saw it. His face wasn’t obscured by a
veil then. They saw the glory and they were
afraid to come near him. Then Moses called to them and
Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him
and Moses spoke to them. Afterward, all the sons of Israel
came near and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord
had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking
with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses
went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take off the
veil. It’s as if he were absorbing or soaking up the glory of God
and he would go forth with the glory of God. And then he would
cover his face so that they didn’t see that it was fading, a fading
glory. He allowed them to see the glory,
but not its disappearance. Moses didn’t want them to see
the transient nature of the Old Covenant. Perhaps Moses didn’t
even fully understand how transient those things were. But Paul’s
comparison here to the ministry of the Gospel in which he had
a role and the ministry of Moses was that it was often interrupted
by periods, intervals of Great concealment. This cloak over
the face, as it were, whereas the gospel ministry is marked
by a full and glorious proclamation. We don’t have to hide anything.
Essentially, as the contrast that Paul is setting forth, the
face of Moses needed a constant renewal. But in the face of Christ,
The glory of God shines full and forever. There’s a second illustration
of the veil that I indicated. The second illustration of the
veil is the veil over Israel. In verse 14, Paul picks up that
idea. He says, But there, that is,
the sons of Israel’s minds were hardened for until this very
day at the reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remains
unlifted because it is removed in Christ. In other words, he
says it’s not the same veil Moses used, but it has the same function.
It obscures the glory of God. Verse 15, But to this day, whenever
Moses has read a veil lies over their heart. He says their minds
were hardened. And you don’t even have to do
all kinds of mental and theological gymnastics as to who hardened
whose hearts. Was it God? Was it Satan? Was
it themselves? Yes. All three had a role in
hardening their hearts. The devil and God and even their
own hard heartedness. The bottom line was that the
Jews did not understand. They did not comprehend the ministry
of Moses. They did not see the foreshadowing
of the things of Christ. When Paul refers to their minds,
he refers to everything within them, the whole inner man. They were hard and callous, their
understanding, their feelings, their thinking. The verb is often
rendered in Scripture as stubborn. stiff-necked. Israel refused
to grasp the glory of the Old Covenant because of their stubborn
hard-heartedness. No wonder Stephen in preaching
in Acts 7.51 said to the Jews, you men who are stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the
Holy Spirit. That was the bottom line. And
you were doing just as your fathers did. Stephen there speaks of
the perpetual nature of that veil hanging over their eyes.
Their minds were hard hardened. And he says, for until this very
day in verse 14, at the reading of the old covenant, the veil
remains unlifted. The same veil, the same obscurity
lay, as it were, over the truth. Whether it was as it was first
revealed by Moses, but that same veil lays over their hearts even
still, Paul says, to this day. The Israelites of Paul’s day
understood the Scriptures just as little as their fathers did.
It was just as obscure, just as befuddling to them then as
it is even to this day. It has always been the case,
Paul says, They were into the ceremony. They were into the
law. They were into all these external things and rituals without
allowing their hearts to see beyond and what was beneath.
What God would have for them in the future, look at verse
15, but to this day, whenever Moses is read and by Moses, it
speaks of the Pentateuch, the five books of the law. Whenever
those things were read, they were just obscure. The veil lies over their heart.
And here, as I said, the metaphor has changed somewhat because
previously the veil was something outside of themselves which hid
them from the truth, covered over the glory of God
in Moses’ face. But now it’s something within
them that keeps them from recognizing and embracing and welcoming the
truth. Their own heart prejudice is in the way. And whereas the original veil
was over the face of Moses, now it’s their own hearts that are
covered over and darkened by their own foolish prejudice,
their own hard-heartedness. The Apostle suggests this idea
that the Jews didn’t understand the Scriptures. There was a veil over their hearts.
Their lack of knowledge was subjective, as one said. The revelation of
Christ, even in the writings of the Old Testament, even though
obscure when compared with that contained in the writings of
the apostles, was sufficiently clear to be understood. How often
did Christ rebuke the scribes and the Pharisees for not understanding
their own scriptures? Paul completes his use of this
illustration of the veil by discussing the removal How are these veils
removed? In verse 14, Moses veil is removed
by coming to Christ. Verse 14, their minds were hardened
for until this very day at the reading of the Old Covenant,
the same veil remains unlifted because it is removed in Christ. The veil that obscured the Old
Covenant made those things dark and mysterious and impossible
to understand is removed only in Christ. For those who come
to faith in Christ, their eyes are opened. They take to themselves
what Calvin called the spectacles of faith. They’re able to see
and understand and embrace spiritual truth. Their spiritual perception
is no longer hindered and impaired. Everything becomes clear. That veil that hid the ultimate
meaning of the Old Testament is done away in Christ. It’s
the knowledge of Christ that removes the veil of the Old Testament
and allows us to see the glory of God in Christ. What Paul says is we’ve seen
it. We’ve seen it. There are no other mysteries.
There are no other hidden things. There are no other things that
we need to discover or next levels to which we need to attain. Likewise,
in verse 16, he he repeats upon this theme. How is the veil of
the heart of the hearers removed? In turning to the Lord. Verse
16, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken
away. Blessings of the New Covenant.
Come. To the believer only by God’s
grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that
was once obscure, everything that was once misunderstood now
becomes clear. The child of God embraces those
to the glory of God. Paul will continue this theme
and he’ll touch upon it again. And I can’t wait to preach this
passage. But for now, Paul points to it. Second Corinthians chapter
four, verse four, the God of this world has blinded the minds
of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ. who is the image of God, for
we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves
as your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For God is the one who
said, light shall shine out of darkness, is the one who is shown
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Christ. He says we’ve seen it. We’ve
seen the glory of God. And we constantly behold it when
we look upon another child of God, another one who has come
to faith in Christ. We’ve seen the glory of God.
We have in the gospel ministry the full revelation of God’s
glory. As I said, the veil of the temple
was destroyed at the death of Christ, serving as a metaphor
that the revelation of the perpetual glory was opened to those in
Christ. And so, in like manner, Paul
in this passage declares that God’s glory has been revealed. And further, that there are particular
blessings that flow to those in Christ. It is glory unveiled. So what are the particular blessings?
Paul indulges us. It would be enough if Paul said,
look, the gospel ministry is a ministry of glory. Enough said. But Paul, in his graciousness,
goes the extra mile for us to lay out to us what are the blessings
of the Gospel ministry. First of all, the Gospel of Christ
brings clarification of spiritual truth. Just exactly what we’ve
just read and understood. Therefore, having such a hope,
seeing the glorious nature of the Gospel, we use great boldness. In other words, this is clarification
of spiritual truth that issues forth in great boldness. And
remember several weeks when we were talking about what is it
that prevents us, that inhibits us from opening our mouths to
proclaim Christ? Is it this? Paul said it couldn’t be. It
can’t be the fact that you haven’t seen enough, that you don’t behold
that God’s Gospel is glorious enough. All you have to do is
look at your own life and to see that you are a thoroughgoing
sinner and you are hellbound and dead. And God in His mercy
came to you and saved you. And there is nothing more glorious
than that. Therefore, having such a hope
Paul says we use great boldness in our speech. We open our mouths. We’re not afraid. We’re not going
to be hindered. We’re not going to be buffaloed
or cowed or pushed to the back. We’re not going to be hindered
for proclaiming Christ because we see it as glorious, that glorious
that it moves us, even us, to speak. Originally, this word meant just
a frankness, a fullness of speech, a willingness to give a full
disclosure. Ultimately, it came to mean an
openness or or or even boldness, which is how it’s translated
here. John 7, 7, 13, no one was speaking openly of him. Speaking
of that boldness that was lacking, 1 John 2, 28, little children
abide in him so that when he appears, we may have confidence. And that’s a verbal confidence.
That’s how the words used in Scripture. Paul, as I said, is
setting up a contrast. It’s a very simple contrast between
the fullness, the frankness, the boldness that we should have
in Christ compared to this obscured ministry of Moses. A ministry
behind the curtain. A ministry that was constantly
hiding God’s glory from the people, not proclaiming it. As one said, this stands opposed
to all concealment. whether from timidity or from
a desire to deceive, and also fear of consequences. There. That challenges most of us, doesn’t
it? A fear of consequences. A fear
of losing our neighbor’s friendship. A fear of losing our boss. A
fear of offending our friends. We’re not called to be timid.
We’re not called to cower in the darkness. We’re not called
to put a veil over our face. Rather, it is a frank, open,
courageous manner of speech. In Paul’s case, it was the result
of his firm conviction of his divine mission and the truth
and the glory of the gospel. So that he proclaimed it fully,
intelligibly, without regard to consequences, Paul wasn’t
afraid of anyone. and to owe that it were true
of us. Sometimes we find it even intimidating
to invite people to church. Or to just tell people, just
admit that we’re Christians. Or just let somebody see in some
public place that we’re carrying our Bibles. Or to see that we’re
at the restaurant and we pause and we bow in prayer of gratitude
to God for the food on the table. This stands opposed to that timidness,
to that reserve. I was sharing with one brother
a couple of weeks ago. He was unaware that I am, in
fact, a genius and that in my college years I had done a study
at the University of Colorado where so many geniuses are. And in my study, I had uncovered
this timeless but unknown truth prior to this point. And my uncovering
of this truth was bound to win me if I had been in a more prominent
place, the Nobel Prize for being such a genius. And my observation
in my nonverbal communication class was that as I termed it
then, A tendency to resort to restrained public interaction.
I called it R.P.I. Restrained public interaction
is kind of where we live. We tend to just keep to ourselves. And if you doubt my observations,
simply get onto an elevator and start talking to all of those
on there and see how comfortable you are in going forward. We
tend to keep to ourselves. That is society’s tendency. That’s what society would prefer
for each of us to keep to ourselves, generally speaking. And if we
speak, speak just in vague generalities and keep it light. And if you
doubt that the next time someone asks you how you’re doing, go
ahead and answer them in full. Tell them about your bank account,
tell them about your health problems, and if You can still chase them
down the street and they’re still listening. We tend to be reserved. We want
to be upstanding members of society. And so we’re not going to rock
the boat by talking about one of those three things that we’re
not supposed to talk about. We’re supposed to be people of
boldness. We’ve seen the face of the glory
of God. We’re supposed to fearlessly, boldly proclaim the good news
of the gospel. We’re supposed to be courageous.
We’re supposed to have great confidence in Christ. We’re supposed
to be outspoken. We’re supposed to stand up on
biblical principles. We’re supposed to proclaim God’s
good law. We’re supposed to proclaim forgiveness
in Christ. Paul said it quite simply when
he told Timothy, if there’s one thing you do, preach the Word. Lay it out to them. Paul did
it himself. When he got to the Ephesians
and he got off the boat, he said, I did not shrink from declaring
to you anything that was profitable. And then he repeated himself
and he said, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything.
Pardon me, I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose
of God. Paul was bold. And Paul was bold
because he had seen the glory of Christ. He’d seen the glorious
nature of this gospel. There’s a second blessing. Not
only a clarification of spiritual truth that issues forth in great
boldness, but the gospel of Christ, this unveiled glory brings to
us liberation from our sinful condition. Look at verse 17. Now, the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Paul’s
declaration that the Lord is the Spirit is a clear indication
here of the deity of the Holy Spirit. That much is just a given. The Spirit was there at creation.
The Spirit was constantly through the Old and the New Testament
stated as the empowering force of God. It is the Spirit that
regenerates us, as we’ve seen in our recent studies. It is
the Spirit of God who is tasked with revealing God. So we’re not surprised to find
the Holy Spirit here exercising His ministry. As one said, the
Lord is said to be the spirit because the spirit represents
Christ acting as his agent in carrying forth his work in the
world, just as the father and the son are one. This is no surprise
to learn that the Lord is the spirit. Moses in his ministry, all he
did was declare, as we talked about two weeks ago, declare
and prescribe restrictions on their outward conduct. The Christ,
on the other hand, transforms and changes from the inner life
by way of his spirit. It’s the spirit that works. It’s
the spirit that gives freedom. It’s the spirit that liberates.
Now, the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. What kind of liberty? Because we enjoy a kind of liberty
here in America, at least for now. There is liberty not only
to speak openly, but to look with an unveiled face at the
glory of God. That’s the liberty. Liberty is the special privilege
of knowing that we see the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus. This
truth is replete without Scripture, regardless of the writers. John
chapter 8, verse 32, you will know the truth and the truth
will make you free. Romans 8-2, the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin
and death. There is in Christ, by way of
the Spirit, a freedom that surpasses any earthly kind of freedom,
any secondary kind of freedom. Galatians 5-1, it was for freedom
that Christ made us free. Therefore, keep standing firm
and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. James 1.25,
but one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty,
and abides in it, not by having become a forgetful hearer, but
an effectual doer. This man will be blessed in what
he does. You see, the liberty here about which the apostle
is speaking is the liberty that was completely dependent on the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The freedom that the Spirit brings.
that flows down from God, applying to us the redemption that was
purchased by Jesus Christ. The liberty here is the glorious
liberty as children of God. It’s the liberty by which Christ
has made us free. It’s the freedom from the law,
the freedom from dominion of sin, the freedom from bondage
to corruption, as Scripture says. Liberty includes everything that’s
involved in being children of God. Freedom from ignorance. Freedom from error. Freedom from
sin. Freedom from subjection to the authority of men in a
spiritual sense. And ultimately, freedom from
conscience. Freedom from all authority in
matters of religion other than that which the Spirit of God
convicts in our hearts. That’s the function of the Spirit. Sin, Paul said, shall not be
master over you. You’re not under law, under grace.
We find replete throughout the Scriptures those passages that
speak of slavery on the one hand, of sin and freedom in Christ
on the other. Romans 7 says it this way. Therefore,
my brethren, you who are made to die to the law through the
body of Christ so that you might be joined to another, to him
who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit
for God. But now we’ve been released from
the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that
we might serve in newness of the Spirit, not in the oldness
of the letter. Paul said where the Spirit is,
there is liberty. There is a freedom to serve God.
There is a freedom from sin. There is a freedom unto grace.
As one pointed out, the same God who gave the law is the same
God who brings salvation. The Almighty God of the Old Testament
is the same God that grants liberty in this new covenant from our
feeble attempts to earn salvation. We can’t do it. It’s absolutely
impossible as we saw two weeks ago. Yet what we find impossible
to do in our humanness, God by His Spirit, enables we are free. If we are in Christ, we are free. And there’s a third blessing
from this passage. We are looking at unveiled glory,
the blessings of gospel ministry. The gospel of Christ brings clarification
of spiritual truth. It brings liberation from a sinful
condition. And thirdly, it brings transformation
to a glorious state. Look at verse 18, “…but we
all with unveiled face.” And see, the contrast here, don’t
get it wrong, the contrast isn’t between Moses and Christians,
but rather between the Jews, the unconverted, and those who
are in Christ. You see, the Jews formerly were
blinded by a veil, but we now see with an unveiled face. One group sees. The other does
not. That’s the simple contrast set
up here. But we all. In our case, there
is no obscurity and therefore there’s no need of concealment,
as Paul said, we use great boldness. There’s no fear, there’s nothing
to hide. We as Christians know that the
glory that we have seen and glimpsed is permanent and perpetual and
everlasting. And it’s because of that that
Paul says, we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord. Interesting words, beholding
as in a mirror. We’ve seen the glory, but we
haven’t seen the face of God. But we’ve seen the glory that
speaks and assures us that there is a God, that there is a God
of glory. Essentially, what you have in
these passages is the effect, the result, if you will, of turning
to the Lord. We’re delivered from the law.
We have liberty in the Spirit. We’re made free. We’re introduced
to the presence of the Lord and we’re enabled to behold His glory,
Paul says. In comparison with those who
are unconverted, who don’t see the Lord clearly or with an unveiled
face, even now we see But it says in a mirror, Paul says,
it’s not the immediate pure vision of the Lord. As one said, which
will be enjoyed only in heaven, but it is the manifestation of
his glory, which is made in his word and his spirit, whose office
it is to glorify Christ by revealing him to us. We’ve seen it. We’ve
seen it, Paul says. The mirror is the gospel. The
mirror is the Word preached or written through which the knowledge
of Christ is communicated to us. That’s how it’s obtained.
We don’t have a direct personal knowledge of the Lord, but we
see Him just as we often see our own reflection in a mirror
through the spoken or written word. That’s where we behold
the glory of the Lord. We’ve talked much in the last
weeks about the glory of the Lord, the glory of Christ, His
divine excellence, the fullness of Christ revealed to us. The
believer is enabled. The Christian person is enabled
to see that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God manifested in
the flesh and that Little thing that we call conversion is the
highest condition that the human soul can ever attain. And Paul says, but we all with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed. We’re being changed day by day. You can look at your life. You
can think back ten years, twenty. You can think back a month ago.
And you know that God is at work in your life. You know that God
is constantly molding and shaping, convicting you of sins, granting
you grace for others, for the battle. The word here literally
is the word that the Gospels used for transfigured. Matthew
17, 2, he was transfigured before them. Essentially, it says that
we are being transfigured or transformed dramatically and
supernaturally changed. That’s the blessing. We are being
transformed, conformed, if you will, to the
image of Christ. And it comes about by beholding
His glory. And it’s got to start there.
Seeing Christ and who He is and it’s the view of that glory and
the vision of that glory, even though it’s as if it were in
a mirror, in a glass, which ultimately is that transforming power, that
transformation proceeds, as Paul says, from glory to glory. It
is a glorious state that we find ourselves in having been seized
by God, laid hold of by God, having God begin this process
of salvation in our lives. What a glorious state that we’re
in. But he says it’s from glory to glory. And the end product,
the end product won’t won’t even be anything comparable to where
you stand and sit right now. To be in a glorified state. To
be transformed by God and by His Spirit. To put on, as Paul
told the Corinthians, the new self being renewed in a true
knowledge according to the image of the One who created Him. To
be found in the image of Christ. That’s the work that God has
undertaken in our lives. We will be like Him, says 1 John. But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image, the image of Christ, from glory
to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit. What’s in it for
us? What’s in this incredible, glorious
gospel? Yes, we agree, Paul, that it’s
glorious. What’s in it for us? We see and
they didn’t. What’s in it for us? We’re free
and millions are not. What’s in it for us? One day
we will be seen in the image of Christ. Let’s bow in gratitude. Our God, You are so good. We do thank You and praise You
that You have saved us, that You have introduced us and shown
us the glory of the Gospel in the face of Christ. And Father,
because of that, we do plead and pray for great boldness that
we would proclaim the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
that others may come to see, that others may be transformed
and changed. We pray these things in Jesus
name, Amen.