Week 5: Reflecting God’s Glory
Scripture Passage:
1. We have been speaking for 4 weeks now about the Glory of God and how it is God’s intentioned priority to reveal His glory to mankind so that you and I will assume our created place in His wonderful plan.
a. Today, I wish to turn our attention to the CONSEQUENCES or RESULTS of seeing the glory of God.
i. Remember that God’s glory is the physical manifestation of the Divine Majesty.
ii. What happens TO US we see, encounter, bask, or sit in God’s glorious presence?
1. Previously, we have said that the first thing that happens to us when we encounter God’s glory, is that we are propelled to the attitude and posture of worship.
a. Worship is that assumption of the rightful place of the creature before its creator. We cannot stand in God’s presence. We are humbled, awed and struck to our knees by the awareness that He is God and we are not.
b. The bible says that one day, “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (God) to the glory of God the Father.” That is, everyone will see His glory and worship. There is no other response that a creature can do.
2. The second thing, which we will try to come to grips with today, is that our faces will reflect, like mirrors, what we have seen and experienced.
a. Last week, we encountered the moment in time when Jesus was “transfigured” before his disciples.
i. Who He was became VISIBLE to the three disciples with Him.
ii. What was inside became visible outside.
iii. The Greek word used was Metamorpho, which means to change form.
iv. This same word will help us understand what is supposed to happen to us as well. It is used twice in the New Testament.
1. "Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, (that’s the word "metamorpho"), modeled on your new mind." (Romans 12.2)
2. " And we, without unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are changed (metamorpho) into the image that we reflect. This is the work of the Lord who is the Spirit." (2 Corinth:3:18)
2. Exodus 34:29-35 Let’s look back at one of the first times God’s glory reflected on someone’s face:
a. “ It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony {were} in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in 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 until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.”
i.
ii. Moses had the glory of God reflected upon his face when he came down from the mountain after a meeting with the Lord.
1. Moses had been in the very presence of God, and as a result, his face shone for some time to come. The passage says literally, that the “skin of his face shone.”
2. In fact, the Hebrew word that is used there means to “shine or emit rays of light.”
3. One commentator indicated that Moses’ face was “IRRADIATED with God’s “glory.
4. I cannot imagine what that must have looked like. It defies my imagination to think of a face with a flashlight behind it.
5. I don’t think that his radiant face was merely a sunburn.
6. I doubt that he just had a great big grin that was so warm that everyone said his face shone.
7. I have to use my imagination to try to understand that what happened to Moses’ face was remarkable and never before seen by people.
8. The passage let us know that when Aaron (his brother) and the people saw his face glowing, they were afraid!
9. What were they afraid of? Jewish scholars state that the light beams coming from his face were so supernatural in nature that the people knew that Moses had God’s endorsement on him and on the transcription of the Law.
a. "Moses did not know of the light beaming from his face with His talking to him" teaches that this miracle was not for Moses, but for the Jews. They were in need of proof of God’s sustained endorsement of Moses. Moses had no need for this light.
b. The point in time when God enacted this miracle of Moses’ beams of light supports our theory. This miracle was initiated upon Moses’ receipt of the Torah, thereby teaching that the light was to support Moses’ mission of successfully transmitting a Divine system.
b. Now if your memory is good, you can recall that last week, when we studied the Transfiguration of Jesus, that something similar happened to Him. His entire being became dazzling white, including his clothing. But the difference between Jesus and Moses was that Moses had God’s glory shining ON him. Jesus had God’s glory shining THROUGH Him. This is a significant difference, because as Christians, we must seek the latter and not the former.
3. 2 Cor. 3:7-18 Let’s go over to a New Testament Passage where the apostle Paul is teaching about Moses’ experience:
a. But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?
b. 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory. 12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 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. 14 But 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. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
c. 18 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.
4. Did you see that? The mirroring, the changing & transformation of us from the glory of God?
a. Let me read this key passage again: 2 Cor 3:18 (from the NLB) “And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.”
b. Paul contrasts Moses’ radiating face, which shone briefly after seeing God, with the radiating faces of Christians, who can radiate constantly because the Spirit is with them constantly, and whose radiating is a sign of ongoing spiritual transformation.
i. No one ever radiated like Jesus Christ. He is the perfect mirror image of the imageless God. Just as last week, we looked at how Jesus was transfigured, to display the divine nature inside of him, we understand that when we face the face of our Lord Jesus, we behold God’s light mirrored.
ii. Our task, then is to mirror to others something of the light and love of God which Christ mirrors to us.
1. Have you ever seen those old style paintings of holy people or biblical people? They seem to have halo’s around their heads?
a. What do you think that is about?
b. It is a literal interpretation of this passage that we are reading!
c. We are not talking about Monica on Touched by an angel having the glory of God showing about her…
d. We are talking about you and I, having the glory of God showing THROUGH us.
iii. We are called to be ones who radiates with the spiritual presence of God,
1. We are called to be those who mirror the Holy One. We are to be mirrors of God.
2. What produces that glow of godliness in our faces?
a. It is not how perfect you are that produces the glow of godliness.
b. It is not how sinless you are.
c. It is not how holy you act.
d. It is not even how many good works you do that will produce this glow of godliness.
e. No amount of moral or psychological perfection will produce the glow of godliness.
f. Only one thing will produce the glow of godliness in us…the nearness of God.
3. It is like a mirror and the sun:
a. What makes the light is not the mirror but the sun;
b. It is the mirror’s job to mirror –
i. (interesting that "mirror" is both a noun and a verb, a state of being and an action.)
c. In your and my self-absorption, our preoccupation with ourselves, our performance and our own needs, we don’t realize that the truth of God which sets us free, sets us free first of all, from ourselves.
d. The truth sets us free from our limited human self, so we can lose – and find – ourselves in God.
i. Imagine being set free from self-consciousness, from self-concern and fear, in order to be released into a constant awareness of God’s presence and glory…that is our destiny and God’s design for us.
ii. The wonderful thing about Jesus paying for our sins and our failures is that we don’t have to look at ourselves and be concerned about what we are doing or not doing. If we are looking at Him, we will produce fruit.
iii. We focus so much on our own performance that we lose sight of the fact that God has given us the grace to be forgiven and if He has forgotten our sin, then so should we.
iv. We must do one thing above all else. Seek His glorious face.
iv. Have you ever had one of those self-tormenting dialogues with yourself, where you are down on yourself, mad at yourself, frustrated with your situation, that you simply can’t meet someone’s expectations, or even your own expectations…and you are feeling worthless.
1. I believe God’s voice wants to shout to you, “It’s not about You!”
2. He’s done that to me. Reminding me that it is not about me measuring up. It is not about my performance.
a. I was unworthy before I failed, what can make me less than worthy?
b. I need Jesus Christ to rescue me.
c. You need Jesus Christ to rescue you.
d. He is the only worthiness that you or I have.
e. But if our eyes are on ourselves, our performance, our failures, our ‘whatever’…we will not be reflecting anything but ourselves and our failures and our performance…
i. Our mirror will reflect nothing but darkness.
3. We must look away from ourselves. To Christ. To His glory. There is no other way we can reflect His glory in our lives. It doesn’t come by TRYING to glow…it comes by looking at His glory, by abiding and seeking His face more than we seek anything else. Putting him first.
4. Won’t you gazed upon the Face of God, not with my eyes of course, but with your heart, with your inner eyes of love and longing. Sense the loving face of Christ, slowly, delicately, the Lord who is the Spirit will fill in and up the holes of your being, pour healing ointment on the soreness and sorryness of your soul. This will happen only through the power of a Gaze upon the face of God. To allow Him to work in your life. To allow Him to be God.
5. Does your countenance glow?
a. We need to leave the hustle and bustle of our busy lives and spend time with the Lord in heartfelt prayer (talking with the Lord) and Bible reading (letting Him talk to us).
i. Are you spending time each day seeking the Lord?
ii. Is it obvious to others that your faith in Jesus is vibrant, real, and life-changing?
iii. Will others desire to know the Saviour by seeing the difference Christ makes in your life; by seeing the joy, peace, contentment, and serenity that are yours BECAUSE you keep your eyes on Him and confidently commit all into His hands?
b. Does your countenance (face) glow?
c. Maybe it doesn’t physically, but is there a spiritual glow about you that others can see?
i. Can they tell that you have been with Jesus?
ii. Acts 4:13, in reference to the apostles. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
iii. Others around them, including their own enemies, could tell that they had spent time with Jesus, had walked in His presence, had clung closely to Him.
iv. How about you?
d. Psalm 34:5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed.
i. I had to look at this passage in the Hebrew, to understand what it was saying…
1. Radiant: To shine, beam with light.
2. Faces: Another word for countenance.
3. Looked: To look at, regard, pay attention to, consider.
ii. “It is the look that saves, but it is the gaze that sanctifies.”
1. Have you looked to Jesus? He will change your life. Are you tired of trying to live up to expectations, those that you think God has of you and worse of all, those you have of yourself? Won’t you let Jesus take you in and lighten your load. His load is easy and His burden light. He will take all of your failures and sins and put them on himself and let you walk in freedom and forgiveness. He will never bring them up again, once you have taken them to Him. Wont you come to Him today?
2. Let’s pray.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderous face, and the things of earth will grow strangly dim, in the light of his glory and grace.
