By Samuel Parish
And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding 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 who is the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:18
I don’t see very well.
At least part of me doesn’t. My right eye is significantly worse than my left, but you would never know it when I wake up in the morning. After a full night’s rest, I can see the smallest mosquito across the room in my South Carolina home, but give me a few hours looking at a computer screen and I can’t tell you if that speed limit sign says 40 or 60. It slipped away slowly over the years, and it wasn’t until I hopped a curb driving late at night that I realized I needed some help if I was going to continue my post-dinner errands.
If you have grown up in the church you are probably familiar with Paul’s proclamation in v.17 (Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom). We all want to be free; we all want transformation; and Paul says that we have both of those in the Spirit. But how? Paul ends the chapter though with a beautiful vision of what we are becoming, if we will only have the eyes to see it.
Paul’s assertion here is bold. When you see the Lord in his glory, you will be changed. Why is it then that so many of us following after God seem to live unchanged lives? Paul would say that we have a sight problem.
Maybe you’ve see Jesus, but not as Lord.
Our sin nature hates to come under authority. Even the light of the glory of Christ is a painful and ugly thing to the heart that is unwilling to bend in grateful submission to the work of the Spirit of God. If you read the word and find your heart cold to the things of God, do not walk away as if it’s the Bible’s fault. Cry out to your good Father to send his Spirit to bring the light of repentance to your soul.
Maybe you are still under the veil. Paul says that the law came in such glory that Moses had to cover his face because it was so overwhelming for the Israelites. But its glory was coming to an end.
Are we so caught up in the truly beautiful things that come from God that we are missing out on God himself? God has endless pleasures for his children, but we will not be changed if we exchange the eternal glory of the giver for the fading glory of the gifts.
Maybe….you’re just like the rest of us.
Paul says that when we see the Jesus we will be changed from one degree of glory to the next. If you are still reading this, I’m assuming that your continued breath is a sign of the Lord’s unfinished work in your life! Because of the blood of Christ, we stand justified before the Lord. His declaration of pardon is a precious promise as we journey onward. If you aren’t yet who you are supposed to be, take heart! He who began the work will be faithful to complete it. He promises us that we will be changed!