Show Me Your Glory
2 Corinthians 3:18
“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.”
Show Me Your Glory
Exodus 33:18-19 reads, “Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”” We then read on to where the Bible says in Exodus 34:5-7, “The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
For the last few weeks we have been reviewing the person and works of our Lord Jesus Christ. We talked about how He is 100% God and 100% man. We then discussed what His works were. How He was sinless, performed miracles, suffered, died and rose from the grave. The last time we looked at Jesus we talked about how He left His privileges as God to become a man like us. This week let’s tie who Jesus is with the passages from Exodus that were quoted in the opening paragraph.
Moses was praying that God would spare the people of Israel after they had created a golden calf to worship. In the prayer Moses asks the Lord to show him His glory. The Lord then instructed Moses to go up to the mountain the next day in order to receive new tablets with the 10 commandments. At this time the Lord made Moses stand behind a rock and covered his face for protection. God then passed by Moses and made His proclamation.
The skin on the face of Moses glowed when he returned to the people after his time with the Lord. Moses would have to put a veil over His face after He communed with God because his face would glow due from the radiance of the glory of the Lord – Exodus 34:35. The veil protected the people from seeing the face of Moses as they were afraid to look at him. Moses would remove the veil when he had conversations with the Lord and put it back on before speaking with his people.
Peter, James and John must have had a similar experience when they were on the Mount of Transfiguration. This is when Jesus spoke with Elijah and Moses. This is where the Father declared that Jesus was His beloved Son in which He was well pleased – Matthew 17:1-8. In this experience it was as if Jesus peeled back the veil of His flesh and the radiance of His glory shined forth. His face shown like the sun and His clothes became as white as light. What an experience that must have been!
2 Corinthian 3:18 reads, “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.” What a privilege we have! Moses had a special calling in which the Lord’s glory shined forth and actually lit up the face of Moses as if it was glowing. When we focus on Jesus we see, compassion, grace, patience, love, forgiveness of sins, and justice. Granted, we do not have the blinding light but, we do see what passed by Moses on the mountain on the pages of Scripture in the form of Jesus Christ who is our God.
As we dwell on Jesus we are then transformed. We do not have to put a veil over our face as Moses did but the evidence that we have spent time with Jesus will shine forth. You can tell a person who has spent time with Jesus as they become more loving, forgiving, and compassionate. You can see the fruit of the Spirit shine through them which are love, joy, peace, patience, loving kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. You have seen these people. They are the ones who you find singing hymns by themselves as they walk through the halls of church. Listen to Joni Eareckson Tada for just five minutes and you can tell she has been with Jesus.
Another interesting passage is Exodus 33:11. It reads, “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.” Did you catch that? The passage says as a man speaks to his friend. Similarly in John 15:15 Jesus is quoted as saying, “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” Friends tell you all you need to know including the hard things. Jesus did just that. We can sing what a friend we have in Jesus.
Some say Jesus is a prophet. Some say He is a good teacher. Others say He is a good moral example. We say He is our God who loves us and is coming back! Do you want to see the glory of God? Do you ask, Lord, please show me your glory? Ask the Lord to empower you to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. With unveiled face through the pages of Scripture we can see the glory of the Lord and be transformed into His image as we gaze intently on Him and His works!
