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 by the Spirit of the Lord.”
So what is the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory? It is the will of God the Father that each one of His saints be transformed into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). Most believers’ think that this transformation will only take place when they go to be with the Lord in heaven, and while that viewpoint is partly true it is not however entirely true, for as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that we as believers are “present tense”, being transformed into the image of Christ in this life. In explaining this truth to us in the rest of the chapter, the apostle Paul uses the example of Moses body being transformed because of his prolonged exposure to the glory of God. Scripture reveals to us that Moses spent a total of eighty days on top of the mountain in the presence of God. God had only intended for Moses to be there for forty days but because Moses broke the tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments, Moses had to go back up the mountain for another forty days to get a second copy. And so the result of such a prolonged exposure to God’s glory is that Moses body was physically altered in that his body began to radiate the glory of God, and the children of Israel could no longer look at him. And so in order to solve the problem Moses had to put a veil over his face when he spoke to the Jews, otherwise they couldn’t approach him because of the glory shining from his body. And so Paul teaches us that we as believers should have a similar transformative experience as we are exposed to God’s glory. The difference being that our transformation takes place in the spirit and not in our physical bodies. So how is the believer exposed to the glory of God, for we don’t sit on top of mountains for eighty days in God’s presence? Paul teaches us that we are exposed as we behold God’s glory that is already within us, and Paul tells us that we do that by looking into a mirror. So what mirror is Paul referring to in this passage? He is referring to the mirror of God’s word (James 1:23-25). When one looks into a mirror then one sees the reflection of themselves, and so the Holy Spirit in the above quoted passage of scripture, is teaching us that when we see Jesus in the scriptures that in fact we are looking at a reflection of ourselves. What that means is that every believer should reflect more of Christ through their changed lifestyles each and every passing day. The key is to look into the mirror of God’s word, and so the more we mediate on this truth and in faith, confess it over our lives, the more we will be transformed into the very image of Christ. As we act on this truth in faith, then God by His Spirit in us works the miracle of transforming our lives from glory to glory, even into the image of His glory. To the degree that we believe that, and walk in it by faith, He then is able to transform us by His power that works in us, for it is the Holy Spirit that works in us to transform us into the image of Jesus.
Michael E.B. Maher
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