God's Transforming Glory

Thanks very much, Julia. Good morning, everyone.

Can I repeat the welcome was given at the beginning?

And can I perhaps particularly welcome those who've joined us on live stream

or watching video later or listening to the audio recording?

I've got a reason for doing that this morning.

As Kate had told us earlier, the funeral service for Donald McMillan is this Thursday.

Most of you, I'm aware, have never met Donald,

but he'd been a member of our church family since the 1930s,

since before the Second World War.

He was an elder of the church for more than 30 years,

and for most of that time, he also was chairman of the elders' meetings.

But I will remember Donald particularly as someone who served humbly and faithfully.

If there was something to be done and he could do it,

Donald would do it without fuss, often unseen by everyone except God.

He was a wonderful role model, particularly to my generation.

Donald hasn't been able to be with us for the last few years,

except very occasionally at the breaking of bread on Sunday morning.

There was COVID, then his wife Audrey was very ill,

and Donald himself has been very unwell.

But Donald watched this service every Sunday morning,

and he liked to talk about it.

It kept him in touch with the church.

It made him feel still part of the church family,

that he could worship with us and that he could learn with us.

So this morning, a big thank you to those who make that possible,

for those who do the video recordings.

And as I said, a particularly welcome to those who are not able to be with us,

but are watching us online.

Now we're looking today at 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

It's quite a difficult chapter,

so I want to do a few things before we get into the passage,

just to help us to understand what it's about.

I want to begin with a story.

It's a story you may be familiar with,

but I think it will help you to see where we are going this morning.

In the village of Boya in Spain,

in 1930, a local artist called Elias Garcia Martinez

painted a picture on the wall of Jesus,

the image of Jesus in a crown of thorns.

The title is Echihomo.

Oh, it was Jesus before Pilate.

Over the years, this painting deteriorated.

And particularly because they had quite bad damp on the walls of the church,

eventually it really became quite bad.

And there were processes in place to get it restored

when a local woman decided she would do it herself.

An 81-year-old woman called Cecilia Gimenez.

She decided that she would do the restoration.

And this is the bit you may remember having seen in the past.

It turned out really badly.

There is a good happy ending to the story

because this painting and the church became a tourist attraction

and it raised quite a lot of money for the church and the local economy.

But what I think that illustrates to us

is if you've got an image

and you're trying to restore it to its former glory,

you need the right person doing it.

If it's the wrong person, it's liable to turn out really badly.

And that's really what this passage today is about.

We're leading up to the end, verse 18,

where it talks about the image of God.

Now, right back at the beginning in Genesis,

when God created humans,

he made them in his image.

But that image has been marred by our sin

to the point of being in many ways almost unrecognizable.

And over the time in the Old Testament,

in the law given through Moses,

the people who tried to keep that law,

they couldn't do it.

Because of their sin,

they couldn't restore themselves to be in the image of God.

And Paul says in this chapter,

and we'll come to it right at the end,

that we are restored into the image of God.

We are being conformed more and more

to the image of God

through the work of the Holy Spirit

and through focusing our attention

on the Lord Jesus

and thinking about him.

So the image can be restored,

but it can't be done by our own efforts.

It can only be done through God's Spirit.

So that's where we're going.

Before we get into the passage in detail,

let me also give you a couple of keys

to help us understand it,

to open up the passage for us.

And the first key is Paul's purpose.

If you get any passage in the Bible,

it's good to think,

well, why was this passage written?

What is the point of it?

And Paul's purpose in writing

basically most of the book of 2 Corinthians,

but certainly the early chapters,

was to counter some people

who had come along

and who were trying to do him down.

Now, Graham's presented that to us

over the last few weeks.

People were coming and saying,

well, Paul is not really committed to the churches.

He keeps changing his mind.

He's not really that good a messenger for God.

And we have that continuing in this passage.

The people who had come

were by and large peddling Jewish traditions.

They were trying to get people

to go back to the law.

They were presenting themselves

as people who had mystical experiences.

And they were expecting the church

to give them money

to pay them for what they did.

And they looked at Paul with some disdain.

I like the description

that Jonathan Lamb gave of this.

He said they viewed Paul

as little more than a clown,

a manual worker,

an amateur speaker,

a buffoon who didn't even charge

for his services.

And these people had come into the church

and they were putting Paul down.

And he wants to defend himself.

But perhaps more significantly,

they were also denying Paul's teaching.

They were saying it's not enough,

as Paul says,

to have faith in Jesus

and to be forgiven by God.

You've got to obey the Old Testament law.

You've got to do things

to earn God's favour.

They were trying to impose

Jewish regulations

and Jewish practices

on top of the gospel

that Paul preached.

And Paul is countering

these people in this chapter.

The first six verses,

largely about his credentials.

The remaining verses of the chapter,

and indeed through into chapters

four and five and beyond,

are a defence of his teaching

and a presentation

of how more glorious

the message of the gospel of Jesus

is than anything

that is in the Old Testament.

So that's key one,

Paul's purpose.

The second key is that in this chapter,

Paul draws some parallels.

He takes things from the Old Testament

and he compares them

with what is happening now

with his ministry.

And he does that, I think,

in two main ways.

He compares himself and Moses,

not overtly in some ways,

but it definitely is there

in the passage.

Moses was the messenger

of the Old Covenant,

of the law that God gave

the people on Sinai.

He chose to communicate it

through Moses,

giving him the tablets

and Moses would go in

and meet with God

and come out

and talk with the people.

Paul says that he also

is a messenger

of a covenant,

that he is bringing

the people God's new covenant.

Today, Corinthians first learned

the gospel message from Paul

and so he was the messenger

of God's new covenant

through Jesus.

And if the people

who had come into church

were accusing Paul

of incompetence,

then Paul says,

yes, I would be incompetent,

but I've been made competent

through the Lord Jesus.

So Paul can present

God's message

and does it,

unlike Moses,

he does it without

in any way hiding

the God's glory.

Then the second bit

of the parallels

is between the letter

and the Spirit.

In other words,

the Old Testament,

God said to his people,

here is a list of things

you have to do.

If you do these things

perfectly,

you will be justified

before me.

And in practice,

no one could do it.

So Paul said,

the letter of the law,

that just brought death.

And the parallel now,

Paul says,

is that under the new covenant

that God is bringing,

it comes through the Spirit

and does not depend

on our efforts,

we have the Spirit

of God in us,

revitalizing us,

giving us life

and enabling us

to serve God.

So bear these two

keys in mind

as we go through.

I think they do help us

to understand

the passage.

But let's get into it now.

I've divided it

into four sections

and each of these sections

is based around

something that Paul tells us

about the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit,

of course,

is part of the Trinity,

Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit,

that great mystery

and yet that wonderful truth

that there is one God

in three persons.

And the Holy Spirit

is the person

who is with us

and can help us

in our lives now.

So we're going to look first

at the transforming spirit

and that's in verses

one to three.

Paul's being accused

of boasting

about himself

without any

corroborating testimony.

The people

who had come into the church

had come with letters

of recommendation.

Perhaps from the Jewish

leader or something

like that.

They come with letters

that says,

these are people

you should listen to.

They're going to tell you

what you need to know.

And they were saying,

look at Paul.

He didn't have anything

like that.

He just came

and he preached

and there was no one

behind him.

There was no one

giving him a recommendation

to you.

Now letters of recommendation

were very common

in those days.

Perhaps less common

now in churches

although I think

they could be used

a lot more than they are.

If someone moves

from one city

to another,

for example,

quite good if their

old church

could communicate

with their new church

and let them know

how they have served

and been part

of the fellowship.

But Paul didn't believe

he needed something

written down on paper

as a letter of commendation

or recommendation

to the Corinthians.

Paul said,

my letter of recommendation

is written on the heart.

It's not something

that's written

with pen on paper.

It's written by the Spirit

on heart.

In other words,

what Paul is saying

is that the Corinthians

were his letter

of recommendation

because their lives

and their hearts

had been transformed

by God's Holy Spirit.

If we went back

and read in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

Paul described

what many of the Corinthians

were like

before they became Christians.

He says

they were sexually immoral,

they were idolaters,

they were drunkers,

they were swindlers

and a whole lot more

besides.

They weren't

what you might call

good people.

And yet,

through the gospel

that Paul preached,

the gospel of the Lord Jesus,

through the transforming power

of the Holy Spirit,

the Corinthians

had been changed.

Not that they were perfect,

you correctly pick that up

if you go through

1 and 2 Corinthians,

but they had been changed

from what they were

and they were still being changed

by the Holy Spirit.

And by questioning

Paul's credentials,

actually they were questioning

their own salvation

because what Paul

had brought them

was the message

that had changed

their lives

as they came to faith

in the Lord Jesus.

He didn't need

a letter of recommendation

because the Corinthian

Christians themselves

were his recommendation.

I have to take a pause there

and we'll ask this question

again at the end

of the service.

If your life

was a letter

that people could read,

what would it say?

What would they read about it?

It's about your faith,

about your love for Jesus,

about what he has done

in your life.

We'll come back to that

at the end

in the questions,

but just leave that

to think about

and to mull over

for a while.

Let's move on though

into the second part

of the passage

and I've called this

the life-giving spirit.

It's verses 4 to 6

of the passage.

Paul is writing

with confidence.

And he says

in that confidence

it's not a kind

of spiritual one-upmanship,

I'm better than you.

Rather it is

because he's been

made competent

to be a minister

of the gospel

through the spirit

of God.

In verse 3

he talks about

tablets of stone

that were given

to Moses.

Verse 6

he talks about

the letter of the law

and the life

that comes

through the spirit.

So Paul says

the letter of the law

brings death

but the spirit

brings life.

The old covenant,

the agreement,

the commitment

that was made

between God

and the people

in Moses' day

was a mutual commitment

where God's requirements

were laid out

in very precise detail

and the people

committed

to obey them.

And then they found

they couldn't.

it was impossible.

The standard

was just too high

and their inability

to keep it

Paul says

led to death.

Contrast that

with the situation now.

Paul says

we have the spirit

now.

We have the Holy Spirit

who is with us

who can lead us

to Christ

and can help us

grow in our faith.

And we're not

dependent

on our own efforts

because if we're

Christians

if we trust

in Jesus

then God

is at work

in our lives

and anything

we achieve

any competence

that we have

we owe to him

and not

to ourselves.

I think that's

another very good

reminder.

We are completely

dependent on God

for any good

that comes

from what we do.

It's an antidote

both to pride

and to discouragement.

Perhaps your experience

has been similar

to mine.

At times

I feel that

I'm doing pretty well

that God is

with me

as I speak

or as I serve

in the church

and I'm tempted

to think

well that's my efforts

I've done really well

I've worked hard

at it.

Other times

things don't go so well

and I get quite discouraged

and think

well am I really

up to the job here

should I be doing

whatever

I'm serving

in.

Both attitudes

are wrong.

If things go well

it is because

God's spirit

is with us

it is empowering us

and is using us.

And if we think

things are going badly

well we don't know.

We may be inadequate

we are inadequate

of ourselves

but God is able

to take

and to use

our failures

and our weakness

and to bless

others

through it.

We are called

to serve

to serve

faithfully

and to serve

in the power

in the strength

that God

gives us.

There's no question

of how we feel

after it

or whether we feel

we've done a good

or a bad job.

The Holy Spirit

is the enabler

he's the life giver

and if there is to be

anything that comes

from our service

for the Lord Jesus

it is through

him.

Okay so that's

the first

part of the passage

where Paul is

defending himself

personally

against the attacks

made against him.

Let's move on

and again we have

two headings

in the second

part of the chapter

which is about

Paul's message

and particularly

the means

by which it comes.

I've called the third

section from verse

7 to 11

the glorious spirit

and hopefully you can

see that

if you've got it

in front of you.

So we're going back

in the next section

of the passage

to Exodus chapter 34.

Exodus 34 · chapter mention

If you get the chance

when you get home

it would be worth

reading Exodus 34.

It very much is

the background

to what's happening

here.

Moses went up

the Mount Sinai.

He went up twice.

The first time

he came down

and the people

had brought a golden

calf and Moses

threw down

the commandments

he'd been given

and the people

suffered God's wrath

for what they'd done.

Moses went back

up again

pleaded for the people

that God would save them.

God in his mercy

relented

and Moses came down

and because he'd been

in the presence of God

when he came down

his face was shining.

So shining

that the people

were afraid

to come to him.

That shows

I think

that Moses

the covenant

that was given

through Moses

the message

that was given

to Moses

was a glorious one.

It's easy for us

to say

well the law

it's gone

it's passed

what really matters

is the gospel

and to an extent

that's true

but we mustn't put down

the law

in the Old Testament.

What God gave

to the Israelites

was glorious.

It was

a representation

of his holiness

and his greatness

and the standards

that he lived to.

Even though

it led to death

Moses' face shone

as he'd been

in the presence

of God

and as he was able

to present something

of the character

of God.

But how much

more glorious

says Paul

is the ministry

of the Spirit.

If the old ministry

if what came

through Moses

just resulted

in death

because people

couldn't do

what they had

to do

how much

more glorious

is the ministry

now

of the Holy Spirit

that gives us

life.

It's also

more glorious

because it brings

righteousness

and not

condemnation.

And here's

the heart

of the Christian

faith.

Paul will

expand on it

in later chapters.

No one

except Jesus

could keep

the law

perfectly.

So everyone

was condemned.

But Jesus

has taken

the punishment

for our sins

so that those

who trust

in him

are made

righteous

and we can

live more

righteously

by the power

of the Spirit.

So the

ministry

of the Spirit

that brings

justification

and righteousness

is so much

greater than

the ministry

of the law

which condemns

us because

we can't

keep it.

And then

finally in this

section

Paul reminds

us that

the glory

that Moses

had was

temporary

and the glory

of the law

was in that

sense temporary

too.

It's lost

its glory.

A good

analogy I read

was if you

look at the

sun and

the moon.

If you go

at night

in a clear

sky the

moon looks

really bright.

If you go

out again in

daylight and

you see the

sun you

can't even

see the

moon.

The level

of brightness

is so much

greater with

the sun

than the

moon.

God's glory

in the Old

Testament

shone bright.

God's glory

in the New

Testament

shines even

brighter.

So bright

that eclipses

completely

the glory

of the

Old Testament.

As Paul

says,

the letter

kills but

the spirit

gives life.

Let's move

on then and

look at the

final section

from verse

12.

And I've

called that

the liberating

spirit.

Now again

let me remind

you of

Exodus chapter

Exodus 34 · chapter mention

34.

Israelites

have left

slavery in

Egypt.

They're going

through the

wilderness.

They've been

there for

40 years.

They're still

fairly early

stages in

that.

Moses goes

up saying

I try to

get the

commandments.

He comes

down the

second time

with a

radiant face

having witnessed

the glory of

God.

And the people

are so terrified

with that that

Moses has to put

a veil on his

face to cover

it.

And Paul

tells us

though the

Old Testament

doesn't that

part of the

purpose of

that veil was

so that people

wouldn't see

that the glory

was fading.

That the

shining of

Moses' face

would gradually

diminish until

he went again

into the

presence of

God, took

the veil off,

his face

again took

on the glory,

the shining

countenance,

he came out

again and

he put the

veil on.

So the

shining represented

the glory of

God, it was

evidence to

the people

that Moses

had been

into the

presence of

God and

that what he

was relaying

back to

them was

what God

had said

to him,

it was the

instructions that

they needed

to obey.

But now,

says Paul,

things are

different.

There is no

need now

for a veil.

There is no

need now to

hide the

glory of

God.

Paul and

his fellow

evangelists,

he says,

we can be

bold.

We can be

confident that

we are able to

go out to the

people and

without veiling

anything to

present to

them God in

all his

fullness,

in all his

greatness,

in the wonder

of what comes

through Jesus.

The glow in

Moses' face

faded just as

the law

faded.

But the

glory of

Christ has

superseded that

and it

will never

fade.

There is no

reason,

says Paul,

to be

bashful about

this.

So in

verse 12,

he says,

we are

very

bold.

In

Romans chapter

Romans 1 · chapter mention

1,

Paul says,

I'm not

ashamed of

the gospel

because it

is the

power of

God that

brings salvation

to everyone

who believes,

first to the

Jew and

then to

the Gentiles.

God

says,

says Paul,

there is

still a

veil.

And the

veil isn't

on our

side of

those who

are preaching

the good

news.

The veil is

on the

hearts of

the hearers.

Many

Jews,

says Paul,

are blind.

Their minds

have been

made dull,

he said.

They can't

understand the

truth of the

gospel.

And what

appears obvious

to some of

us as

Christians in

the Old

Testament

refers to

Jesus.

They just

can't see

it.

They're

still living

in darkness.

And of

course,

it's not

just Jews

who are

in that

position.

So many

people today

in our

society

who have

no time

for the

Christian

message,

for the

gospel,

for God

at all.

They have

been blinded.

They have

the veil

over their

hearts.

And unless

that veil

is removed

through the

power of

the Spirit,

then it

will remain.

But,

says Paul,

when we

turn to

the Lord,

when we

do put

our trust

in Jesus,

the veil

is removed,

and we

can observe

God's

glory,

and we

can share

in it.

And that

brings us

to the

glorious

climax

of this

chapter.

Now,

just as a

point of

detail,

when we

come to

verses 16

to 18,

I think

when it

refers to

the Lord

there,

it's not

specifically

referring to

Jesus.

I think

in the

context,

it is

the Yahweh

of the

Old Testament,

although

obviously

everything

that we

have

is

through

Jesus.

So,

in verse

17,

Paul says,

when Moses

encountered

the Lord

in the

tent of

meeting,

we encounter

him through

the Spirit.

And that

encounters

liberating

for us.

It frees

us from

the bondage

of sin.

It frees

us from

the hardness

of heart

that we

had.

It frees

us to

be obedient

to God

through the

work of

the Holy

Spirit.

And so

then in

verse 18,

Paul says,

like Moses,

we can

view God's

glory with

unveiled

faces.

Only

Moses in

the Old

Testament,

in the

account in

Exodus,

only Moses

could go

into the

presence of

God,

take the

veil off,

and experience

the glory

of God.

When Moses

came back

to the

people,

they saw

a little

bit of

the

reflected

glory,

but even

that was

then hidden

as the

veil was

put on.

We,

though,

have

unveiled

faces.

We,

if we're

Christians,

if we know

the Lord

Jesus,

we can

gaze on

him,

we can

wonder at

who he

is,

and at

all that

he has

done for

us,

and we

can

recognize

and experience

his glory.

And as we

do that,

says Paul,

our lives

are transformed.

We are

transformed into

the image

of God

with ever-increasing

glory.

That image,

as I said,

which was spoiled

through our sin

in Genesis

is now being

restored

through the work

of the Spirit

and through

for those

who have

faith

in Jesus.

And it

comes about

as we

understand

better

and as we

contemplate

the Lord's

glory

and see

what it

means to

be in

his image.

How do

we do

that?

Well,

we moved

a few

verses

to chapter

four,

which I think

Graham will be

speaking on

next week.

Chapter

four describes

Jesus

as the

image

of God.

God

and we

are

transformed

into the

image of

God

as we

observe

the one

who is

truly

the image

of God

who is

God

with us.

John says

in his

gospel,

no one

has ever

seen

God,

but God

the one

and only

Son

who is

himself

God

and is

in the

closest

relationship

with the

Father

has made

him

known.

Our

transformation

begins

when through

the prompting

and leading

of the Spirit

opening

our hearts

to God's

word.

We recognise

that we

don't win

God's favour

by our

own efforts,

by being

a set of

rules,

by living

in a

certain way.

We only

find God's

favour

through faith

in Jesus

who died

on the

cross

to take

our sins

and make

us righteous.

That is

the beginning

of the

transformation.

The

transformation

continues

as we

contemplate

the Lord's

glory,

particularly

as revealed

in Jesus.

If we're

Christians,

we should

be spending

time daily

with God's

word,

we should

be meditating

on it,

we should

be seeking

to learn

more about

the Lord

Jesus and

his life

and his

death and

all that

he means

for us.

And as we

do that,

the Spirit

continues the

work of

transformation

and makes

us more

and more

like

Jesus.

And the

transformation

will be

complete

one day.

One day

when we

go and

see him

face to

face and

we become

like him

in every

way.

That's the

experience of

these lovely

fellow Christians

who have

recently gone

to be

with the

Lord Jesus.

They are

now with

the Lord

they love.

If we

have our

trust in

Jesus,

then one

day when

he returns

or when

we pass

through

death,

we will

go to

be with

him

forever

and we

will be

totally

transformed.

We will

be without

sin.

We will

be like

Jesus.

As

Charles

Wesley

put it,

change

from glory

into glory

till in

heaven we

take our

place,

till we

cast our

crowns

before thee,

lost in

wonder,

love,

and praise.

So to

conclude this

morning,

my challenge

to you is

where are

you on

that journey

of being

transformed

by Jesus?

Some of us

perhaps haven't

done the

first step.

We haven't

come to

realise that

only through

Jesus is

there hope.

That we

can't do it

by ourselves.

Only through

trusting in

the saving

work of

the Lord

Jesus and

dying for

us on

the cross

can we

be right

with God.

If that's

you,

please this

morning consider

that Christ

died to

save you

and that

you can

have peace

with God

through him.

Put your

trust in

him.

Maybe for

some of

us that

work of

transformation

seems to

have stalled

a bit.

Yes,

we're

Christians,

yes,

we've

come to

our trust

in Jesus,

but actually

our lives

aren't really

progressing

very much.

We're just

static,

maybe even

going backwards

in our

faith.

In that

case,

the challenge

is to

again

contemplate

the Lord's

glory,

to look

on Jesus,

to follow

his example,

to trust

him through

the Spirit

to continue

the process

that began

at your

conversion.

And for

all of us,

wherever we

are,

let's lift

our eyes.

Let's give

thanks for

the glory

that God

has revealed

to us

through Jesus

Christ,

and thanks

that is

accessible to

us and

come before

him with

unveiled

faces to

see his

beauty and

to be

changed to

be like

him.

So let's

pray together.

As we

gaze on

your kingly

brightness,

so our

faces display

your likeness.

Ever

changing from

glory to

glory,

mirrored here,

may our

lives tell

the story.

Shine on

me,

shine on

me.

Father,

we pray that

indeed you

will through

your Spirit

shine on

us,

that we

may see

the glorious

glory to

the Lord

Jesus,

that as

we do,

that we

may be

transformed

to be

more like

him,

to be

in his

image.

If we

have not

already

trusted him

for salvation,

help us

to realise

that the

only way

is through

Jesus,

not through

our own

efforts.

And if

we are

Christians,

help us

to grow

in him,

to grow

like him,

as we

contemplate

his

greatness.

We thank

you for

your presence

with us

this morning.

We pray

for the

coming week,

particularly

pray for

the funeral

service on

Thursday,

that that

will be

a fitting

tribute to

Donald,

but more

than that,

that it

will bring

glory to

the Lord

Jesus.

We give

you thanks

and ask

for your

continued

blessing.

In Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.