Glory to Glory

Good morning, I'm Dan, I'm one of the pastors here at Church of the Advent.

When Aaron read this passage from 2 Corinthians, I'm wondering if the same thing stuck out

to you as it did for me.

It's this verse, verse 18.

And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into

the same image from one degree of glory to another.

Man, that's gorgeous, right?

So beautiful.

So poetic.

You know, it also stuck out to me because at first glance, I don't know if it really matches

my experience as a Christian.

I mean, transformed from one degree of glory to another sounds really great and extreme.

Or as the King James version of this verse says, from glory to glory.

So in my spiritual life or whatever it is you want to call it, I don't think I've come anywhere

near like glory, right?

I mean, what is that?

When I hear the word glory, I think of victory and praise and fame, but usually in the world

of sports.

Like for instance, yesterday, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 59th hat trick.

He broke the all-time scoring record for soccer players in the world ever.

That's glory.

It's a glory, right?

In the world of sports.

I also think of Tom Brady, like the absolute goat who finished his career with more wins,

passing yards, and passing touchdowns in any quarterback in history, seven Super Bowl wins,

five MVPs.

I mean, that's a career that went from one degree of glory to another.

And so when I read this verse in 2 Corinthians, I wonder, Mr. St. Paul, if I can call you that,

are you really saying I'm supposed to be the equivalent, the spiritual equivalent of Tom Brady

or Cristiano Ronaldo?

Like I'm supposed to be an all-star of love, patience, and joy?

That doesn't match my experience, okay?

Or is my experience supposed to be like this?

Is this what my life is supposed to be like?

This is a painting of the resurrection of Jesus found on one of the panels of the Eisenheim altarpiece.

We zoom in a little bit.

We can see his face.

The face of one who has conquered death and has a resurrected, glorified body.

So is my life supposed to shine like this?

I'm supposed to be some kind of holy victor directing people's gaze to Jesus because of my

spiritual awesomeness?

I think what further complicates this is those who would definitely say this does match my

experience, I do feel like this.

I mean, they're so judgmental, right?

I mean, if you're being transformed into the likeness of Jesus, why am I always so tired

in your presence?

So my question at the start is, and we're going to hit this as we go, does this match your

spiritual experience?

Does verse 18 match your experience?

I'll read it one more time.

We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the

same image from one degree of glory to another.

So instead of like having like several points to my sermon, we're just going to actually keep

addressing this verse.

We're going to keep addressing this question.

Does this match our spiritual experience?

And actually, I think by the time we get to the end, after going through this passage,

we're going to see that in one way or the other, it does.

It does.

But we have a lot to work through.

Paul has a lot of indicatives in this passage.

I don't know if you noticed when Aaron read it.

There aren't any imperatives.

Do this.

Don't do that.

It's all indicative.

So we have a lot to go through and a lot to interpret.

So let's pray.

Lord, we need you.

We earlier prayed that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves, which means like

we have no power in ourselves to understand your holy scriptures, to read them rightly,

to apply them.

So I'd ask that you would guide us, please.

Help us.

Help us understand.

Open, Lord, your word to our hearts.

Open our hearts to your word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So we first need to talk about the background that Paul is talking about.

He's basing this passage on a series of chapters in the book of Exodus, chapters 32 through 34.

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

At the beginning of chapter 32, Moses had spent a lot of time on top of Mount Sinai.

There he met with God.

God gave him the Ten Commandments.

It's on Mount Sinai that he ratified his covenant with Israel.

He gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant law.

They were tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

Now, meanwhile, down below at the base of the mountain, the Israelites asked Moses' brother

to make them gods.

Aaron collected the people's golden earrings and refashioned them into what looked like

a calf, a golden calf.

And then they built an altar for the calf.

They sacrificed burnt offerings and had a big party.

Before Moses even made it down from the mountain, the Israelites had broken the covenant.

Or one could say the covenant immediately failed in its purpose.

What was the purpose of the covenant?

It was to give Israel the ongoing experience of the glory of God.

And that would have purified them to become a kingdom of priests.

So God expressed to Moses his intent to destroy Israel.

Moses pleads for the people, reminding God of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

God relented, and Moses descended from the mountain.

But then Moses saw the partying that was going on right in front of the idol and smashed the

tablets to pieces.

But even so, Moses continues to plead to God on behalf of Israel for forgiveness and for

God's presence to stay with Israel.

Now the problem is, God's presence and his glory cannot dwell in the midst of Israel without destroying her.

So Moses has a solution.

God, show me your glory.

And God grants Moses' request.

And Moses himself becomes the answer to his own prayers.

The covenant is restored.

Moses receives the law a second time on tablets.

And Moses, with his face beaming with glory and radiance, mediates God's presence to his people.

But when Moses descends a second time down to the mountain with the tablets, his face is glowing and radiant,

and the people are afraid.

And Aaron and the people ask that he cover his face with a veil.

Because they're aware that God's glory spells their demise.

So after speaking God's law to the people, Moses veils his face to protect the people from being destroyed.

Now on one hand, the veiling is an act of mercy.

On the other, it's an act of judgment.

It indicates that Israel has a hard heart.

And God's glory hidden behind a veil will be unable to transform and purify Israel.

This episode is one in a long line of incidents where Israel is separated from God's glory.

Eventually, God's glory will be manifest in the most holy place, in the temple, in Jerusalem.

But no one's allowed to go in there except one person one time a year.

And ultimately, Israel's idolatry will result in their separation from the holy land altogether.

And they'll be sent into exile for their sin.

Okay, so what do we learn from this background?

Two things.

The first thing we learn is something about glory.

I think we can arrive at a definition.

And most scholars and pastors and theologians would agree with some form of this definition.

That God's glory is his attributes made manifest in the created order.

His purity.

His holiness.

His goodness.

His power.

His transcendence.

Made in some way physically manifest.

Secondly, we learn that clearly, clearly Israel needs a new covenant.

It's crazy, right?

God gave the terms of the covenant.

Before Moses could even get down to the mountain, they had already broken the terms.

And I think you and I can sympathize with Israel on this point.

I mean, I know I can.

Like, my Lenten fast is alcohol.

I'm not doing any alcohol except on Sundays.

And it's actually, I thought, would be pretty easy for me because I hadn't been drinking much before then.

I know.

Maybe I should have chosen something more difficult.

However, the first day of Lent, you know, like, I know, like, all right, I'm not supposed to drink alcohol.

So what do I want to do?

I mean, every night of Lent, I want to crush some beers, right?

Because I know it's forbidden to me, right?

As soon as something's forbidden, I want to just jump in there.

So we do understand Israel.

And I think it's right that we identify with Israel here.

We see her hard-heartedness.

Her tendency towards idolatry.

And if we're honest, we must say, there but for the grace of God go I.

Now that we've seen the background that Paul is leaning on, let's look at the first part of this passage.

In verses 7 to 11, Paul is going to make what's called an a fortiori argument.

This kind of argument moves from the lesser to the greater, saying that if something is true about the lesser, then it is certainly true about the greater.

A modern-day example would sound something like this.

It is true that the average NFL quarterback is a great athlete.

Therefore, it is undeniably true that Tom Brady is a great athlete.

I really don't know where all this Tom Brady love is coming from.

I'm not a Tom Brady fan, but, you know, it works.

So what is Paul comparing?

He's comparing Moses' ministry with his own.

Moses' ministry we can call the Old Testament, excuse me, the Old Covenant, or as Paul calls it, the ministry of the letter, right?

Because God carved the law with letters using his own finger.

And Paul's ministry we can call the New Covenant.

This covenant was inaugurated by Jesus, both in his earthly ministry and through his death and resurrection.

Now, two things to keep in mind are that an a fortiori argument isn't seeking to denigrate one thing in order to exalt the other.

In other words, Paul is not saying that the Old Covenant is bad and the New Covenant is good.

Second, the subject matter for this comparison is what we're talking about, the glory of God.

You'll hear the word glory repeated over and over in these four verses.

So we're going to put these comparisons on a chart like you can see behind me.

We're going to start with verse 7.

If you have your Bible in front of you, it would probably be helpful to have it open to 2 Corinthians 3, verse 7.

2 Corinthians 3:7

Or if you have an app, you can go there.

You're allowed to look at your phone in church.

That's nice.

I usually do it too.

So first, Paul's referring to Moses' ministry as the ministry of death.

Now, how is Moses' ministry the ministry of death?

Well, Paul says that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory.

The issue isn't with their eyes.

The book of Exodus makes it clear that Israel could not endure God's glory because they were a quote-unquote stiff-necked people.

So how much more glorious, then, is the ministry of the Spirit, which in verse 6, Paul says, brings life.

For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The ministry of Moses is marked by Israel's inability to obey.

Paul's ministry is marked by the Spirit-given ability to obey.

And what is Paul's proof?

It's the lives of the Corinthians.

We heard Tommy preach about this last week.

Paul writes,

Okay, second comparison.

Paul calls Moses' ministry the ministry of condemnation.

Israel had no ability to obey.

And within the framework of the old covenant, there was condemnation for such failure.

And it was God's presence, his glory, that would be the instrument of that condemnation.

But with Paul's ministry, the presence of God is the instrument of salvation.

So in one, God's presence is the instrument of condemnation.

With Paul's ministry, the new covenant, the ministry of the Spirit available to us,

God's presence is the instrument of salvation.

When Jesus died on the cross, listen.

When Jesus died on the cross, the condemnation that we would deserve according to the Old Testament,

excuse me, the Old Covenant,

that condemnation is placed on Jesus.

And his righteousness is bestowed on us.

As if we had obeyed every single facet of God's law.

And with Christ's righteousness bestowed on us,

God can dwell in our midst without destroying us.

And the Holy Spirit works in and through us to act righteously.

Okay, third comparison.

The ministry of Moses has been brought to an end.

How?

Because it is in the new covenant that God is now revealing his glory.

So this new covenant is permanent and the old has come to an end.

So I think already there's some big takeaways here.

Let's look at the first comparison.

Many of us neglect to contemplate the work of the Spirit in our lives, right?

We did this together, or at least I did it.

You know, self-flagellation at the beginning of the sermon.

It's because I neglect to contemplate the work of Spirit in my days, in my weeks.

We look at our last day, our last week,

and it's often our failures that stick out in our mind, right?

So how often do you sit down in silence

and consider the work of the Holy Spirit in your life?

How he's working in you.

Times you obeyed when actually you didn't want to.

Times you exhibited joy and peace

when your exterior circumstances were pretty crappy.

I mean, we want God to bring these things to our mind

so that we can give him thanks and praise and glory.

On the other hand, look at the second comparison.

Many of us are quite aware of the good things we do

and wonder why everyone else isn't doing the same thing.

Why can't my housemate get their act together?

Why can't my church do more of the thing that I feel so passionately about?

We forget our ability to obey comes from the Holy Spirit himself.

Without God living in us,

without God living in us, we're powerless.

Powerless to obey is the Israelites feasting around the golden calf

while the Ten Commandments were being brought down from Mount Sinai.

So let's check back in on verse 18.

Do we understand this verse any better?

For me, yes.

Yeah.

In that I don't have to be a spiritual all-star to come to him,

to talk to him,

to be in his presence,

to behold his glory,

to come to his table.

I don't have to be a spiritual Tom Brady.

It's solely through what Christ gives me.

Christ gives me his worth,

his righteousness,

his status,

that I can have relationship with God,

so that I can talk to him,

so that his presence can be with me,

so I can come to this table.

Let's move on to verses 12 to 16.

By the way, I noticed something.

Whenever I mention Tom Brady,

everyone's eyes look up like that.

It's curious.

I have something very important to say at the end,

and if people aren't watching,

I'm just going to yell,

Tom Brady!

Curious.

Okay, let's read this together.

Since we have such a hope,

we are very bold,

not like Moses,

who had put a veil over his face,

so that the Israelites might not gaze

at the outcome of what was being brought to an end,

but their minds were hardened.

For to this day,

when they read the Old Covenant,

that same veil remains unlifted,

because only through Christ is it taken away.

Yes, to this day,

whenever Moses is read,

a veil lies over their hearts,

but when one turns to the Lord,

the veil is removed.

As glorious as Paul's ministry was,

that is, people hearing Paul's words,

putting their faith in Christ,

and being made alive by the Holy Spirit,

not everyone responded with belief.

Paul saw this as a continuation of the unbelief

that occurred in Moses' day.

But notice where the veil is found

among Paul's contemporaries.

It's not on their minds.

For Paul's contemporaries,

there's a veil that lies over their hearts.

And how would such a veil be removed?

Well, surprisingly simple.

In verse 16, we read,

when one turns to the Lord.

Now, there's many of you who come regularly here

to Church of the Advent,

but you wouldn't call yourself a Christian,

and that's okay.

We have people of all kinds.

Many are Christian.

Quite a few aren't.

And you're very welcome.

We're glad you're here.

Some of you are pretty skeptical about the whole thing.

Some of you are actually very curious

and open to the claims of your Christian family or friends.

But either way,

I think you can view these verses as an invitation.

Let me ask you,

do you sense there's a veil over your heart?

I mean, what is it that keeps you from turning to the Lord?

Notice that last sentence doesn't say,

but when one subscribes to the right propositions,

the veil is lifted.

Right?

It's the heart.

It's the will.

It's the emotion.

The desires.

It's certainly true that one must cognitively believe certain things

to be a Christian,

but Paul is saying something deeper

and existential must happen.

A turning to the Lord involves the heart.

That is, all my desires,

and it involves my will.

And this is what relationship is like

with a living person.

The change in my identity

from bachelor to husband

was more than just cognitive.

I mean, I'm turning towards this woman.

It involves my desires,

my will,

my intellect.

Jennifer isn't a set of propositions.

I mean, yes,

she's beautiful,

lovely,

kind,

very forgiving.

And so,

with God,

God is inviting you

to turn to him.

He's already turned to you.

To make it possible

for you to turn to him,

he's removed any barrier

that might make you unacceptable.

That happened on the cross.

There's no moral bar you must reach

to make yourself acceptable

to turn to him.

There's nothing that would disqualify you.

Turning to him

would sound something like this.

It's a conversation with God.

You know,

we would call it prayer.

But it's a conversation

with a person.

Lord,

I confess I have nothing

worthy to bring to you.

As a matter of fact,

I have done things

that would

and should disqualify me

from receiving your love.

So,

forgive me of those things.

I give my life to you.

Be my king.

I surrender my life to you.

I love you.

Lift the veil

that's over my heart

and help me to believe.

Give me the power

to live for you.

Now,

if you tell God

something like this,

if you truly turn to him

and you become a Christian,

I have to tell you,

some things are going to get

a lot harder.

Okay?

Turning to Jesus

doesn't come without a cost.

But as we were saying earlier,

when we turn to him,

God gives us himself.

He gives us his presence.

He gives us his Holy Spirit.

And his Spirit helps us,

comforts us,

and gives us power

to obey him

and tell others about him.

And this all brings us

to where we started.

Most of us in this room

have prayed

some kind of version

of that prayer

that I prayed earlier.

To us,

who've prayed that prayer

and have a relationship

with the living God,

we are given

this very great promise.

That we are beholding

the glory of the Lord

and are being transformed

into the same image

from one degree of glory

to another.

For this comes from the Lord

who is the Spirit.

We asked at the beginning,

does this match my experience

as a Christian?

And I would say that

for all of us

who are Christians,

whether you know it or not,

it absolutely does

if we understand

this verse correctly.

So we're going to work backwards.

This comes from the Lord

who is the Spirit.

Okay?

We've seen how the new covenant

surpasses the old covenant

in that God makes us righteous

and gives us His Spirit.

Martin Luther calls that righteousness

an alien righteousness.

It's a righteousness of another

instilled from without.

Our faith,

our new life,

our adoption as His children

is all a gift.

And then our obedience

is empowered

by His Holy Spirit.

Paul writes

that we're being transformed

from one degree of glory

to another.

This doesn't mean

we rack up victory

after victory.

Right?

This means that the process

of our transformation,

it's just gradual.

Like what it's going to look like

10 years from now

is not what it looks like today.

We're not what we will be.

But Paul makes another promise to us

in the book of Philippians

that He who began a good work in us

will bring it to completion.

Completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Paul writes,

we behold the glory of the Lord

with unveiled face.

In other words,

like Moses,

we can know God.

That's what the Pentateuch,

the first five books

of the Old Testament

say about Moses.

That he knew God,

God knew him,

and we can know God

just like that.

And he knows us

face to face

and he calls us friend.

Now,

what is the image

we are slowly being transformed into?

Is it that image of,

oh, not that one.

Go back.

Spoiler alert.

Is it the image

of Jesus resurrecting

with like the face beaming?

Is that the image

that we're being transformed into?

I don't think this is the image

that Paul has in mind.

Jesus said in John chapter 12,

John 12 · chapter mention

when I am lifted up,

I will draw all men to myself.

His being lifted up

was not an allusion

to the resurrection

or his ascension.

Jesus says,

when he's lifted up,

the image of glory

that we're being slowly transformed into

is this,

what you saw earlier.

The crucifixion panel

on the Eisenheim altarpiece.

The crucifixion.

This is his glory.

This is the manifestation

of God's attributes

here on earth.

His justice,

his mercy,

his power,

and his wisdom.

When we're brought

into union with Christ,

we share in his sufferings.

In God's mysterious economy,

he meets us in our sufferings

and he transforms us

through suffering.

When we're brought

into union with Christ,

we share in his death.

Paul writes in Colossians

that you have died

and your life is hidden

with Christ in God.

Therefore,

being unified to him

in his crucifixion and death,

put to death

what is earthly in you,

sexual immorality,

impurity,

passion,

evil desire,

and covetousness,

which is idolatry.

Our repentance,

our turning towards God,

means crucifying our old selves.

When we're brought

into union with Christ,

we share in his weakness.

You might think,

or maybe you used to think,

that it's your spiritual

attractiveness

that might draw people to Jesus

and point people to him.

It really isn't.

It's our brokenness.

It's about being open.

It's being open

about our need

for forgiveness,

for healing.

That's what points to Jesus.

Our transparency points

to Jesus

who forgives,

who heals.

Now,

if you thought your experiences

didn't match up

with verse 18,

that you weren't being transformed

from one glory to another,

you forgot that the Christian life

is a series of losses

about God using the times

we fail to bring us closer

to himself.

when you snap at your housemate

or yell at your kids

or disobey your parents

and you mourn it,

God is using that

as a gateway

for more intimacy with you,

for you to experience

his forgiveness,

for you to embrace

his righteousness

instead of relying on your own.

You don't have to go

from victory

to victory

to get your father's attention,

to get him to love you.

You don't have to be an all-star.

Jesus won

so you wouldn't have to.

Jesus won

so you wouldn't have to.

Because this is victory.

This is glory.

It's a paradox, right?

How is this victory?

How is this glory?

Those who witnessed this

would not have agreed

that that's victory.

That would have been

shameful,

embarrassing.

Charles Spurgeon

in a sermon

about a verse

I alluded to earlier

when Jesus says,

when I am lifted up,

when I am lifted up,

I will draw all men to myself,

all men to myself.

He meditates

on the crucifixion

as being Jesus'

moment of glory,

about being his

moment of triumph.

And I'm going to read

part of this sermon for you.

Let's go to the next slide.

Christ

looked upon

his crucifixion

with the eye

of firm faith

as the hour

of triumph.

His disciples

thought that the cross

would be a degradation.

Christ

looked

through the outward

and visible

and beheld

the spiritual.

The cross

said Jesus.

This is Spurgeon

imagining Jesus

from the cross

talking.

The cross

said he,

the gibbet

of my doom

the gibbet

is a gallows.

The gibbet

of my doom

may seem

to be cursed

with ignominy

and the world

shall stand

round

and hiss

at the crucified.

My name

be forever

dishonored

as one

who died

upon the tree.

And

cavalers

and scoffers

may forever

throw this

in the teeth

of my friends

that I died

with the malefactor.

But I

look not

at the cross

as you do.

I know

its ignominy

but I

despise

the shame.

I am

prepared

to endure

it all.

I look

upon the

cross

as the

gate

of triumph

as the

portal

of victory.

Oh

shall I

tell you

what I

shall behold

upon the

cross

just

when

mine

eye

is

swimming

with

the

last

tear

when

my

heart

is

palpitating

with

its

last

pang

just

when

my

body

is

rent

with

its

last

thrill

of

anguish

then

mine

eye

shall

see

the

head

of

the

dragon

broken

it

shall

see

hell's

towers

dismantled

and

its

castle

fallen

mine

eye

shall

see

my

seed

eternally

saved

I

shall

behold

the

ransomed

coming

from

their

prison

houses

in

that

last

moment

of

my

doom

when

my

mouth

is

just

preparing

for

its

last

cry

of

it

is

finished

I

shall

behold

the

year

of

my

redeemed

come

I

shall

shout

my

triumph

in

the

delivery

of

all

my

beloved

I

and

I

shall

see

then

the

world

mine

own

earth

conquered

and

usurpers

all

disthroned

and

I

shall

behold

envision

the

glories

of

the

latter

days

when

I

shall

sit

upon

the

throne

of

my

father

David

and

judge

of

the

earth

attended

with

the

pomp

of

angels

and

the

shouts

of

my

beloved

Spurgeon

goes on

and says

yes

Christ

saw

in

his

cross

the

victories

of

it

therefore

he

panted

and

longed

for

it

as

the

place

of

victory

and

the

means

of

conquest

Christ

puts

his

crucifixion

as

being

his

glory

in

name

of

the

father

and

of

the

son

and

of

the

holy

spirit

amen

lord

would

we

know

this

lord

when we

get

discouraged

about

how we

keep

tripping

over

the

same

stumbling

block

how we

lose

patience

with

those

we

love

the

most

lord

when we

feel

pulled

towards

our

old

addictions

lord

when we

are

suffering

when we

are

enduring

loneliness

pain

sickness

disease

lord

would you

bring

this

verse

to

mind

would you

fill us

with hope

and comfort

remind us

that you're

transforming

us

into

something

more

like

yourself

lord

because

we

want

to

know

your

glory

we

want

to

see

your

glory

and

lord

by

your

grace

may

we

show

forth

your

glory

Jesus

thank you

for dying

on the

cross

for our

sins

Jesus

thank you

for giving

us

your

own

righteousness

father

thank you

for

accepting

us

as

your

sons

and

daughters

and

making

us

heirs

to

your

kingdom

and

giving

us

eternal

life

we

pray

in

Jesus

name

amen