2 Corinthians 3:7-8 (NKJV) 7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) 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.
We have been studying Moses’ encounter with the Lord in Exodus 33 and 34. Moses made a request of the Lord in chapter 33 in response to the Lord’s favor. Moses asks God to show him his glory. Moses saw miracles that others ever will. Nevertheless, he understood that there was something underneath the demonstrations of God’s power. The miracles were glorious, but Moses wanted to see the source “glory” for those miracles. God defines this for Moses. He tells him, “I will show you my goodness.”
I have been intrigued by this for quite some time. There is something about the goodness of God that is so fundamental that without understanding it we will never see the power of God. Understanding goodness is fundamental to understanding God. When Moses received a revelation of God’s goodness, it changed him. I believe that if we receive this revelation, it will change us as well.
We read in the first of today’s verses that when God showed Moses his goodness, Moses’ face actually began to shine with the glory of God. We can read of the actual event in Exodus 34. The revelation of God’s goodness was so powerful that it caused a physical transformation in Moses.
I know that Moses spent time in God’s presence during this encounter. However, Moses had spent time in his presence before. Moses spent 40 days in the presence of God when the Lord first gave him the Ten Commandments but there was no mention that his face shone.
In Exodus 34 God replaces the stone tablet Moses had broken. The commandments were the same. Moses did not spend 40 days in the presence of God this second time. What was so different in this second encounter with God that it caused a physical transformation? Moses saw the Glory of God. Moses saw the goodness of God. It was the revelation of God’s goodness that caused Moses face to shine. Look at what God said to Moses in the Amplified Bible.
Exodus 34:6-7 (AMP) 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but Who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.
God speaks of his mercy, forgiveness, goodness and truth. He reveals to Moses that he will keep showing mercy to thousands. I know that these verses also point out that God does not forgive the guilty. We must understand that to punish the guilty is also a manifestation of the goodness of God. Judgment on the guilty frees God to do good for the innocent.
The thing that is different to Moses is the emphasis on the goodness of God’s nature. That is the aspect of his glory that is most important for Moses to understand. That is what caused Moses face to shine.
In the second of today’s verses, we see that the same revelation that caused a physical change in Moses is available to us in Christ. However, there is a difference in what happens to us and what happened to Moses. We read in the verses between the two we are looking at today that the change in Moses was temporary. It was outward. The change that we will experience is inward and lasting.
God showed Moses as much of his glory as was possible under the Old Covenant. God told Moses, “You cannot see my face; for no man shall see my face and live.” (Ex. 33:20) This was true in the Old Testament. However, we see that in Christ things have changed. We “behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.”
What do we look at in a mirror? We primarily look at our own face. James 1 compares the Word of God to a mirror. As we look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word, we can behold the fullness of the Glory of God. Moses had to be protected from that fullness. Paul tells us that we not only can but also must look into the Glory. When we do, we will not experience and outward change that fades but we will be transformed inwardly into the image of the glory we see.
This is a powerful revelation that I think we miss. Most of us believe that if someone’s face were to glow as Moses’ face glowed this would be the height of a demonstration of God’s glory. We are so outward focused that we do not understand what Moses did. The outward is simply a reflection of the inward. The outward is real. The inward is more real. What Paul tells us is that we can have what Moses could not. We can have an inward transformation. We can become what Moses could only reflect.
Moses wore a veil over his face so that the people would not see that the glory reflected in his face was fading. Outward manifestations fade. We may have had wonderful experiences with God that do change us. However, with the passing of time the effect of the experience fades. We remember it. It may be very important to us, but it fades. Paul wants us to see that what Christ has done in us does not need to be veiled because it does not fade.
The revelation that we receive transforms us. It does not just change us outwardly. It changes us completely into the same “glory” that we behold. What is the glory that we must behold? I suggest that we need a revelation of the same glory that Moses did. Paul did not choose this example from Moses’ life by chance. What God revealed to Moses was his goodness. I believe that the more we understand God’s goodness the more we are transformed into the people God wants us to be.
Since it is God himself that equated his goodness with his glory, I think it is fair to substitute the word goodness for the word glory in this verse. Let us read it again.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the goodness of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from goodness to goodness, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Think about that for a moment. I am still thinking about it. What does it mean? I am not sure I fully understand it myself, but I know that I must fill my heart with thoughts of God’s goodness. I must meditate on the truth that everything God does is motivated by goodness. I like what the bible says in James 1.
James 1:17 (NKJV) 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Every good and perfect gift comes from God. The world has nothing I need. In God, there is no variation from this truth. It says there is no shadow of turning. He is not even thinking about changing. God is good. Everything he does is good. Everything he does in my life is good. When I see that, truly see that, I will be transformed in my lifestyle, my expectations and my behavior into the same force for goodness that God himself is. God is good! He is good all the time!
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