I looked at this passage today, and noticed that I had several words written down as notes – “Populated, Purchased, so Praise and Personify”. You are “Indwelt, Indebted, so you should Identify as a worshiper of Christ.” Then I thought that while I can’t repay the debt, I can seek to Indemnify God’s loss, the pain of giving his son for my son, by serving.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6 in some very straight forward words to the Corinthian church, regarding several issues; from disputes among Christians, to dishonesty, and immorality.
v11 says, “some of you used to be like this, but you were washed… sanctified… justified.”
v12 “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial… I will not be mastered by anything.”
v15 “Don’t you knowthat your bodies are part of Christ’s body?” Obviously, he is saying that we must live and operates AS part of the “body of Christ” would act… but also, as I write this, I’m feeling a little sick today, and my elevated temperature affects my whole body. Additionally, I have one little toe that has a cuticle infection. It’s so small, but as IT hurts, my whole body is affected by one part of my body which isn’t right.
Then famously, v19 “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is IN you, whom you have from God. You are not your own 20 for you were bought with a price. So (therefore) glorify God with your body.”
When I heard the Gospel, Ephesians 1:13, and when I believed, I was given the Holy Spirit – a deposit, a down payment – I am then Populated by the Holy Spirit. I became a House of Dwelling, a House of Worship for God.
Why? Because I was Purchased by God at the incomparable price of the innocent life of his Son, who died for me. Because of the price paid, I no longer have ownership of the thing I call, “my life.” I belong to God – twice; once because he made me, twice because he bought me.
Therefore, Praise, Glorify – doxasate = aorist tense means a snapshot event, a picture of reality – and Imperative tense, meaning it’s a command, an expectation of possibility. The idea of Glory in scripture at it’s simplest form is “reputation”. Because I was purchased, and populated, my body this is to be a vehicle that enlarges the Reputation of God. Part of praise then is to Personify God’s Character and reputation in a way that brings honor to who he is.
Indwelt, Indebted, I Identify as a Worshipper of Christ – the Glory of God, by the Power of the Spirit.
Isaiah lived with a good and faithful king, Uzziah, who perhaps was even a relative. He was his hero… hope… the highest. Late in his life, Uzziah had tried to supersede the ways of God and dealt with sickness and seclusion and then died.
I think it is significant that Isaiah 6:1 says in the YEAR that King Uzziah died… When exactly in the that year? How long did Isaiah deal with the loss, seeking the Lord, looking for answers? We don’t know, but it devasted him for sure, and in that year… I saw the Lord…
The place of our hope, the highest thing in our lives, our hero, must die for us to truly SEE the Lord.
“saw” = ra’ah – to see understand, spy, reveal, look at – NASB says access, appear, become aware
It is amazing how things get in the way of “seeing” the Lord. They could be “good” or “bad”, but things get in the way of us seeing the Lord.
If you get everything you want, what do you have?
This passage of Isaiah’s true awakening to God is one of the most significant in scripture. He saw God in majesty, sovereignty, holiness, and immensity. He saw HIMSELF insignificant, unholy, and he confessed his sin and need for God.
I could spend a long time in 6:1-8, but that’s not for now. Today, my question is “what / who must die for me to see the Lord?”
If you go back to chapter 5, there is a “Song of the Vineyard”. The Lord speaks of his love for his people. It talks of the process and purpose of planting, cultivating, and protecting his people.
V2 says he expected it to yield good grapes… but it yielded worthless grapes.
V4 what more could I have done
V5 I will remove the hedge, tear down the wall… 6 make it a wasteland… 7 expected justice but saw injustice… expected righteousness, but heard cries of despair
As I read this chapter, my mind goes in many directions… but remember the question is “What must DIE for us to SEE the Lord?”
Then notice verses 8-10 and I’ll go back to the question…
V8 … woe to those who add house to house… field to field until there is no room and you are LEFT ALONE in the Land
Sometimes we are so busy building that we “gain” and yet lose everything we wanted. I remember Jesus saying, what does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? What good is it to get the whole neighborhood if no one lives there but me?
V9 houses will become desolate
And then v10 is the reverse of the principles of the harvest. Instead of reaping MORE than you sow, they sow and reap exponentially less.
Let me encourage you to go and read the rest of the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5. Singing of the Lord… Everything we are doing, when we lose sight of the Lord, is failing to produce what we desired and intended.
V20 woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
v21 woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever…
v24b …they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of Armies… despised the word of the Holy One of Israel
And this song ends as the Lord is calling distant lands to come to his vineyard to desolate them and start over…
And then…
6:1 in the year King Uzziah DIED… I SAW the Lord… high… exalted… on the throne
What needs to die so you can see the Lord? This is a very personal question.
Stop right now and Seek the Lord… Say…
“Lord, you are God, Lord of Heaven’s Armies, Holy and Righteous
Forgive me for raising other things above you
Lord, I lay down everything else, that I may See YOU, see myself as I am, and FOLLOW You”
v18 is where I started in the passage and it is a fantastic “glory climax”, but there is so much wonder in this chapter that sometimes we miss that Paul says, “we… are looking as in a mirror, at the glory of the Lord…”
All of us have sinned and come short of the glory, but when we received Jesus by faith we entered into his glory – Romans 3:24 says we were justified fully by his grace. We received it freely, fully, in justification, while we aren’t experiencing it fully, we ARE being sanctified day by day.
The false god of this age, 2 Corinthians 4:4 blinds us. Yet, Jesus came to give us Life and Light.
Back in 2 Corinthians 3:16, whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. That’s right, whenever and whomever… when we TURN.
The veil gone, we can see, like in a mirror. In Paul’s day the mirror was often metal or bronze, darkly, 1 Corinthians 13:12 says only a reflection… But still, when we look at our face in a mirror – what should we be seeing? Our actions, attitudes, acknowledgements, acceptances, aspirations, changing. Every day we should see the glory of God growing in us; shining more fully like the sun’s glow on the dark predawn horizon, then more light, then a glimmer, then a half sun, and rising from dawn into the sky, through morning until the glory of mid-day.
Are you seeing the image of Christ developing in your life, from glory TO glory? Do you see it? Does it surprise you? Do you see yourself responding in life’s challenges differently today than last year, ten years ago, or maybe a day ago? Paul closes by saying this is from the Lord.
Earlier in this passage he says that just as the beauty of the Old Testament is missing the understanding without the New Revelation; so we are blessed with the Full Revelation, the Incarnation of Jesus. Then the Manifestation is he comes to live in us by his Spirit. Praise God for the Culmination that is yet to come. Yet, along the way, a Transformation is taking place.
Paul, speaking of the Old Covenant says it had been glorious (but) is not glorious now by comparison because of that glory that surpasses it.
So, day by day, looking in the mirror, you should see the glory of Jesus Christ growing as you are being transformed into the Same Image from glory to glory
Oh Yes
I could go on… but just as my hair was all over the place when I looked into the mirror this morning, and my face didn’t reflect the image I wanted, I had work to do… So it is with my Spiritual Journey.
I look into God’s Word, into my heart, to my thoughts and actions, and I must surrender to truth, to the power of the Spirit, and BE as I am BEING transformed.
2 Corinthians 3:4-5 says Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God – I love the way the CSB uses that word “adequacy”. I don’t have anything, but God works in me to make what I have adequate to do what he is doing to transform me.
Oh the Glory – old and new, day to day. If you don’t know Fred Hammond, go search him and “Glory to Glory” – that’s the song ringing in my heart right now.
Go read ALL of 2 Corinthians 3. Meditate and ask God what he is saying to you. Read it again, and then a third time at least read vv16-18. Then do what I often say we should do every day – P.R.A.Y. – Pray, Read, Apply, and say, “Yes”
Oh My how God Moves… Galatians 1 Paul is writing a letter to an “overzealous” church and he tells his testimony upfront.
v11 I want you to know… the Gospel… is not of human origin… it came by a Revelation of Jesus Christ
I was raised in a Pastor’s home. I was born while my Dad was in seminary in New Orleans. I started preaching when I was 13 years old. I didn’t take the normal route to be a Pastor that most do. I have often told people that I spent 18 years in the “James Goforth Sr. Seminary”.
What I love and appreciate most about my Dad the preacher – besides his passion for the ministry and love for people – was that he never taught me a theological construct, he taught me read, love, and preach with full assurance of faith in the Word of God.
God says what he means and means what he says. So, when I started preaching as a teenager, I was never trying to prove a theological opinion or point, but was reading, believing, explaining, and teaching the Word of God.
I didn’t go the normal school route either – my Bachelor’s degree is in music, because I needed to learn more as that was going to play an important part in my ministry. I had been singing my whole life, but not studying it like I had the Preaching side. All along the way, I was studying and preaching God’s word.
Paul was in “church” all his life from the Jewish Side of things. All his life he had the best teaching v13 he said you have heard my former way of life… I intensely persecuted God’s Church… v14 I was advanced in Judaism beyond my contemporaries… I was extremely zealous for the traditions ofmy ancestors
v15 but when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son IN me, so that I could preach him…
I then heard Paul in Romans 2:4 saying God’s kindness leads us to repentance
Paul understood that God had always known who would – Paul included – who would respond and believe and so God always had a plan for Paul. Did God cause Paul to do Bad things? No – Was God making provision in all things? YES.
So, WHEN – God always knows When – when God was pleased… to reveal the Son IN me… I love that choice of words here IN – the TO came earlier – then came the IN.
God revealed Himself TO Paul from without in many ways. I think every Christian Paul persecuted was a testimony outside. I think when he held the coats as men stoned Stephen and Paul watched him die Gracefully – it messed Paul up. He got even MORE Zealous…
But then ONE DAY – on the road to Damascus the Lord Blinded Him and opened his eyes, ears, and heart.
God had a plan… v16 so that I could preach him among the Gentiles.I did not consult with anyone 17 I did not go to Jerusalem to… the Apostles instead I came to Arabia … v18 After three years…
I often say that Paul spent 3 years in “Seminary” in Arabia with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, in the Will of the Father. He went a different way.
I can relate – I started preaching young, went to College, got a degree in music, then turned down a Seminary Scholarship to “Jerusalem” (Southwestern Seminary) I had a family, had a desire for ministry and God said “Go” so I went. I was preaching, leading worship, youth camps, speaking in schools, performing concerts – after 8 years doing that I became a church plant pastor and 28 years later, I’m still doing that.
I didn’t go the regular route because God had other plans
Paul didn’t go the regular route, but God had plans and a call for him and God prepared him through it all for what he was going to do. Would Paul tell others to do it that way? Probably not. Is there anything wrong with Seminary or a “traditional route”? No, I love those endeavors and have encouraged and led others to do that. But it still comes down to following God and doing the work.
I preached at a Baptist College years ago, was introduced simply as Pastor Jim Goforth – afterwards a Vice President took me to lunch and asked, “Did you get your Doctorate from Southwestern?” I said, “what makes you think I have a Doctorate from Southwestern?” He said, “I just heard you preach and I know you have a Doctorate and that it’s from Southwestern.” I thanked him for the compliment but told him… No I don’t have one, but I work and study hard.
Galatians is all about Paul saying, “there are many good things to do, but it still all comes down to Jesus.
v18 After the Lord had prepared him in Arabia, he says I did go to Jerusalem to get to know Peter and stayed with him for 15 days… (and) James, the Lord’s brother… 21 afterward I went to Syria and Cilicia I remained personally unknown to the Judean Churches that are in Christ… 23 They simply kept hearing he who formerly persecutedus now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy 24 and they Glorified God because of me.
The Thread here is not Paul bragging on his route, or prescribing it for anyone else. That’s not my thread either. The Thread here is:
God is the Source of the Gospel
Jesus is the Savior seeking and saving
He is the Sender to the places in his plan
God is the subject of the Glory we give and that we desire others to give, even if we are never known or remembered.
Would I have mapped it out differently? Yep – I often had zealous plans that were interrupted by the Zeal of God
Was God at work in all of it? Yes
I once sang the National Anthem at a Professional Baseball Game – 40,000 people there. It was fun. The next day someone said to me, “yesterday a guy sang the national anthem at the game and he looked a lot like you.” I said, “well actually that WAS me.” ”No, he was a really big guy.” I said, “well the screen was large, but that was me”. ”No, that wasn’t you – that was some other guy, but he was really good.” ”Well, Ok They announced my name, that was me”, puzzled look… then, “no that wasn’t you, that guy was a pro”.
Ok
Does anyone know my name? A few, but I’m more concerned if they know the Lord. That’s what I’ve been trying to do all my life.
Every now and then I get a contact from someone, and they ask, “are you the same Jim Goforth who…” and they list some concert, or some speaking engagement or some thing… and I say, “yeah that was me”. And they say “we were there, and we followed Jesus, and we still are…” or “we are in the ministry”… or “Glory to God!”
And that’s the thing that makes me smile and it’s all worthwhile
I’m preaching a series in the first 12 chapters of Genesis, entitled “In The Beginnings”
This week we were in Chapter 11. This series has been a broad sweep with only one sermon in each chapter, trying to see the big picture. The big picture is that God is at work in creation, in family development, in correction, in the second chance, we will finish with ch12 and the beginning of Abraham’s line, from whence will come the Messiah, an answer to the promise of God in Genesis 3:15 to “bruise the head of the serpent”.
So, in chapter 11 the most famous story is the Tower of Babel. Yes, it is an amazing story, and yes I believe it. But God inspires the telling of the story, we get the details, and then the Story goes on. The Purpose of Man is to Glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That’s what The Westminster Confession says. That’s what got these people in trouble. It’s NOT that they didn’t know God, they knew him, but they forgot or abandoned their purpose. Paul seems to be writing their story in Romans 1, but he is writing all of our story. Though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude… exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images… They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator(Romans1:21-25)
So, let me give you the last part of my message yesterday and write about,
– Returning to our Purpose
Puritan preacher, Thomas Watson, preaching Body of Divinity – a series on the Westminster Confession, was addressing the Chief end of man – to glorify God and enjoy him forever. If we ask the question then, How Do I Glorify God? I want to use the 4 words that Watson uses, and then I’ll give my thoughts and comments on those words.
How do I Glorify God?
Appreciation
Gratitude, or a lack thereof, is where it starts and finishes. A lack of appreciation, or gratitude, leads to discontent, distance, and disobedience. STOP and think about those 3 results of the lack of gratitude for God, or anyone you are in relationship with, discontent, distance, and disobedience.
Robert Emmons of http://www.greatergood.com says that gratitude is an affirmation of goodness… recognizing that the source is outside ourselves. Georg Simmel calls gratitude the moral memory of mankind. Wow that’s good.
Forgetfulness by these descendants of Noah, quickly became discontented, distant, and disobedient to God, as they failed to appreciate the Sovereignty and Salvation of God.
Gratitude makes us faithful followers that live to glorify God. Cicero calls gratitude the mother of all virtues, and I think he has something there. When we fail to get gratitude right, the rest doesn’t fall into place.
Second, to Glorify God
Adoration
That is loving worship. My PERSONAL DEFINITION of Worship is “an expression of adoration to the object of our affection” (JLG2003).
How do we do that in the daily? Jesus told us to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. How is it in Heaven? You go to Revelation 4. There are 4 “Creatures” at the throne and all they do, day and night they never stop saying “holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.And WHENEVER they do, the 24 Elders say, Lord and God you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. – I personally believe the “24 Elders” is the church, so this is what the church does in Heaven, and it’s what we should be doing “on earth as it is in heaven”
Adoration recognizes God’s greatness, his goodness, and gives him glory in all things here on earth, just as they do in heaven.
Thirdly, to glorify God
Affection
When we talk about affection or love, we need to be more specific. Watson says that there are 2 kinds of affection or love. The first is a “love because”. He likens it to when we say “I love you for the harvest” – or we are loving the blessing. We love the raise, or our health, or our food, whatever, but we are loving the Blessing. But Watson says the affection that truly Glorifies God is to take delight in.
Oh my, when we get our “delight” in something besides God, everything else gets out of tune. If you remember Genesis 3:6, it was misplaced delight that got Adam and Eve in trouble, a lack of gratitude. God had only said, “no” about ONE THING, the tree. But 3:6 says the woman saw that the tree was good for food and DELIGHTFUL to look at… desirable…
Love, Worship, Adoration, Affection comes when we delight in God, because he delighted in ME. Oh there is nothing in my sinful self that is delightful, but he did. Psalm 18:16-19 says he reached down from on high and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep water…he brought me to a spacious place; he rescued me because he DELIGHTED in me.
Somebody hold my mule, I need to shout!
He delighted in me, and I delight in him because of WHO HE IS.
When I think about that word, delight, I think about the sweetest part of my relationship with my bride. When I see her smile, at fireworks, or at a favorite song, I just watch her smile, it is a delight to me, to see her smile.
Delight for God is to know what pleases him, makes him smile, and just look to his face to see him smile. That is to GLORIFY GOD.
Appreciation, Adoration, Affection, don’t lose that JOY, grateful joy and then lastly to Glorify God is
Subjection
That might not be a word we use. But think Allegiance in Service.
Subjection is what those 4 creatures at the throne of God do. They stand before the throne, waiting for the instruction of God, at his Disposal, at his Discretion, reporting for Duty, for His GLORY.
And this then is the problem in Genesis 11. God gave a commission, and they wanted to do what they wanted to do. They were busy, grand, amazing, but they were NOT GLORIFYING GOD. Oh, selah, stop and think about that. God is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be adored, honored, in grateful obedient service.
Romans 11:33, 36 – oh the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!… For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
Psalm 100 – Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his – his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness through all generations.
Nimrod tried to steal God’s glory, he tried to Tower over God.
I saw this beautiful image today taken from Hubble Telescope and immediately my mind went to Psalm 19.
Can you imagine the songs David writes today? The Technology he has access to I’m sure is wonderful and supercedes the use of a shepherds flute and lyre. But more than that, ages in the presence of God. But here he writes:
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pourout speech, night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world …
The Glory of God. Oh it is one of my favorite thoughts and concepts in scripture. In John 1:14, the aged apostle writing at the close of the first century, I see him in my mind’s eye, thinking back on his walk with the Lord. And in perhaps some of the most beautiful text ever written, he talks about the coming of Jesus. And he says the word became flesh and dwelt among us … and then can see him pause, and perhaps take a long breath of remembrance and he says and we beheld his glory, the glory of the one and only of the Father, full of grace and truth. OH My My My – the glory. The word in the NT Greek is doxa. That’s the word also used when the Old Testament was translated into Greek from Hebrew and the word here the heavens declare the glory of God. That word at its root means “heaviness” or “weighty” and describes the worth. The concept is the Weight of the Reputation of God. There are times, when I come home at night to our house away from city lights. And the clouds have been swept away, and I look into the beauty of the sky and see all those Lights Proclaiming God’s Glory, the moon and the stars, and I often just stop and stand there staring into the sky.
Paul wrote in the first chapter of Romans that God has been revealed through creation so we are without excuse if we do not embrace the revelation of the glory of God in creation.
David sings here that the Sun going from East to West is like a fully adorned Bridegroom traveling from his home. It’s like a well conditioned athlete running perfectly their course.
And then David makes a shift in his song. He transitions from praise to revelation – the instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy… the precepts are right, making the heart glad… the fear of the Lord is pure… the ordinances of the Lord are reliable… desirable… sweeter than honey… Just as sure as the stars shine, so the words of God, tell the glory of God, the weight of God’s reputation, the truth of his being. Just as true as the sun rises and sets, so God’s teaching follow his path and accomplish his purposes.
And then in the final transition from revelation to application – oh when the sun rises we can see the world as it is. Sometimes the night hides things in the darkness, but the sun rising gives us light to see reality. And so the glory of God reveals to us not only the right path but the reality that we stray from the path. And faced with the grace and truth glory of God, David sings, cleanse me… keep your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule me… then I will be blameless and cleansed…
And from the Glory of God revealed, David, in the light of truth, surrenders to the Glory and closes: may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
When all around me and even with in me, seems to be falling apart and unstable, God is my Rock
When the cost of sin is greater than I can bear, HE is My Redeemer, purchasing my soul from sin’s ransom.
The Heavens declare the glory of God
The Scripture reveal the glory of God
God’s Spirit with me reminds of the glory of God
And Jesus Christ, my rock and my Redeemer, brings ME, a sinner, INTO the Glory of God as I Surrender All
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV84) And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Is my face veiled or unveiled?
Why would we have veiled faces? This verse is referencing when Moses came down from God’s glory on the mountain and the people couldn’t handle the brightness of God’s glory on his face so they veiled him in their presence and then he unveiled himself when he came into God’s presence.
As this image runs over in my mind this morning, let me just “rif” for a minute on where my thoughts are.
Why do we have veiled faces?
First thought is that of a bride whose face is unveiled when she is pronounced married and prepares to kiss her groom. We, those in the number of the redeemed, those who have believed in Christ, left our own way, embraced him as Lord, have unveiled faces. That moment when we received him, John 1:12, were given the right to become his children, but we also became part of the Bride of Christ. And so, Ephesians 1:13, when we heard and believed, we were included in Christ and given the Holy Spirit. So, as we received him as Lord, believing in our hearts, confessing with our mouths, Romans 10:9-10, we became the Bride. Oh yes, he knows who will truly receive him and they are the promised Bride, but every Bride has to move from promise to possession, with the confession of “I Do.” Then we are proclaimed HIS, and the veil is lifted and as we kiss toward him, he kisses toward us, and we are his Bride with unveiled face. Oh what a beautiful picture.
Another image is that of veiling because of shame. We don’t want to be counted among the openly wedded bride of Christ, we are ashamed of his name and so we cover our faces. We all, perhaps, at sometime have been guilty of doing what Peter did in the Garden when they asked “aren’t you one of his disciples?” And we, veil our faces, and say, “no you are mistaken, I am not his, I am just a guy like you.” What a shameful thing, at the coffee pot at work, or in the marketplace, or on the ballfield, or in the neighborhood, to veil his glory within us and say, “no I am not one of his.” The truth is, if we belong to Christ, we can’t really hide it, the world can see the glory peeking around the veil, we can change our talk, call down curses, but we protest too much, they know it, we know it, but there we stand with pretend veiled faces.
Another similar reason for veiled faces is when we are out of fellowship with Christ, and we veil our actions, hide ourselves and hope he won’t notice. Like Adam and Eve, in clear disobedience to the instruction of God, they ate the forbidden fruit, and then tried to cover their nakedness, and they hid in the garden amongst the trees, when it was time to walk with God. Oh we are often so guilty of the same aren’t we? When we sin, though a child of God, we need not try and clothe ourselves, for no clothes will do, save clothing ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ. But we try, and we hide, and we hope Jesus won’t come by today, we hope the Holy Spirit was looking the other way, we hope the Father’s love will cause him to overlook it. But we know, like Adam, God will say, “Where are you?” It is not that God did not know, he was saying, “where are you supposed to be, come here, you are naked, let me clothe you.” And the wonderful truth for the forgiven child of God, sadly trying to cover their sin, with a homemade bandage, is that, 1 John 1:9, If we but simply confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgiven us and cleanse us, to allow us to walk with unveiled faces again. Why? Because it is already provided in the cross, we just need to walk in it. Oh don’t let anyone lie to you and tell you that 1 John isn’t written to the church, the bride, because John calls himself “The Elder” or “Pastor” he is not writing to a lost world, he is writing to the redeemed, the Bride, and this promise is for every repentant one, but it is particularly written to the church.
Aother simple reason why our face is veiled, is already insinuated, and that is because one has never confessed Christ as Lord, believing in their heart that God raised him from the dead, Romans 10:9-10, they have never called on the name of the Lord for salvation, Romans 10:13. But you need not have a veiled face, the offer to be his bride is for you too. For every movie, or story ever written that found an attendant in the wedding, or a face in the crowd, that wished, hoped that they could take the place of the one being married, there is GOOD NEWS, the offer is for you too! As you hear the promises of love and provision, as you hear the officiant say “do you promise to love and obey, will you receive this ring?” All we must say is “yes, I Do!” And we become part of the Bride, faces unveiled, God’s great glory of redemption, and forgiveness, cleansing and restoration, is ours. Only Believe, only receive.
And so as I look back at the text, I thought of one more reason we veil our own faces, it is because, we don’t like what we see under the veil. We think, “I am not pretty enough, not handsome enough, and I have imperfections, so I must veil my face.” Oh and there the verse rings out the blessed truth …
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
There it is, we … all of the Bride, faces unveiled, are perfect within, but the outside still needs work. But the work is being done. when my face is unveiled, it is not me they see, but the glory of my Savior who loved me, chose me, called me, he loves me exactly as I am, but loves me TOO MUCH to LEAVE me this way. As I allow my face to be unveiled, he is, moment by moment, day by day, TRANSFORMING ME into HIS Likeness, with Ever-increasing glory. Oh I might not notice it from this moment to the next, but I can see a glimmer of it from this day to the next. I can seen an inkling of his glory, this year to the next. Oh Christ in me IS the hope of the glorification. It IS what I have been predestined to. What is God causing all things to work together for in Romans 8:28? It is revealed in Romans 8:29, those he forknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ! Hallelujah there is it! Everything in my life is being used by Christ, because he loves me, because he knew I would be his, he is shaping and forming me so that my unveiled face will look like Jesus. So Romans 8:30 says those he predestined he called … justified … glorified. When I said “I Do” and he unveiled my face, and in worship I kiss toward him and he toward me, I am being transformed moment by moment, day by day, with ever-increasing glory. Ever single day, my unveiled face looking to him, shines his glory a little more, until that moment when I step into Gloryland and look and find that I look like JESUS !
“Oh how pastor, how can this be true for me … I can’t do that”?
You are right child you can’t, but remember this comes from the Lord, who is Spirit. The Lord Jesus is at work in you, and that is the hope, he has placed his Spirit in you to teach you, and remind you of all he has said. He is the one who has promised to make you look like Jesus. He is always a promise keeper, so take his hand, say “I do”, throw back the veil and see his glory revealed with ever-increasing glory.
Oh, there has been many a night camping, or early morning on the water fishing, when I began to see a slight glow in the eastern sky. It still looked like night, it certainly didn’t look like noon day, but the glow let me know something was happening. My experience told me that it would not always be night, and so the light came, with ever-increasing glory, the dawn came, with ever-increasing light, and eventually the glory of the noon-day sun filled the sky. So it is fellow-traveler, so it is that …
… we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Pastor Goforth 