From glory to glory
Dr. Roberto Miranda
(Audio: Spanish)
SUMMARY: In Second Corinthians 3:14-18, Paul speaks about two types of Christianity: one that is satisfied with the same as always and one that is always listening to God and moving towards new dimensions of life and relationship with God. The Jewish people represent the former, while the latter is characterized by a life of perpetual growth and transformation, going from glory to glory. To live in perpetual revival and renewal, we must be open to God's revelation and always listening to His voice. We must not become comfortable with rituals or routine, but live on the edge of God's presence, always trembling before Him. God wants to heal and renew every aspect of our lives, and the Christian life is a journey of perpetual process.
The Christian life is a journey of perpetual process where God is continually revealing new facets of Himself to us. God wants to heal us and renew our spirit, character, habits, and way of relating to others. We should have a craving to know the living God and see His glory. We can do this by immersing ourselves in the word of the Lord, meditating on Christ, and having private time with God. Sometimes, God puts us through trials and difficulties to help us give birth to new life in the spirit. We should trust God during these times and focus on meditating on Christ. When we look at Jesus, we should see not only His power, but also His obedience and suffering.
The Christian life is not a life of empty rituals or customs, but a great adventure where we present ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to transform us. We should not fear the interventions of the Lord, as He is a perfect and generous surgeon who knows what He is doing. We should trust in Him and ask Him to change us, to transform us, and to work on us. We should make meditation on Christ the focus of our lives, and when we look at Jesus, we should see not only the power that heals, but also the one who was perfected through obedience and suffering. We should not be afraid of the processes of the Lord, as He wants to make us spiritual giants and use us for His glory. We should surrender everything to Him and ask Him to reveal Himself to us, to take us to new levels, and to make us a community of people in transformation, always going to the next level that He is taking us to. We want to see His glory, to see His face, and to love Him desperately, for there is no better place to be.
The Christian life is a journey of perpetual process where God is continually revealing new facets of Himself to us. God wants to heal us and renew our spirit, character, habits, and way of relating to others. We should have a craving to know the living God and see His glory. We can do this by immersing ourselves in the word of the Lord, meditating on Christ, and having private time with God. Sometimes, God puts us through trials and difficulties to help us give birth to new life in the spirit. We should trust God during these times and focus on meditating on Christ. When we look at Jesus, we should see not only His power, but also His obedience and suffering.
The Christian life is not a life of empty rituals or customs, but a great adventure where we present ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to transform us. We should not fear the interventions of the Lord, as He is a perfect and generous surgeon who knows what He is doing. We should trust in Him and ask Him to change us, to transform us, and to work on us. We should make meditation on Christ the focus of our lives, and when we look at Jesus, we should see not only the power that heals, but also the one who was perfected through obedience and suffering. We should not be afraid of the processes of the Lord, as He wants to make us spiritual giants and use us for His glory. We should surrender everything to Him and ask Him to reveal Himself to us, to take us to new levels, and to make us a community of people in transformation, always going to the next level that He is taking us to. We want to see His glory, to see His face, and to love Him desperately, for there is no better place to be.
I want to go to Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. Second Corinthians, chapter 3. And I want to talk about how to live in revival, how to live in perpetual revival and renewal, how to live a life of continuous spiritual growth and development. And the Lord brought to my mind verses especially from 14 to 18 of Second Corinthians, chapter 3. You can use this text for your study this week. Use it as a starting point for your own reflection because it has so much meat, so much good nutrition that it lends itself to many a sermon. But verse 18 above all is a good starting point and right now, Father, renew my strength, renew my spirit, renew my intimacy with your word and with this sermon and make it fresh in me, as if it were the first time I've ever heard it. I preach, Father, that I may be a blessing to my brothers and my sisters this afternoon in the name of Jesus. Amen, amen.
Verse 18, Paul says, “Therefore we all – that means you, all of us here, Lion of Judah, those who are near, those who are far away, as a church – we all with unveiled face as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are transformed from glory to glory.” Let's say that again, from glory to glory. Amen. "...from glory to glory in the very image of the Lord as by the spirit of the Lord." Before that Paul has been talking about the Hebrew people. It says in verse 14, "Because of their understanding, - of the Jews who did not receive Christ when He came in His divine human form, - their understanding was dulled." Blunting means that it can no longer cut, a knife, an edge that becomes blunt is no longer capable of continuing to cut, it becomes blunt. “…it was dulled because to this day,” Paul says at the moment he is speaking, “when they read the old covenant, they are left with the same veil not uncovered.” And he is referring to when Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights in the presence of God on the mountain and was in such intimacy with God that the glory of God was transferred to him, his face. And when he went down he did not realize, when he went down to have interaction with the people, he did not realize that the glory of God had transferred to him. And then his face was shining with the very shekinah glory of Jehovah and the people were terrified to see that glory of God in this man whose face shone like bronze. And Moses had to put on a veil to cover his face so as not to scare the people. And the idea was that for the moment the glory of God was interrupted by that veil and the people couldn't see it because they couldn't bear that divine glory.
Verse 18, Paul says, “Therefore we all – that means you, all of us here, Lion of Judah, those who are near, those who are far away, as a church – we all with unveiled face as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are transformed from glory to glory.” Let's say that again, from glory to glory. Amen. "...from glory to glory in the very image of the Lord as by the spirit of the Lord." Before that Paul has been talking about the Hebrew people. It says in verse 14, "Because of their understanding, - of the Jews who did not receive Christ when He came in His divine human form, - their understanding was dulled." Blunting means that it can no longer cut, a knife, an edge that becomes blunt is no longer capable of continuing to cut, it becomes blunt. “…it was dulled because to this day,” Paul says at the moment he is speaking, “when they read the old covenant, they are left with the same veil not uncovered.” And he is referring to when Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights in the presence of God on the mountain and was in such intimacy with God that the glory of God was transferred to him, his face. And when he went down he did not realize, when he went down to have interaction with the people, he did not realize that the glory of God had transferred to him. And then his face was shining with the very shekinah glory of Jehovah and the people were terrified to see that glory of God in this man whose face shone like bronze. And Moses had to put on a veil to cover his face so as not to scare the people. And the idea was that for the moment the glory of God was interrupted by that veil and the people couldn't see it because they couldn't bear that divine glory.
