Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:18
Date: January 16, 2011
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Men are known by their god(s). We learn about a man and his god(s) not only by checking out the books in his library, or by listening to his prayers, or by keeping track of his attendance of religious services. We also learn about a man and his god(s) by looking at the man himself.
In our Scripture reading from Psalm 115, God through the psalmist wrote that “those who make [idols] become like them; so do all who trust in them” (verse 8). Men who worship senseless gods become senseless: dumb, deaf, unable to smell or feel or walk. They are senseless. They are lifeless. They are mere shells, dead weight on the shelf.
The opposite is true, too. Those who worship the living God live. Those who worship a loving God love. Those who worship a patient God wait. Those who worship a righteous God obey. Those who worship a glorious God bow before His glory and are being transformed into glory. According to 1 Peter 1:7, those who have been born again and believe in Him will receive “praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Praise, glory, and honor belong to the true God, but as we worship Him, He shares Himself with us.
That’s another reason why worship is so important. Last Lord’s day we saw from Revelation 5 that we are made stable amid changes and made hopeful amid challenges when we keep our eyes on the worthy One. Today I want us to consider that the culture of our congregation grows out of the soil of our corporate worship. As believers and as an assembled body, we take on the identity of the God we worship.
We will concentrate on one verse this morning, 2 Corinthians 3:18.
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. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
In verse 18 Paul states as fact that Christians are being transformed; something unmistakable is happening to us. Transformation is the heart of this verse, and in it we see five veins of gospel transformation: the goal, the condition, the manner, the progress, and the agent of transformation.
What are we changed into? In other words, what will we look like when the change is complete? What is the goal of our transformation? we all…are being transformed into the same image. That’s clear, but what is “the same image”? The image is “the glory of the Lord” mentioned in the previous phrase. We see the glory of the Lord, as if it were a template, and we are molded and sculpted into that same image.
The “Lord” is God, and I think specifically the second person of the Trinity, Christ. Paul writes in the next chapter about “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (4:4).
There is a connection between glory, Christ, the gospel, and us. Paul wrote earlier in chapter 3:
Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. (2 Corinthians 3:7-11)
Not only do we see greater glory, we are being transformed into glory, into righteousness, into Christlikeness, into the image of God.
Observe, that the design of the gospel is this—that the image of God, which had been effaced by sin, may be stamped anew upon us… (Calvin, 187)
The gospel and the Spirit keep changing us toward a very specific end: likeness to the glorious Christ. Change is not just for change’s sake. This isn’t a meandering “spiritual journey” to nowhere. The goal of the gospel is to create a resemblance of Christ, who is the image of God.
And before we move on, note that Paul says we all. Our individual souls change, yes. But God has much bigger plans than that. He changes the entire body. The culture of our congregation grows in glory.
What does change require? We are all being transformed with unveiled face. “With unveiled face” describes a state on which transformation depends. Veiled faces prevent transformation.
Having a veiled face is no good in context. Veiled faces are compared to hardened minds (v.14). Veiled faces cannot understand God’s Word (v.15) even though they hear it. Veiled faces are compared to blinded minds (4:4) even though they think they see. Those who are perishing have veiled faces (4:3); those who are separated from Christ (v.14).
That means not everyone is in this transformation process; not everyone undergoes this change into Christlikeness.
The prerequisite of transformation is a supernatural unveiling. Transformation will not occur until God shines “in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (4:6). An unveiled face is no small grace, and unless the veil is removed, men perish.
How are we changed? This is the blood-pumping question; this gets me excited. We all are being transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord. This is how the transformation takes place.
The NKJV and NASB add, “beholding as in a mirror” because the word, κατοπτρίζω, is related to a common term for mirror (κάτοπτρον). The NIV goes a different route, “we all reflect the Lord’s glory,” also playing off the mirror idea.
The mirror idea works, but I think the point is that, now that our face is no longer veiled, we can see. We can look. We can behold the most remarkable and impressive God. He is our vision, our best thought by day or by night. As we behold Him—which can be any time, not only corporately—we become like Him.
An example written down for our instruction (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:11).
Genesis 13 tells a story that spotlights the admirable example of Abram. Abram failed in 12:10-20, fearing because of famine and then because of Pharaoh. He took matters into his own hands by leaving the land God had called him to and then lying about Sarai in order to protect himself. But in chapter13 , based on how the Moses frames the story and contrasts Abram with his nephew, we see Abram’s worthy response to a trial.
But the point of Genesis 13 is NOT about how impressive Abram is. Abram is NOT the primary character in the story. The primary character is the LORD, and the point of the story is that the LORD protects and provides for His chosen people. What makes Abram an example is that he saw the point of the story as well. He saw the LORD as LORD, trusted Him as LORD, and worshipped Him as LORD.
Because he was immersed in worship, Abram initiated peace in humility and with liberality, and put (at least) the following three things on the line.
Or, he put his pride on the line. Abram was the familial authority; uncle trumps orphan nephew. The weight was his to throw around, but he stepped aside and offered Lot first choice. The act of deferring itself could have lowered his reputation, let alone actually surrendering the better land. Back in Egypt Pharaoh rebuked Abram for lying and everyone close to Abram saw his sin. Now Abram gives Lot reason to think he’s gone soft and everyone could see that, too. There were at least another 300+ men (318 “trained men, born in his house” according to Genesis 14:14, let alone women) watching the patriarch concede to his nephew, perhaps wondering (and whispering about) how Abram had become so weak. Abram put his on the line.
Or, he put his protection on the line. Not only would Abram’s concession communicate weakness to his own family, it would also convey vulnerability to the Canaanites and Perizzites nearby and the wicked Sodomites across the county line. If they heard the story, and certainly they would at some point, they may have considered the old man and all his stuff an easy target. Abram exposed himself and his family to physical insecurity.
Also, at least to some extent, it seems that Abram put his flocks and herds on the line, since Lot took the better land for supporting livestock. We don’t know if the famine was still severe or what effects remained. Abram put the well-being of himself, his family, and his assets on the line.
Or, he put his promise on the line. Abram had special revelation that the land was to be his (12:7), revelation given before the LORD’s confirmation in 13:14-17. He put his trust to the test by offering Lot the land he’d already been promised. In holding the land with open hands, it’s clear that Abram receives it by God’s giving rather than his own grabbing.
I’m not convinced that this was passivity on Abram’s part. First, he worships before and after. Second, Lot’s responses, along with the foreshadowing points, contrast one who is happy to be served with one who is happy to serve. Third, the LORD’s confirmation (rather than rebuke) immediately after Lot left Abram does more than repeat the promise, it validates Abram’s actions.
Abram’s peacemaking effort shows his initiative, humility, and liberality. How does that result from worship? Worship impacts behavior because we are image-bearers, or to put it another way, we become like what we behold. Abram was reflecting God.
How do you get to be like Abram? Worship a great promise-fulfiller.
We were made to be beholders of the triune God. This is our purpose. This is our calling. It is what we are here for. Worship orients everything; it explains everything. Because of this, worship is the center of everything, the foundation of our week.
It is very easy to forget this. It will be easy for the pressures of the workload to distract us from our focus on the Lord. It will be easy for friendships and fights to dominate our thinking in such a way that we give little thought to our Savior. It will be a simple thing for the Spirit-filled worship of Sunday morning to become an afterthought, a jarring interruption breaking into our hectic life. Little thought becomes after thought which turns into no thought which impedes transformation.
But in the midst of all of our studies, in the midst of all the tasks heaped on our plates, let us not lose sight of what is the center. We are beholders of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The way we’re transformed is by contemplating deep and long on the God of overwhelming greatness. I’ve said before, souls shrink to the size of their considerations and concerns. Put on your Lord-beholding glasses.
When does change occur? We all are being transformed from one degree of glory to another (NAS - “from glory to glory”). Note that we start at a pretty good place, and it gets better from there.
Change is normal for Christians. We are constantly being conformed, rather than all at once, in one moment. Christ’s image in us doesn’t appear in its fullness overnight. Gospel transformation is progressive and persistent.
Who changes us? For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (NAS - “just as from the Lord, the Spirit”).
The point is not merely to affirm the lordship of the Spirit, but rather to point us to the source of the power which produces the Lord’s image in us. Transformation is Spirit-ual. We can’t buy it, borrow it, or build it. We can fake it, but only for so long. Just as we cannot grasp Christ’s glory apart from the Spirit, so also we cannot grow in Christ’s image apart from the Spirit.
The agent of our ongoing change is God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in and filling us.
How do you know if you believe the transforming gospel? How do you know if you are worshipping rightly? If you are being transformed; if you’re not the same as you used to be, if Christ’s likeness is being formed in you from one degree of glory to another.
If you don’t see transformation personally, and if we don’t see transformation corporately, our beholding . No change equals no . The change may be slow, it may be hard to see at times, but it must be.
To the degree that we behold Him we become like Him. We become like what we behold. As our minds are diverted from such a supreme object—the glory of the Lord—to things mundane, we will be conformed into the image of the world.
The transformations among the Corinthian Christians were so unmistakable, they were like a “letter of recommendation…written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Corinthians 3:3). What will be written by the Spirit among us?
Our worship today and last Lord’s day has taken work. Parking has not been convenient. You’ve brought your own seats and packed into a crowded room. Many things are not ideal. No doubt parts of it are exciting, especially some of the things that are new. But there is more to it than that.
This reflects our God. He overcame difficulties on our behalf. His Son took on flesh and became obedient even to the point of death. His Spirit produces His own fruit in us and makes us full.
As we go from our assembly of worship in greater faith and communion, we are more ready to reflect more accurately the One we worship. We become like Who we behold.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and forever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)