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.
2 Corinthians 3:18
I remember the first time I had a real grilled cheese sandwich. The cheddar was oozing out the sides, the bread was so crispy. There was no going back to processed cheese. I couldn’t stomach the taste. For the rest of my life, grilled cheese sandwiches had to be made from real cheddar. Even better: Colby!
Or I can think about driving my first car – it was older, dated, and reworked, but it was mine. But then, to get behind the wheel of a new vehicle…wow! The handling was tight. The drive was smooth. The technology was new and everything gave me a taste for what a great vehicle could do!
There are things we see, taste, experience, that forever change us. Once we have swam in clean, clear, turquoise waters, it’s hard to go back to the silty river.
While real cheese and turquoise waters are one thing, glory is in a completely different category. The way that we are changed isn’t by the sheer logic of truth, but by the beauty of glory. Paul can say that we are being changed – from one degree to another. We are being remade – changed – not merely by carefully reasoned arguments, but by the beauty of the gospel.
What compels us to obey, what drives us to love more, what propels us forward into mission is the beauty of the Spirit applying the truths of the gospel to our lives bit by bit. For this reason, the writer of Hebrews can be astonished that some want to return back to the ways of the old covenant when the superiority of the new has gripped him (see Heb. 2:1-4).
God is remaking us – what the bible calls ‘sanctification’ – by giving us tastes and glimpses of glory. He knows that should we see all of his glory at once we would be overwhelmed to death (see Exod. 33:18, 20). He changes us by exposing us to the ugliness of sin and the beauty of life in Christ through the gospel.
What this means is that the more that we stare into the riches of God’s Word, the more we pray for God to reveal to us his glory, the more we will see how ugly sin is and how beautiful life in Christ really is. And this is how we are changed – bit by bit, one glorious truth at a time.
So why not pray like Moses did, “Lord, show me your glory” (Exod. 33:18)? You might be captured by the beauty of the One who will pass before you with all of his goodness (Exod. 33:19) and that goodness will change you, strengthen you, and enable you to keep going when life seems to hard.
Look for the true beauty in the gospel and find Christ’s empowering, transforming presence!
Seeking glory,
Andrew
