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 from the Lord, the Spirit (II Corinthians 3:18).
 

 

As this Scripture declares, we are changed as we behold the glory of the Lord. Almost every Christian knows this, but it is remarkable how many get it backward in practice. Instead of seeking to see His glory so that they can be changed, they think that they have to change in order to see His glory.

 

As we have observed previously, when Adam and Eve first sinned they took the course that is a natural reaction to sin—they tried to hide from God. They also tried to cover up their own nakedness exposed by the sin. When the Lord called them out, they tried to blame shift to put the responsibility for their own failure on someone else. This is also a natural reaction to sin—hide, and then when exposed, blame shift. This is the path to darkness and further corruption. 

 

However, the way of escape from both sin and the consequences of sin is to resist doing what seems natural. We must learn to run to God instead of away from Him. We must also seek to take responsibility for the sin, and not try to blame someone else. The Lord will forgive our sins, but He does not forgive excuses. When we make excuses for our sin it is obvious that we have not really repented of them. As we are told in Hebrews 4:16:

 

     Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace,

     that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
 

 

If you take the first two chapters of the Bible, and the last two, you have a complete story. Everything between those four chapters deal with one essential subject—redemption. The Lord is in the redemption business. He seeks to take every failure and turn it into a victory for us. That is why the failure of the first creation led to the establishment of a new creation that was even greater than the first, enabling man to partake of the heavenly nature through Christ. However, the way we do this is through the cross. We must die to all that we are in order to partake of the new and greater life. We die in order to live; we lay down our lives in order to be raised up.

 

That is why we must learn to boldly turn to the throne of grace when we stumble, instead of trying to hide or blame shift. We do not have to wait to become perfect in order to enter into His presence, but rather entering into His presence perfects us. In all things, even our sin and failures, we must learn to turn to the Lord and seek to behold His glory. Then we will be changed. When we behold His glory we will begin to reflect His glory, because we will be changed into His same image. This is our ultimate calling—to be like Him and do the works that He did.

 

When we think of seeing His glory we think of everything from beautiful colors to some perception of His nature. The story about Moses when he asked to see His glory gives us some insight into what we will see when we behold His glory. 

 

     Then Moses said, "I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!"
 

     And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you,

     and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you;

     and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,

     and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."