Seeing the Glory of God

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Moses pulverized the golden calf and returned to Sinai to once again receive the 10 Commandments (Exodus 34). On Sinai the Lord passed before Moses, proclaiming His holy character. When Moses descended, he didn’t find Israel frolicking like pagans, but a nation terrified of him.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai … Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him … and they were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29-30). And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face (Exodus 34:33). This happened whenever God spoke face to face with Moses with one catch. The glory on Moses’ face dimmed until he met again with God (2 Corinthians 3:7, 13).

Fourteen hundred years later, Jesus stood on Mount Tabor in Israel with three of His apostles. There, the disciples saw the face of the King of Glory, veiled in human flesh, shine like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:2). This was a foretaste of what the world will witness when Jesus returns at His Second Coming (Matthew 16:27-28).

This same glory experienced temporarily by Moses, and embodied in the Son of God from eternity, is the future of every child of God. In the chain of salvation Paul said, Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:30). This glory of grace bestowed upon the believer, awaits each of us, yet is experienced by us daily in veiled form. 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 by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).

God’s glory on Moses created fear in Israel. Seeing Jesus transfigured caused great fear in the disciples (Mark 9:6). I dare say if we saw the glory of God as He sanctifies us from day-to-day, we’d be tempted to worship one another, thus God hides it from us except in His Word on the face of Jesus Christ.

He Calls His Own Sheep by Name

Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 3:30).

Daniel had a little playmate named Emily. On a summer’s day, all the children would be out playing and around a certain time of the night Emily’s mother would step out on the porch of her house and yell, “Emily” and then let out a long whistle. Just a little bit later I’d see Emily run down the street toward home. She knew her mother’s call and she responded.

Now image one evening Emily’s mother stepped out of the house, called for Emily and let loose a long whistle. Hearing the call, I slipped on my shoes, ran out of the house and showed up right in front of Emily’s mother. She’d look at me and say, “Well Richard, it’s nice to see you tonight. What can I do for you?“

She’d think I’d totally lost my marbles if I told her I’d heard her call and came running fast as I could. See, her call wasn’t for me. It was for her daughter, for Emily. She called her own.

Throughout the Bible is a wonderful theme of God calling His people. Whether it was Abram in the big city of Ur or Moses at a burning bush in the desert, a little boy named Samuel, or an old fisherman named Peter, God always calls His own by name. Jesus put it like this: He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (John 10:4). While everyone can hear the voice of the Shepherd in the proclamation of the gospel, only His own sheep respond, and they respond to Him straight away.

Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion (Hebrews 3:15).