A Devotion By Nicky Gumbel
READ: 2 Corinthians 3:7-18
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, a Capuchin monk, preacher to the papal household, aged eighty-one, kindly came and spoke at our Leadership Conference at the Royal Albert Hall. Many people comment on how his face and eyes shine with the radiance of God’s presence. He was on a train one time in Italy when a woman, who was a total non-believer, approached him and said, ‘Your face compels me to believe.’
It has been said, ‘We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression on it.’ As this story illustrates, you can tell a lot by looking at people’s eyes and faces. We say, ‘You should have seen the look on their face.’ As the old Latin proverb says, ‘The face is the index of the mind.’
It is also true that ‘The eyes are the windows to the soul.’ When we really want someone to listen to and believe us, we say to that person, ‘Look into my eyes.’
The Bible says a lot about faces and eyes.
Our faces are supposed to shine more brightly than the face of Moses. ‘Moses’ face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could no more look right at him than stare at the sun’ (v.7, MSG).
The ministry of the old covenant was itself good. It came ‘engraved in letters on stone’, but it also came ‘with glory’ (v.7). Moses had looked into the face of God and as a result his face was shining (see Exodus 34:29 onwards). Moses had to ‘put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away’ (2 Corinthians 3:13).
Although the ministry of the old covenant was good, it actually ‘brought death’ (v.7). We are unable (of ourselves) to keep God’s written laws. We sin, and ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23).
Paul continues to contrast the ministry of the old covenant with the ministry of the Spirit. The ministry of the old covenant in itself was good (2 Corinthians 3:7). However, the ministry of the Spirit is even more glorious and lasting (vv.9–11).
The ministry of the old covenant involved Moses wearing a veil. A veil stops people seeing. Paul says that even today people don’t really see or understand, ‘their minds were made dull’ (v.14). Only when they turn to the Lord is the veil taken away (v.16).
This certainly was my experience – I had heard the Bible being read and I had been to talks about the Christian faith, yet I did not understand what people were talking about. It made no sense to me at all. My spiritual eyes were blind. The moment that I turned to the Lord, it was as if the veil was taken away. I could see and understand.
Paul goes on to write something absolutely amazing: ‘And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognised as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him’ (vv.17–18, MSG).
The whole Trinity is involved. The glory of God (the Father) is seen in the face of Jesus our Lord. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are so closely connected that Paul can write, ‘The Lord is the Spirit… the Lord, who is the Spirit’ (vv.17–18). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7).
The Spirit of the Lord brings radical freedom to our lives; freedom from legalism, guilt, shame, condemnation, self-hatred and self-rejection; freedom from the power of sin, selfishness, manipulation and control; freedom from the fear of death and fear of what others think of us; freedom from comparing ourselves with others.
You are free to know, love and serve God. You are free to use your life and energy to love others. You are free to be yourself. You can approach God with boldness (2 Corinthians 3:12). You do not need to veil your face.
As you look into the face of Jesus, he changes you into his likeness. The change is gradual, little by little, ‘from one degree of glory to another’ (v.18, AMP). When you spend time with another person you tend to become more like them. People gaze at celebrities and reproduce their mannerisms and their appearance. If you are captivated by Jesus, you will be transformed into his image.
You may see a thousand faces a day, images are everywhere, but the Spirit reveals the most important face of all to us. As you spend time in the presence of the Lord you become more and more like him. You are transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory.
PRAYER
“Lord, thank you for this immense privilege that I can approach you with freedom and boldness. Thank you that I can look into your face and reflect your glory in the world. Help me today to fix my eyes on you, and let my face reveal who you are to the people around me.”