I remember a conversation I had years ago with someone who didn’t believe that God exists. We were standing in a school carpark and this person at one point in the conversation looked around him with his arms wide open and said, “Where is he? I can’t see him. Show me God so I can see him and then I’ll believe.”
I looked around at the sun and sky, trees and birds, plants and flowers and could see plenty of evidence for God. However, when this person looked around, he couldn’t see it. God was hidden from him.
This week’s reading from 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 can help us understand why my friend wasn’t able to see God’s glory in creation when people of faith can see God’s glory all around us. Paul uses the Old Testament story of Moses from Exodus 34:29-35 to illustrate that many people’s perception of God is obscured by a veil. Moses had met with God on Mount Sinai and when he came down from the mountain his face was radiant. Having seen God’s glory, that glory was reflected in Moses’ face. The Israelites were afraid by what they saw so asked Moses to cover his face with a veil and hide its shine. Whenever Moses went into God’s presence, Moses would remove the veil so he could see God’s glory clearly.
The problem with wearing a veil is that it not only stops people from seeing in, but it also prevents the person wearing it from seeing out. Paul writes that this was the problem with many people at his time when they were reading God’s word. It’s like they had a veil over their faces so they couldn’t see properly. God’s glory in his word was obscured by the veil of unbelief which covered people’s hearts and minds. However, this veil was removed through faith in Jesus (v14). Whenever a person turned to Christ in faith, the Holy Spirit removed the veil so they could see God’s glory clearly in Jesus (v16).
Psalm 19 tells us that God reveals his glory as our Creator in nature and the world around us. God also reveals his glory to us in a special way as our Redeemer and Saviour through the person of Jesus. The Transfiguration story tells us that Jesus revealed his heavenly glory to his disciples as he talked with Moses and Elijah on the mountain top (Luke 9:28-36). Luke tells us that they were talking about Jesus’ ‘exodus’ (NLT) or ‘departure’ (NIV) which was to be fulfilled in Jerusalem (v31). Other English translations make it more explicit by stating that Jesus was discussing his approaching death with Moses and Elijah (eg CEV, ERV, GNT).
It might sound strange to associate glory with death, but it is through Jesus’ death on the cross that he reveals God’s saving glory to us. In Jesus’ crucifixion, God shows us the extent and power of his love for us. What is unique about the Christian message is that it doesn’t just tell us what we need to do to become better people, find our way through life’s challenges or reach our eternal home. The message of the Bible points us to Jesus who did everything that is needed for us to find hope, peace, healing and eternal life, and who gives it all to us as a gift which we receive through faith. Only the good news of Jesus tells us that God loves flawed, broken, messed up and sinful people enough to die for us on the cross. Through this undeserved and perfect love, God meets us in our brokenness, emptiness and sin to make us new and fill us with his life-giving love as an act of pure grace. This is the glory of God that we see in Jesus: God gave everything out of love for us and gives us his unconditional love in the crucifixion of Jesus so we can live new lives as his children.
Paul explains that if people can’t see the glory of God’s love and grace in Jesus, it is because the veil of unbelief obscures it from them. It isn’t their fault so we can’t blame them for it. Instead, the Holy Spirit removes that veil through the good news of Jesus when we come to faith in him, and we can see God’s glory in the cross of Christ as we trust in him.
When the Holy Spirit removes the veil that obscures the glory of Christ on the cross from us, not only can we see God’s glory in Jesus, but other people can see God’s glory in us. As we mentioned earlier, a veil obscures the vision of the person wearing the veil, but also the way others see that person. When the veil over our hearts and minds is removed through faith, we can see God’s glory in Christ and others can see God’s glory in us, just like Moses.
Paul writes, “all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (v18 NLT). When we see God’s glory revealed in the cross of Christ and live in the light of his glory through faith, the Holy Spirit makes us more and more like Jesus. We call this Sanctification. We become more loving people as we encounter the glory of God’s love for us in Christ. We become more grace-filled people as we encounter the glory of God’s grace for us in Christ. We become more forgiving of others as we encounter the glory of God forgiving us in Christ. Like Moses on Mount Sinai, when we encounter God’s glory it changes us so everyone can see it. Our goal and purpose as Christians is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and continue to explore the glory he reveals to us in his crucifixion. As we grow in faith, the Holy Spirit works on us, transforming us more and more into the image of Jesus, so we can increasingly reflect the glory of God’s love and grace in our lives, in our behaviours, and in our relationships with each other.
We probably all know people like my friend in the story at the beginning of this message who can’t see the glory of God around them. It can be hard for us to accept that we can’t remove the veil from anyone’s minds so they can understand the truth of God’s grace and love for us in Jesus and believe in him. That is the Holy Spirit’s work, not ours. However, there are two things we can do. The first is to keep praying for the people in our lives, that God would remove the veil from their hearts and minds so they can see his glory in the cross of Jesus, come to faith in him, and receive the life God has for them. The second thing we can do is pray that the Holy Spirit will be at work in us as well to transform us more and more into the image of Christ. One of the most meaningful ways that people will encounter the glory of God is in us and the ways in which we live or lives. As we find the glory of God’s unconditional and life-giving love and grace for us in the cross of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will continue to transform us more and more into the image of Jesus so we can faithfully reflect the glory of God’s grace and love to the people around us.
More to think about or discuss:
- Can you imagine what it would be like to wear a veil that covered your whole face? What do you think would be more challenging – that you couldn’t see clearly or that people couldn’t see you? Can you explain your reasons…?
- What do you think it would have been like to see Jesus transfigured in Luke 9:28-36? How does the suffering & death of Jesus reveal God’s glory to us?
- How might you be able to reflect the glory of Jesus’ love & grace to someone in your life this week?
Pastor Eugene Online 
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