Sermon Manuscript

2 Corinthians 3:18 ~ 20180708 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

07/08_2 Corinthians 3:18; Beholding and Being Transformed; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20180708_2cor3_18.mp3

The Goal of Sanctification: Christ-likeness

2 Corinthians 3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 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. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

How does sanctification work? This passage answers that question. Where justification is decisive forgiveness, being declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus, sanctification is the process of growing in holiness, growing into the likeness of Jesus. Paul's desire for the Galatians is that Christ would be formed in them (Gal.4:19). He tells the Romans they are 'predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son' (Rom.8:29) and to 'put on the Lord Jesus Christ' (Rom.13:14). He instructs the Ephesians to 'put on the new self, created after the likeness of God' (Eph.4:24). He tells the Colossians that the new self 'is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator' (Col.3:10). 1 John looks forward to the day when 'we shall be like him' (1Jn.3:2).

Paul is talking about new covenant ministry, ministry of the Spirit. He is talking about being transformed. In 2 Corinthians he is comparing and contrasting the New Covenant ministry with that of the Old, the ministry of the Apostles with that of Moses. There was glory in the ministry of Moses. When he came down from meeting with the Lord face to face, his face was radiating, glorious. But it was a glory that was being brought to an end, being abolished. It was not meant to be the final word. The greater glory brought about by the Spirit remains.

Into The Same Image

This verse talks about Spirit wrought transformation, and the goal of the transformation is clear;

2 Corinthians 3:18 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...

We are being transformed into the same image. We need to understand the biblical concept of an image to appreciate what Paul is saying. When Jesus was challenged whether or not Jews should pay taxes to their Roman oppressors, he asked to see a coin. He asked whose image and inscription was on it . He responded “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (Mt.22:21; Mk.12:17; Lk.20:25). Jesus was saying that the coin that carries the image of the emperor ultimately belongs to the emperor. And you, who are made in the image of God, ultimately belong to God.

This goes all the way back to Genesis, to creation, where God said:

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Man was created to be the image, the visible representation of the invisible God (Deut.4:15-16; Col.1:15; 1Tim.1:17; Heb.11:27), to exercise dominion, to display God's character and nature. But we refused to acknowledge God as God or give him thanks, we exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images, we exchanged the truth about God for a lie (Rom.1:21,23,25). We defaced and distorted the image of God so that we no longer accurately display what God is like. By Genesis 5:3 we are told that Adam 'fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image.' We were created to bear the image of God, but we sinned, and although that image still remains, it is marred and distorted.

But God intends to restore his image in man. 1 Corinthians 15 says:

1 Corinthians 15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

We have carried the skewed image handed down to us from Adam. But God intends to remake and restore his image in us. God sent his only Son to be born as a man, who is

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature...

John 1:18 says:

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Jesus is

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

And he says of us:

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

The goal of our transformation is to be conformed to the image of Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God.

They Had Been With Jesus

How does this transformation come about? How are we shaped and conformed to the image of Jesus? We are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory. The source of the transformation is glory; the glory of God, and it results in God's glory being reflected in us. In Acts 4 we are told that the rulers and elders and scribes together with the high priest had taken the apostles into custody because they were preaching salvation in Jesus. It says:

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

They saw in them an unnatural boldness that they couldn't explain. In verse 4 it says that in response to their preaching 'many who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand'. The religious leaders were astonished. The occupation and upbringing of the apostles couldn't explain this. Their education (or lack thereof) couldn't explain it. Their social status couldn't explain it. The only thing they could attribute it to was 'that they had been with Jesus.' They had been with Jesus. They had been with Jesus. They didn't conclude that they had learned from Jesus, or that they had studied under Jesus. The conclusion was that these men had been with Jesus. They had been transformed by being with Jesus. Verse 8 tells us that Peter was 'filled with the Holy Spirit' when he spoke. His being filled with the Spirit was a direct result of spending time with Jesus.

Transformed By Beholding

Here in 2 Corinthians we are told that we all have access to this transformation.

2 Corinthians 3:18 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. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

We are being transformed by beholding. Not by our doing, not by our working, not by our striving, not by our diligence or effort. Not by our studies, not by our learning, but by our looking, by our being with. When Moses went in to meet with God, he came out changed. He didn't do anything. He didn't even know that something had happened to him. But everybody could tell. He had been in God's presence, and it left a mark.

Jesus, describing being born of the Spirit in John 3 said:

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus is referring back to what happened in Numbers 21, when the people rebelled against God and God sent poisonous serpents to punish them for their sin.

Numbers 21:8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Note all that was required to be saved was to look. Jesus equates this looking with believing in him. I look in faith to Jesus lifted up on the cross, bearing my sins, and I am saved. This looking to the Son brings about Holy Spirit transformation, the new birth.

Beholding we are being transformed. Are you looking? Are you beholding? Does Psalm 63 express your heart?

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

Are you desperate to be in the presence of God? Does Psalm 27 express your ruling passion?

Psalm 27:4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

Is gazing upon the beauty of the Lord the one thing your seek after? Psalm 17 links beholding with becoming.

Psalm 17:15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Beholding his face brings about his likeness in us.

We all understand how this works. We become like the one we spend the most time with. We imitate the ones we admire. You pick up the habits, the mannerisms, the idiosyncrasies of the person you spend the most time with. There may be more than one way to accomplish a task, but you tend to do it the way you were shown by the one who taught you. In music or in athletics, this may be intentional. You may spend hours studying someone who is great, working to imitate their techniques. Often this is unconscious. I like to listen to different preachers. In different seasons I might spend more time listening to one or another. If I'm listening to a lot of James MacDonald, I find myself preaching a little more like James. If I am listening to more of John Piper or Timothy Keller, I begin to sound a little more like John or Tim. It's not intentional. It's not that I'm trying to mimic them. It just happens. You become like the one you listen to. You pick up things from the one you spend a lot of time with.

The scriptures invite us to imitation. Examples are powerful, both good and bad. Don't do that; instead be like this. There are at least 10 direct commands or invitations in the New Testament to imitate God or godly people (1Cor.4:16; 11:1; Eph.5:1; 1Thess.1:6; 2:14; 2Thess.3:7,9; Heb.6:12; 13:7; 3Jn.1:11; cf. Lk.6:40).

1 John 3:2 also makes this connection between beholding and being transformed.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

We will be like him because – because we shall see him as he is. Seeing results in transformation. Beholding is becoming.

Unmediated Beholding

There is a verbal link between verse 13 and verse 18. The emphatic word 'καθάπερ'; 'just like' or 'just as' appears in both verses. In verse 13 Paul say his boldness or openness is not just like Moses. At the end of verse 18, he says we are being transformed into glory just as from the Lord the Spirit. It is so instructive to see what he does not say. Paul is drawing a contrast between the Old Covenant and the New, between Moses' ministry and the Apostolic ministry, and he is establishing the authenticity of his own ministry. We would expect him to say it is not just like Moses' veiled ministry; it is just like our apostolic unveiled ministry. But he completely removes the intermediary. It is not just as the veiled ministry of Moses; it is direct, just as from the Lord the Spirit. The Old Covenant was a mediated ministry; the people had no direct access to the Lord; in fact:

Exodus 20:18 ... the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

But in the New Covenant:

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Paul is careful to not place himself in the mediatorial role of Moses. Paul emphatically includes us, his readers, when he says:

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord...

In the New Covenant we have access purchased by the blood of our Lord Jesus, we all have blood-bought access with boldness into the direct presence of Almighty God. We are invited in, to gaze on his beauty, to bask in his glory, to be transformed.

In the Old Covenant, the Israelites could not gaze at Moses face because of its glory (v.7). Moses put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze (v.13). Even today, a veil lies over the hearts of Israel (v.14). But we all with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord

How To Behold

How do we look at his face? How do we behold the glory of the Lord? Is this some mystical experience we should seek? Sing some worship songs, close your eyes and visualize? No. Be careful. Deuteronomy 4 warns:

Deuteronomy 4:15 “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Don't make images, metal or mental. God is invisible. You saw no form; you heard only a voice. So how do we behold the glory of the Lord?

This text tells us. See what he says in verses 14 and 15? When they read the Old Covenant with hardened minds the veil remains unlifted. Whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. Reading the scriptures, seeking Jesus in his written word. Verbal revelation is how we behold. In chapter 2, hearing and smelling were intertwined; he says that his preaching stinks. To some it is the stench of death, to others the smell of life. What he says smells. Here in chapter 3, he mixes hearing with seeing. We behold the glory of the Lord when by the Spirit we turn to see Jesus in his word. Beholding we are being transformed. This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org