By Jeremy Writebol
“You’ve been talking to Brian again haven’t you?” my wife asks. She’s right, too.
Something strange happens to my brother and me when we talk to one another on the phone. In our adolescence, we would enjoy listening to a radio comedian who spoke with a particular accent to his call-in guests. As we laughed, we would also begin to impersonate and imitate the comedian’s drawl to the point where when we’d talk to one another, or sometimes even just about each other, we’d pick up the distinct and odd intonations of that same offbeat comedian. Even today, the transformation of our voices is obvious, and my wife always knows when I’ve been chatting with Brian.
Moses’s encounter with God had a noticeable effect on his countenance. As he came down the mountain after being in the presence of the Lord, his face shone brightly, reflecting the glory of God. Subsequently, every time he stood in the presence of God, he would radiate with His glory. You could always tell when Moses had spent time with the Lord.
Paul emphasizes this kind of transformation in the people of God today. He does not mean that our faces visibly change with radiant glory. No, instead Paul speaks of us being transformed into the glory of Christ as we look upon Him: “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2Corinthians 3:18). Another way of saying that is, as we are in the presence of Jesus, we are made to resemble His character more and more.
Can other people tell when we’ve been in the Lord’s presence? Is there a growing resemblance of the character of Christ in our own lives as we continue to spend time with Him? If so, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives, as we use the means with which God has given to see His glory.
As we look to Jesus with eyes of faith, and spend time with Him in the Word of God, we are transformed. As we experience the grace given to us through the power of His righteous life, substitutionary suffering, and glorious resurrection, we are transformed and reflect His glory!
Perhaps you have never looked upon Christ with the eyes of faith, trusting Him as your Savior and King. May today be the day the veil is lifted and you are transformed to reflect the image of Jesus. May we gaze into the grace of the risen Christ, beholding His glory, and reflecting it out into the world.
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