A Glorious Transformation

But 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 Cor. 3:18 NKJ)

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation! What the good news of Jesus Christ does in our lives is it allows us to live from a different perspective. Before the cross, the people of God largely lived from a perspective of law. They lived under the law. The law was the focus of their lives, the goal of their religion. They hoped that they could do enough good work, sufficient to earn a right standing before the throne of a wrath-filled God. The majority of God’s children quickly learned they fell well short of a “good job” and were crushed under the heaviness of law’s burden. This is because the law shines an investigative light into the hearts and minds of men and quickly reveals the lack of glory. The law reveals our weak flesh, which obscures the true image of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. The law reveals and magnifies our sin.   But, the gospel reveals and magnifies His Glorious Righteousness!

Therefore, a new righteousness is revealed to us. Through our trusting belief in Him, His righteousness becomes our righteousness. When our heart turns to the Lord, in response to His grace, the blindness of a guilty conscience or a self righteousness is taken away. In Christ, our perspective changes. Instead of working for a lifetime in the attempt to earn His verdict of “not guilty”, faith allows us to receive the gift of a “not guilty” verdict before we even begin the journey! We are righteous from the start. We no longer focus on our “falling short” of His glory, but, rather, we focus on His fulfillment of glory. The law leads us to look into the “mirror” of our sin. Jesus calls us to look into the “mirror” of His righteousness. That “mirror” is Christ, the glorious Messiah who saves us from our sins. And what a glorious Savior He is!

When we believe in Christ, we are “not guilty”! We are pure and righteous. Yes, it’s true. In God’s eyes, He sees us “In Christ”. Therefore, we are pure and righteous before Him. Then, why do we need to be transformed? Because salvation is not merely a legal act, it includes a sanctifying process that is imparted through an “unveiled” relationship with God. In Christ, we no longer look into the veil of our sin and guilt. Now, we look into the “mirror” of Christ, looking into His face, beholding ourselves as made in His image. Viewing ourselves from His perspective is seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). This is what the law could not do. It led to an increase of sin, guilt and death. But seeing ourselves in Christ works in us life, peace, freedom and joy! The law keeps working to pull us back to the mirror of guilt and shame. The Holy Spirit leads us to steadfastly gaze into the face of our Righteousness! As we look into the mirror and see ourselves “in Christ”, we are gradually transformed from one glory to another, by the Spirit of the Lord working in our hearts. 

Transformation is only found in One Mirror. Into which mirror you looking?