A gracEmail subscriber comments: “You seem to say everything differently from the way I have usually heard it in my church. I think it is because you focus on Jesus. Is that the key?”
* * *
Indeed it is the key! The Apostle Paul once lamented that although unbelieving Israel regularly read the Bible, Jesus remained hidden from their view. As a result, the people missed the freedom and spiritual transformation they might have had (2 Cor. 3:15-18). The same malady often afflicts readers of the new covenant Scriptures as well — and with the same sad consequences. How many congregations dutifully listen to sermons, often full of Scripture citations, but without the spotlight turned on Jesus? There they sit, earnest men and women, but with a spiritual veil over their understanding — all because the message is off-balance and out of focus.
Only the touch of God can ever make a difference. But the divine Creator is still at work, and he is bringing holy renewal and revival in churches and individuals scattered around the world. The same “God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).
When we finally “see” Jesus, the “veil” is taken away. The divine Spirit touches the heart and liberates the soul. Then, “with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,” we begin to be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:17-18). Praise God who gives us light and sight, and who shows us himself in Jesus! Praise God who liberates our spirits and transforms us into the likeness of his glorious Son!
