Transformed by the Lord's Glory

[2 Corinthians 3:18] River of Life (Advent Devotional) 2022

Before you have kids, you go to a movie fifty times a year. After you have kids, you watch the same movie fifty times a day. This was the experience of one mother, Erica Byrd. While her memory and her math might be a little fuzzy, the stark contrast between life before kids and life after is very real and very accurate.

Few things change your life more than a child. Almost overnight, everything changes. The beloved family pet takes a back seat to baby. Your whole evening routine and sleep pattern changes. You begin debating which green puree is better sweet pea, avocado, or green bean. You develop strong opinions about children’s shows and books, carseats and diapers. The old you—the one before you had kids—would never understand.

Having a little one who relies on you for everything makes you more willing to make sacrifices, too. Changing diapers; cleaning up spit up; constantly washing clothes; baby-proofing dangerous places in your home—we do all these things, not because we find great joy in the activity, but because we love the little person we are doing it for.

But having kids doesn’t just change how you spend your time and energy. It changes you at a far deeper level. As a parent, you have different hopes and dreams and insecurities. Some relationships blossom. You may connect with your own parents more frequently. Your appreciation of what they did for you may deepen. Having kids will change your present, your future, and your whole life.

And that’s before your kids do anything. You don’t have to be a parent to a prodigy to have your life changed by that child. You don’t have to raise a special child for them to have a special impact on your whole life. You just have to be related, connected to them personally.

In Paul’s letter to the believers at Corinth, he writes about a special child, Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of God, who changes our lives.

Here’s what he says: (2 Cor. 3:18) We all, who with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.

That little phrase, the Lord’s glory, is crucial for us to understand. So what is it? Our views of glory come and go. It changes as we grow up and fades as we grow older, right?

When we are really young, our glory, what we might be really proud of was what we could do in the classroom, or on the stage, or out on the ballfields. Our pride and joy might have been the person we were dating or the car we were driving or the college we were attending.

But then you grow up and find out nobody cares about your past glory: your trophies or your GPA, if you were voted most likely to succeed or drove a really fast dark green Mustang.

Your present glory doesn’t even mean that much either. Your good looks, your career, your home, your car, your money—all those things are still important, but you know it doesn’t take much for those to change on a dime. And they can’t bring you happiness and satisfaction.

But your kids do. As a parent, your kids are your pride and joy. They mean the world to you. In many ways, children are their parents’ glory.

Which helps us begin to understand the Lord’s glory. God’s glory is his Son. The One who isn’t just a chip off the old block, but the exact representation of his divine being. Jesus is true God. And also true man.

So look with me, with unveiled faces, and contemplate what the Lord’s glory did for you. He was born into this world, to humble first time parents. His first bassinet was a feeding trough for farm animals.

But he was his Father’s pride and joy. Everything he thought, said, and did made his heavenly Father proud. Again and again in the Gospels, we hear a voice from heaven say: (Mt. 3:17) This is my Son whom I love. Listen to him. And when we listen to him, we hear Jesus tell us why he came, (Mt. 20:28) to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus did more for each one of us than any parent has done for a child. Jesus didn’t just wipe up our momentary messes, he washed away all of our sins. Once and for all. He made himself the sacrifice for our selfishness and unrighteousness. He died the death our misdeeds deserved. And he was joyful in doing so. Not because the pains of hell and physically dying were enjoyable, but because he loves you and me. He did that for us. And he rose from the dead to assure us that the grave has become the gateway to eternal life for all who believe in him.

That’s the Lord’s glory—his Son, Jesus. And being personally connected to this child by faith—knowing and trusting that he is the Son of God and your Savior—changes everything. That’s God’s third gift for you this Christmas. Personal and eternal transformation.

The Lord’s glory, God’s love in his Son Jesus, changes how you look at the past and the present. Your past mistakes, the shame you feel over your sins, has been taken away. Jesus took care of that. Your worries about the here and now, those are gone too. If God loved you enough to live for you and die for you, he’s not going to forget about you now.

The Lord’s glory transforms how you look and live now. You are personally connected to Christ. He is changing you to look and live more like him. To be more patient and more forgiving. Time with Jesus, in his Word and his house, makes us rejoice in God’s timeless truth. We seek to serve others. We become more joyful, more hopeful, and more certain of God’s love and power and wisdom.

The Lord’s glory changes how you look at the future, too. Your hopes and your dreams are transformed, too. No longer do we fixate on trying to get and keep the good life here on earth. We have a better life awaiting us in heaven. These moments here, our God is using each step to draw us closer to himself. There are a part of our journey with Jesus to the heavenly mansion that our glorious God has prepared for all those he loves.