The Freedom of the Lord

The people couldn’t stand Moses’ glowing face, not because it was weird, but because they were terrified the glory of the Lord would destroy them in their rebellious / sinful / ‘stiff-necked’ state

The old covenant was one where the people were ultimately ‘walled off’ from God. And this isn’t saying it was bad - just that, due to their state of fallenness, the israelites begged for distance from God. They had the veil and the curtain in the temple. Ours is in the line of Moses - direct access to God through faithfulness.

The israelites settled with dealing with moses rather than the lord, and this resulted in a veil. Moses turned directly to the Lord, and he could remove the veil - as can we

“In this context, the “freedom” spoken of in 3:17b implies a freedom from the veil of hard-heartedness that is unable to enter into the presence of the Lord”

This transformation is from ‘glory to glory’ or ‘with ever increasing glory’

This doesn’t mean, we work hard, and eventually we see God. It means - the Glory of God moves in our life, we see it, and then it moves us to a place to see even MORE of it.

STORY - There are these things called anger rooms.

2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

To understand this verse, we need to rewind:

The Israelites were terrified of the Lord

Exodus 34:29–30 NIV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

Not ‘radiant’ like ‘happy’, more like ‘lightbulb’.

Not afraid to come near him as in ‘nervous’ - as in ‘fear’.

Exodus 20:18–20 NIV

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

So the people say - you talk to us, not God. If God talks to us - we’ll die. So keep him at a distance.

Moses says - you don’t have to be afraid. This is a test to make sure that you know how serious this is, so that you won’t sin.

So Moses goes up, receives all this instruction.

POINT of the law = obedience. CONSEQUENCE of disobeying law = death.

The consequence wasn’t punishment - it was the outcome. If you live this life apart from God - you die.

and while he’s gone - GOLDEN CALF STORY. (Ref - they offered it sacrifices, then got up to indulge in revelry)

The people wanted their sin close, and their God far

This golden calf, it was what they wanted out of life. A ‘god’ that sat there, didn’t ask anything of you (beyond ritual), and allowed you to ‘indulge in revelry’.

It’s AFTER this sequence - People terrified, don’t be afraid, moses receives the law, then the golden calf - that we have this glowing moment.

And in Moses, the glory of the Lord suddenly wasn’t far off on some mountain - it was walking around the camp. So they were afraid.

They feared that their sins meant their destruction

The law was meant to indicate how to properly be pure before the Lord.

The people were ‘stiff-necked’. So the law primarily worked in it’s secondary function - judgment.

So here’s the WHOLE verse:

2 Corinthians 3:15–18 NIV

Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

We have this freedom because of the cross of Christ

So to Paul, there’s 2 big freedoms.

We are free to approach the glory of the Lord

That old habit of indulging in our sinful natures - that’s still present. Nothing’s changed since the time of the israelites.

But with the cross - we stand completely and totally forgiven. So this massive and radiant, dangerous glory of the Lord - that God has already made a way.

1 John 5:14 NIV

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

We take this as ‘he heard it with his ears’. This ALSO means - he will hear us. We’re welcome in. (KING - welcome in the court).

We are free to be transformed by the glory of the Lord

This is where the glory of the Lord NOW surpasses what came before (Paul - before was awesome, now is .… awesome-ER).

Before, the drive was obedience to the law. But the law in and of itself didn’t make people holy and righteous - it made them aware of sin.

But now, God invites us in, and he’s already cleaned off the sin part.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. We’re still subject to death. We’re still broken. We’re still those people who would have been destroyed by the glory of the Lord

Then he sends us his spirit to work in us, to move us and mould us and help us.

The Lord works in us from glory to glory

Notice how much of a shift has happened here. Before it was - keep the lord at a distance, that is terrifying.

But now, it’s, ‘You think this is awesome? You haven’t seen anything yet.’

STORY - my life. God doing greater and greater things in me(seeing people grow in their faith. Be comissioned to go into ministry. Seeing generations of people from things I participated in. Being given an awesome family, and being a way better Dad than I have any natural right to be)