REVOLUTIONARY SIMPLICITY AND SPIRITUALITY

REVOLUTIONARY SIMPLICITY AND SPIRITUALITY 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Exodus 34 Aug 3, 2008 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Have you ever had the privilege of witnessing the spectacular effects of the Aurora Borealis? Those mysterious, incredible, beautiful lights in the northern skies! My most memorable exposure to this phenomenon was several years ago when I was a dean of a summer youth camp. We had finished our nightly campfire, shared prayer in groups on the commons, and sent the campers off to their bunks in the care of those fortunate souls we call dorm parents. On the way to the mess hall for our nightly faculty debrief meeting—which was really sharing a coffee or soft drink, playing a couple rounds of ping pong and praying together sometime around midnight. On the way I thought I noticed lightning and thought that was strange as no rain was predicted. I looked u and saw the most spectacular colors and shapes and movement of light I have ever seen. I knew it was Aurora Borealis—I’d always heard of it, read about it, but never saw it. The camp was several miles from the nearest town, and there was little interruption from competing light. Our crew of about 10 faculty members just drifted past the mess hall out into the open field where there was prairie grass about two feet tall. Almost speechless we all just lay down in a bed of that grass and watched that spectacular show for literally hours. We forgot all about ping-pong and prayer—we were worshiping the Creator God for what He had done with color and light and movement and beauty. The lights changed hues, swirled across the sky with unpredictable rhythms and random sequences of brightness. That night I touched the glory of God in a new dimension. Moses saw things infinitely more glorious. Let’s talk about it. The Glory at Sinai Please turn to Exodus 34. You’ll recall that Moses is the most admired figure in all the Old Testament. If Abraham is the father of the faithful, Moses is the grandfather and grand patriarch of God’s people. One of the greatest times in Israel’s history was when Moses was called up to Mt. Sinai to receive the ten commandments from Yahweh. God gave him the two tablets on which He had engraved the commandments with His own finger and, after teaching him, sent him down to the people with them. Moses found the people caught up in idolatry and in anger he smashed the tablets to pieces at the foot of the mountain. After the judgment of God had been meted out, back up the mountain went Moses. There he and the Lord dialogued about the people’s sin and Moses interceded on their behalf. Moses received a second pair of stone tablets on which he had to carve the ten great commandments himself. It was at that time that Moses asked the Lord to show him His glory. And the Lord agreed. God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and revealed His glory to him. Until that time, no one had ever seen God and lived. God literally walked by Moses, holding His hand in front of Moses’ face until He passed. And Moses had a look at God’s back. Look at verse 29 – Now when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two new tablets in his hands, he was not aware that the skin of his face was shining because he had spoken with the Lord. Exactly what this radiance was is not explained, but we do know there was an unnatural brightness about him that, at first, he did not know he had. That seems incredible, but when you consider this mortal man had just spent hours in conversation with almighty God, both the brightness of his countenance and his preoccupied state of mind make perfect sense. I guess it’s always been true, though, that those who are truly godly are so focused on the Lord—His kingdom and His righteousness—that self-glory is not an issue of concern to them. Spirituality is not about measuring the brightness of our faces, nor even being conscious of how spiritual we look to others. Our focus is to be on the glory of God and not on any of our own holiness or accomplishments. Brothers and sisters, may we so aspire to a simple, single-minded focus on the Lord and His glory, that all self-promotion, reputation and self-concern are swallowed up by our all-consuming devotion to Him. It is the Lord alone who deserves all glory, and not we ourselves. Moses was transformed by the vision—not just spiritually, but physically. A residue of the glory of God rested on him. His face glowed with the shekinah glory. The reaction of Aaron and the rest of the people when they saw Moses was shock: 34:30-35 So from then on, presumably for the rest of his life, we have Moses going in to talk with God and taking the veil off. God shines on him; His glory lights him up again. He goes out and talks to the Israelites. His face is shining, so he puts the veil back over his face. This becomes his every day routine: wake up, comb his hair, take his vitamins and put his veil on. But notice that it is the presence of God, Moses’ nearness to God that reignites the glory. Glory: the Presence of God Whatever the radiance was that Moses demonstrated the Exodus account is clear about this: it was the direct result of Moses’ being near enough to God to speak with Him personally. A rare few were privileged to see God. Jacob wrestled through the night with One who turned out to be none other than God, and he called the place Peniel (or “face of God”) “because,” he said, “I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” Moses had the extraordinary honor of seeing the physical (or a physical) person of God. Why did God allow this to happen? Any explanation on our part would be just conjecture, but it is clear that God wanted the Israelites to know Moses had been with Him. This is a picture of how God shares His glory with those who are permitted to come near—to be in His presence. Christ has made a way for us New Testament believers to come into the presence of God—the Most Holy Place—through the blood of Jesus. Coming into the intimate presence of Father God is no small thing. Among other things it means we behold His glory. It also means we bear His glory, in a manner similar to Moses. Our faces don’t glow as did Moses’, but we carry His glory in at least two ways. First and most obviously, Christians have the Holy Spirit resident in their lives. He bears good fruit, manifests gifts, empowers for service, comforts and encourages, and more. Secondly, we have hope, knowing that we are forgiven by the God’s mercy through Jesus we live confident that one day we will meet Him face to face in heaven. While Moses had the Law of God, in Christ we have personal relationship with the One who fulfilled the Law. In Him we are forgiven, freed from the Law’s condemnation and welcomed into intimate fellowship with God. Moses wore a veil to shield the people from the glory of God. Exodus 34 says the people—even Aaron—were afraid! That’s a picture of what it feels like when sinners stand before the Lord and His perfect Law, because they are guilty and condemned by the Law. Under Christ, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3, we have a superior relationship with God—one of confidence and faith and hope. And it’s all because the righteous requirements of the Law have been met for us in Christ! 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 – Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! We possess a “greater glory” than Moses experienced! It doesn’t fade, or frighten or require a veil. In fact, verse 18 teaches us that the glory of Christ is more glorious, gives freedom instead of fear, and instead of hiding this glory, it is meant to shine for all to see! Our spirituality is a gift of glory for others. Glory: the covenant of God It is the presence of God in the believer’s life—better, the believer’s intimate fellowship with God—that makes us a “new creation” that reflects His glory. It is the beauty of a life drawn close to God, healed and forgiven by His mercy, transformed by His grace, and daily reflecting His glory to others. This is what the new covenant of the New Testament is all about—a spirituality based on an intimate, personal relationship with God through Christ. Paul insists that it is a superior covenant. The book of Hebrews says Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant that is superior to the old one, and is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said, “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel” . . . . By calling this covenant “new” he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. [webmasters note: Hebrews 8:6-13] Let’s read the next section in 2 Corinthians 3:12-17, where we find more about the covenant of grace: Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 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. Hallelujah! In Jesus, we are no longer distant, fearful, slaves of sin, blind, condemned. Through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, we are brought near to God—near enough for intimate relationship. What a covenant! What mercy! What grace! What glory! Verse 17: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Free from the bondage of the guilt of our sins, free from condemnation! Romans 8:1-3 says, There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. Do you see? We are free from the veil! No longer condemned, no longer afraid, no longer blinded by the glory of God we are free to glory in it! We are free to reflect it to others. Glory: the message of God And that’s the third element of the glory of God: it comes from His presence, it comes from His covenant, and it is in His message. Look carefully at verse 18 with me. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with every-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. There are 2 things here that we need to understand. The first is we, the unveiled face crowd—the New Covenant believers, all reflect the Lord’s glory. Let us be stupefied by this awesome truth. We reflect the Lord’s glory! The living God who met Moses on Sinai, has met us in Christ, and He has invited us to partner with Him in the glory business! The second thing we need to see clearly in this verse is a process the Lord has in place for us – we are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Please understand, this is the process He is using not only to sanctify us so we serve Him better, not only to bring us joy in knowing we are becoming what He wants us to be, but to make His glory shine in our lives all the more effectively. Romans 8:29 goes as far as to say that we are “predestined to be conformed to His Son” He says, “I saved you through my Son, I inhabited you in my Spirit, and now I want you to glorify me by reflecting my glory to the world around you. And here’s the good part. I’ll do all the work! I know what you’re going to say—you’re sinful and weak and you don’t think you’ll be a very good ambassador for me. I know all that—don’t worry about it. Trust me, I want to use you, and I can use you, and I already am using you. Just be who you are—who I’m making you in my Son. Give the few dozen people around you today an imperfect introduction to me, give them as much of the gospel as they will take, then step back and let me do the work.” Brethren, we are called to tee up the gospel and God will drive it. Stop thinking that convincing people that the gospel is true is up to you—it’s not! Paul said the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is powerful—this message of the New Covenant. Before Paul came to Christ you could not have found a religious fanatic more radically opposed to Christianity. Yet the Lord got through to him with the gospel! There was no more intellectual snob on the face of the earth than C. S. Lewis, but the gospel of Christ saved him, didn’t it? And there was no one there coaxing him to pray the sinner’s prayer, either. He was riding a bus. He wrote that all he knew was that when he got on the bus he was not a believer, but when he got off he was! There was no tougher, more conniving and cutthroat a political operative than Chuck Colson, but God saved him through His gospel. You could not have found a more educated cynic than Oxford professor William Ramsey, but when he encountered the gospel, he was saved. John Newton was a hard-hearted slave-trader, but he was no match for the gospel. And 39 years ago it would have been hard to find a more proud, profane, cynical, anti-religious reprobate in the St. Louis metro-east than Rich Bersett. And the gospel got to me. I tell you—the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. Tee it up and launch it into the lives of lost me and women around you. Then step back and watch God work! And when He does, His glory shines! The glory of God shone from the face of Moses. It will shine through your life, your witness and your telling of the gospel as well. When people’s eyes open to the saving message they are stunned at its magnificence and God’s magnanimity. He is glorified when others come to Him through His Son. Partnering with His glorious enterprise is our highest calling, our life-governing purpose. All we are called to is to tee it up and serve the gospel to others. We are to make it our obsession to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others as clearly and compellingly as we can. We do it best when we remain in the presence of God and get reignited by His glory. We do it best when we trust and obey the new covenant in Christ. We do it best when we faithfully disseminate the powerful gospel of grace.     [Back to Top]