A GLIMPSE INTO ETERNITY

Introduction

There’s a spiritual world out there.

A world that is invisible to the eyes, but nevertheless, is very real and it exists. I tend to forget that. I also tend to forget that I’m living for eternity, because I often become bogged down in time. With all of the pressures in life, with all of the deadlines it seems as if we just wonder if we can make it through one more day. And we don’t have time to back up and see the big picture and to remember where it’s all going.

Recently in one of our staff meetings we were discussing someone who had a severe trial that has lasted eight years and continues to go on. And one of the staff members made an interesting point. He said, “Well, it isn’t too long when you consider that he’s preparing for eternity.”

That’s true.

we are preparing for eternity

That’s true if you remember that you are preparing for eternity. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.

The disciples during the time of Jesus, were going through a convulsion of spirit, and I’ll tell you why. Here is Jesus, the Son of God, and Peter says, “Thou art the Christ. The Son of the living God.” And Jesus says, “Peter, you’re right. And flesh and blood hasn’t revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven showed you that important, theological, truth.”

So far, so good. And then Jesus turns around and says to the disciples, “I want you to know that I’m going to go to Jerusalem, and I’m going to suffer many things, and I’m going to be put to death by the chief priests and the scribes.”

And the disciples are saying “That - does - not - compute. It doesn’t add up. The Son of God crucified???!!”
Well I want you to take your Bibles and turn to the ninth chapter of Luke, this is the story of what is called the transfiguration.

Jesus is up near Mount Hermon. Peter has confessed that He is the Christ. And Christ is speaking to the disciples and challenging them in verse 27 of Luke 9.

“But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. And some eight days after these sayings, it came about that He took along Peter and John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Eljah, who appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” I’ll simply stop there for a moment. We’ll pick it up at verse 32 in just a little bit.

Transfiguration

Here is what we call the transfiguration. Why this rather remarkable, incredible event in Jesus Christ’s life and ministry? He goes to the top of a mountain, Mount Hermon, He’s standing there and suddenly the Matthew account says “...His face became as bright as the sun....” and His garments were glistening. What an experience!

Why the transfiguration? Let me give you a couple of reasons.

• First of all because it substantiated Peter’s confession. Peter says “Thou art the Christ.” In the Luke account you’ll notice it is in verse 20. Jesus says “Who do you say that I am? And Peter answers and says the Christ of God.”

And Jesus says “Peter you’re right, and to prove that I am the Christ, I am going to have this metamorphous, (which is the word transfiguration). I’m going to be changed so that you are going to be able to see Me in all My pre-Bethlehem glory. And so it substantiated the fact that Jesus is, indeed the Christ.

• There is a second reason, and that is it is a preview of Christ’s coming glory. You see, before He left heaven and came to earth in Bethlehem, He had all the glory of God. When He was here on the earth He had the glory of God as well, but it was veiled.

At Christmas we sing “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,” because we couldn’t look upon Christ. Nobody could look upon Christ in His dazzling beauty with a face that is as bright as the sun. But that’s the way He’s going to be in glory in the future and in the coming Kingdom. That’s the way in which He can be now if He desires. And that’s the way we someday shall see Him when our bodies are transformed and we are given new eyes and a new sense of identity.

Remember what John said? He said “And the Word was made flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory.” Possibly John is referring to this very experience because John is one of the apostles who gets to go to the mountain and to see it for himself—Peter, James, and John—we beheld His glory.

There’s a phrase in the book of Hebrews that I used to read and be puzzled by because it talked about worship and then it speaks about the veil of the temple being Christ’s flesh. And I’d read that and I’d say “I don’t get it. What could the writer possibly mean?” Now I think I understand.

Remember in the Old Testament the veil separated you from the Shekinah glory of the Holy Place? You came into the Holy Place, and then there was the veil that separated you from the Holy of Holies where God dwelt and where the glory of God descended upon the cherubim at the Mercy Seat.

The veil apparently was about six inches thick. A huge bolt of cloth. The veil prevented you from seeing the Shekinah glory. Christ’s flesh prevented His disciples (during His earthly ministry) to see His glory. It was veiled. Nobody could see the divine nature. That was impossible.

And so Christ traveled incognito. He had a divine nature, but He looked like a man. And He became tired and hungry, just like a man because He was a man. He was 100% man joined to a divine nature making Him also 100% God.

So here’s what happens in the transfiguration: For one brief moment the veil is lifted and the flesh which has veiled the glory of Christ is taken away so that Peter, James, and John can see Jesus as He really is. And of course that’s a preview of how He is going to be in glory. All of His splendor, and all of His dynamism. The coming Kingdom—that’s what they began to see.

So there’s the second reason. The first is to confirm the words of Peter; the second is to give them a preview of glory.

• And thirdly, to demonstrate and to prove to the disciples that it is compatible... the fact is that Christ’s power and His death are compatible.

You can understand the dizziness of the disciples. “Here You are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the King. You are the Messiah.” They knew all of the prophecies in the Old Testament that talked about Jesus Christ’s Kingship. “And yet You are going to suffer? And You are going to die? And You’re going to be humiliated?” No wonder Peter began to rebuke Christ and say “No! Not You! - Don’t!!”

And Jesus said to Peter, “Satan, get behind me because you’re thinking like a man, and you’re not thinking with the wisdom of God.”

What Christ is trying to say to the disciples is this: “When you see Me hanging on the cross in shame; when you see Me being ridiculed and I will appear so incredibly helpless” (and didn’t Jesus appear helpless on the cross?) “I want you to know that beneath that body that is being nailed to those rough-hewn pieces of wood, beneath this body is the glory and the might and the shimmering beauty of God. Remember that, disciples! Don’t be deceived by appearances. Don’t be deceived.”

You know, when you stop to think about it, the Greek word for “transfiguration” is “metamorphous”. And all of us know, I think, we used to learn years and years ago when we were in school that there’s the egg, and then there’s the larvae, and then the pupa, and eventually you get a butterfly? If you began to analyze just the egg and the larvae you would never be able to even comprehend the beauty of the butterfly.

And when you see Jesus hanging on the cross in such weakness and duration and shame...you would not necessarily think that within Him resided the glory and the beauty of God. But it did.

Parenthetically, isn’t that the way we face life today? My wife and I visited Ed Shufeld about a week before he died. When I left the hospital room I said to Rebecca, “You know, cancer can really be proud of itself.” If cancer could speak it could be proud it could say “We have slain the mighty. We have slain healthy men and taken them from 200 pounds and reduced them to ninety.” Oh, you die in weakness, you die in weakness. Analyzing the body of someone who is near death you would never be able to look at that body and even dream of the glory that is to be revealed. And yet I want you to know something today. The shimmering beauty of Christ’s glory is the kind of a body that we will have someday when we are like Him. I wish you could see Ed Shufeld now. I wish you could see him now.

You say, well Pastor Lutzer, that’s a bit extreme. We came here to church today and we didn’t expect to hear you say that we’re going to be like Christ. Listen, I would never say that. I wouldn’t have the nerve to say it. I’d run scared to make such an awesome statement. But guess what? I found it in the book that you read every single day! Right? You do I hope. Because you can’t be a growing Christian unless you do. Here’s what it says in First John. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, (I’m not making this up!) we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

It’s not just a matter of us seeing Him, which would be an experience worth dying for; but it’s a matter of actually being like Him. You say “Yes, but I still don’t believe.”

You know what Jesus said in John 17. He was praying to His heavenly Father, and I’m not making this up either, You know another reason why you ought to read the Bible every single day? It is that you make sure that Pastor Lutzer doesn’t make stuff up! That’s why you should! In verse 22 He’s praying to His heavenly Father and He says “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which Thou hast given Me, for they art Thine...” And then He says, “And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them.” You understand why I’m not making it up. It’s awesome.

So when we look at the transfiguration, which is really a glimpse into eternity, will you remember, my friend, that we are not only seeing what Christ is going to be like when we see Him, we are actually getting a glimpse of what we are going to be like in glory. For we shall be like Him.

And I can look at you today with the beautiful smile that you brought to church and I can see within your eyes the transformation that God has already begun. But the day is coming when all of us are going to be glorified. And all of us are going to be like Christ. And you can’t analyze our bodies now to try to figure out what we’re going to be like then because there’s a butterfly coming. It’s going to be shimmering beauty.

With that introduction, let me give you some characteristics of the transformation that happened to Christ that will also happen to us. What are they?

• First of all a transformed body. It says in verse 29, “And while He was praying... the appearance of His face became different.” I’ve already mentioned that Luke says it shone like the sun.

And His clothing became white and gleaming. A transformed body. Now you have to understand that while Jesus was on the mountain, it’s not that He was reflecting glory. It isn’t as if God shone some very strong spotlight onto Mount Hermon and Jesus Christ reflected the glory. No. The transformation means that the inner glory of Christ broke out. He was not reflecting, He was radiating glory. And there is a difference.

Notice the transformation of His body. You’ll notice it is a body of beauty. It is a body of versatility. You know why? Moses and Elijah show up! They’re there! Well, who are they? Old Testament Moses, representing the Law. What’s unique about his death? Well, when he died you remember the text tells us in the book of Deuteronomy that the Lord buried Moses. He had a very different kind of death. God did not allow the Israelites to know where Moses was buried.

And you remember Moses wasn’t allowed in the land because he struck the rock instead of speaking to it? And God said I’m going to discipline you Moses. And you aren’t going to be able to get into the land with the children of Israel. You’re going to die on this side of the river. You remember that? Guess what? Moses made it across the river. Mount Hermon is in the land! Isn’t that great? He wasn’t allowed in during the time of Joshua, but now on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses is there.

Elijah—do you remember how he died? The Bible says that he was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire and he didn’t die. Elijah represents the prophets.

Now I find this interesting. Here Jesus is on the top of the Mount of Transfiguration, one of the mountains in the cluster of mountains of Mount Hermon, and Christ is there, and Moses and Elijah who did not go up the mountain with Peter, James, and John—they appear.

Peter, James, and John (if you know how high those mountains are [and they are incredibly high - some of us saw them this summer]), they no doubt were so tired. You know, “Oh do we really have to go to the Mount? Do we really have to go? John, let’s keep going - Jesus told us... OK, OK, we’re gonna go!” And they get up there, and they’re out of breath. That’s Peter, James, and John in their earthly bodies. Moses and Elijah - they’re “there,” that’s all.

Body of versatility—in heaven, you’re not going to get weary, you’re not going to need any sleep, you’re not going to get tired, you’re not going to have arthritis, you’re not going to need glasses like some of us do. You’re going to have a body that is going to be perfect, and versatile, and powerful. And you’re going to be able to be involved in ceaseless activity. And all the projects that you started on earth that you’ve never been able to finish, God will allow you to finish in heaven. So relax. Relax.

Body of beauty; of versatility. A body of permanents. That’s the only body you’re ever going to need because it’s going to be eternal. So there is a transformed body.

• Secondly, there are transformed relationships. It says Moses and Elijah were talking. And I might say here that they were conversing also with Peter, James, and John although it says here in verse 32 “Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.” I read this yesterday and was deeply convicted.

Every once in a while, I’ll meet somebody who says “You know, I slept through your sermon.” And I have to tell you it’s because of the pride that is in me - it hurts a little bit. It really does. I say “Really?” I don’t think it’s quite right that anyone should sleep through my sermon. I say, “Oh, God! Am I that boring, that people sleep through my sermons?”

And then I read this. And the Lord slapped me across the face and said “Lutzer! Peter, James, and John slept through the transfiguration! Why should you feel badly, if somebody sleeps through one of your rather dull sermons?” And so God has delivered me from pride. You can sleep now, through, uh, one of my sermons.

Let me just simply say that I heard of a man, a preacher who was very upset because someone always slept through his sermons. And he spoke to this man. And the man said, “I want you to know the fact that I sleep when you’re preaching should be interpreted as a compliment. Because,” he says, “preacher what it really means is, it’s proof that I trust your theology.”

Transformed relationships — Peter, James, and John do get to interact with Moses and Elijah. And I think that they knew them instantly. There was an instant kind of a recognition that took place on the Mount of Transfiguration. Sometimes people say “Will we know one another in heaven?” Absolutely we’ll know each another in heaven. What a question to ask.

And you take that earthly family that you now have that means so much to you and you begin to expand it and to realize that it is going to include all of the hosts of heaven. One day Jesus was speaking to the disciples and some people wanted to get through the crowd and get to Christ and they said “Jesus! Your mother and your brother and your sisters want to talk to you.” And He said “Who is My mother and My brother and My sisters but those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven.”

You take the small earthly family and you expand it. That’s the way it’s going to be once we get to glory. And this is a preview of glory.

I think also, “What are we going to do in heaven?” You know, people think you’re going to sit on a cloud and play a harp. And if you’re a harpists, then of course you can do that if you wish. But I want you to know today that I believe in heaven we are going to have a deeper understanding of the things of God.

Let’s look at the text and find out what they were discussing. It says, verse 31: “Who appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure...” That’s what Moses and Elijah were talking about. And the word departure is the Greek word “exodus.” They were speaking of Christ’s exodus which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.

Why are Moses and Elijah so interested in Christ’s exodus which He’s gonna accomplish in Jerusalem?

Listen, if Christ wouldn’t have gone to Jerusalem and died, Moses and Elijah would have ended up in hell, because there would have been no redemption for them. Their salvation rested just as much with Jesus Christ’s departure in Jerusalem as yours or mine! And therefore they were very interested in what was going to happen in Jerusalem. And so they’re discussing His departure. They’re having a theological discussion.

Some people think that theology isn’t interesting. Sometimes it hasn’t been taught in a very interesting way, but it is the Prince of the Sciences, and nobody can think more blessed and greater thoughts than those who discuss theology because we are discussing God’s thoughts after Him.

And so they’re discussing His departure.

You know, when I was young, I used to listen to sermons. Just like some of you who are young are now listening to a sermon. But I remember preachers used to say this about Peter. They’d say, “Oh, you know Peter was so taken up with the Mount of Transfiguration. He was so caught up with the glory that was around him that he wanted to stay up there. And he wanted to build a motel. And say, you know what I’d like to do? I’d like to build three tabernacles. And, and let’s just stay up here in the mountains...”

And then the illustration always was: “But nobody can stay on the mountain. You have to go down to the valley.”
Could I give you a different interpretation? Why did Peter say “Let us build three tabernacles?” Do you remember the exodus out of Egypt?

God in the Old Testament said “I’m going to give you seven feasts to represent truths that I don’t ever want you to forget.” And one of the feasts was to remember the Exodus. And it was the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. Because they would build these booths and live in them one week.

You see, what Peter is doing is he’s picking up on the exodus. He hears the word “exodus”, and he doesn’t quite understand what is being said. So he says, “Oh, Oh! The Exodus! Yes, yes, that’s the Feast of Tabernacles!” And that’s why he says let us build — he says verse 33 “And it came about, as these were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not realizing what he was saying.” —First of all, because this was not the time and the place to remember the Feast of Tabernacles. But of course, he was absolutely overwhelmed with what was taking place around him, and he didn’t quite know what to say, but he was picking up on the word “Exodus.”

So there’s going to be a transformation of relationships. We’re going to know one another. We’re going to interact with one another. And we’re going to discuss with one another. And I take it in heaven we will learn. I like what Jonathan Edwards says: he says “in heaven the saints are going to continue to discuss and to learn,” —get this now— “the idea of God throughout all of eternity.” That’s great.

Finally, there’s a transformed focus as well. Moses and Elijah disappear. Jesus is left alone. It says , in verse 35, “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying ‘This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!’”

Do you have any idea as to how much God loves the Son? I want you to know that God the Father is absolutely in love with the Son. He says, “He’s my Favored One. He’s My Chosen One. He’s My Special One.”

Now, Jesus also in John 17 did say “Thou lovest them even as Thou hast loved Me.” That’s awesome. You see, what Jesus is saying is “You disciples, you are all going to go through times of difficulties. Times of struggle. But I want you to focus on one thing - listen to Christ. Listen to Christ.”

Do you want to honor God today? You have your focus narrowed to Christ. HEAR YE HIM!

Ten thousand different voices call us. All of the temptations that we all struggle with and sometimes give into. All of the things impinging on our schedules, and all of our messed up priorities. HEAR YE HIM! And in heaven we are going to be enamored, and we will be listening to Him, and we will be worshipping Him, But... it can begin here on planet earth.

You say, “Well Pastor Lutzer, this is a glimpse into eternity, but do we just have to wait for the transformation? I don’t see any glory now. I don’t see my face shining like the sun. I don’t see my clothes glistening. I don’t see the glory. But we will wait for it!”

Well, that’s true. We can wait for it and we know that it’s going to come. But I want you to know something. That the inner transformation of glory begins on this earth. It begins now. It’s to be completed later, but always in the New Testament we find that things we are to enjoy in heaven are given to us to sample on earth. Whether it’s the Holy Spirit. Whether it’s our inheritance. We get to sample on earth what we’re going to have lots of in heaven.

Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians. Because this word “transfiguration” in addition to the Transfiguration accounts, occurs only two other times in the New Testament. It’s the Greek word “metamorphous”, as I mentioned. And notice what it says in 2 Corinthians Chapter 3, verse 18 - here is the same word, “transformation” “metamorphous.”

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed” there’s the word, folks...being transfigured into the same image from one degree of glory to another degree of glory, by the Holy Spirit of God.

What God wants to do is begin the process in us. He wants to begin what He’s going to complete so beautifully sometime in the future. He wants the inner glory to get started on this side of death—this side of the Second Coming.
He wants us to gaze at Christ, to listen to Him, to look into the Word of God, and to allow that transformation to take place. He wants us to pray.

Did you notice it in Luke? It says regarding Christ on Mount Hermon, and we read it a moment ago, while He was praying, He was transfigured. While He was praying...

G od wants us to pray. He wants us to see Christ in the Word of God, and then we are inwardly changed. And all the garbage, all the things that keep us from transformation are laid aside and they’re given up as we surrender to God, and as we learn, so that the change takes place.

And I don’t ever expect that our faces are going to shine like the sun. But there is a sense of joy, and a sense of glow, and a sense of anticipation, and a sense of confidence that God begins to dwell, and to work, I should say, within us. And we are transformed.

I spoke about a glimpse of glory in the future. But I want you to know that God lets us begin the process here.

Remember how Warren Weirsbe, the previous pastor here, was able to use words. We all envy him. But then we remember that that’s a sin, too, so we stop doing that. But I want you to listen to what he says. As only he can say it. He says “When the Child of God, is in the Word of God, looking at the Son of God, he’s transformed by the Spirit of God, into the Glory of God.” That’s a Weirsbe-ism, and it says it all.

Let me ask you something. Why can you face tomorrow? Why can you get up and go to that job you hate? Why is it you can deal with that relationship that is absolutely tearing you to death? Why is it that you can put up with some relatives that you’d rather not be related to? - You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your relatives. Why can you face tomorrow with confidence? My dear friend, back off - back off!

Don’t just look at tomorrow, but look at the day after, and the day after, and look into eternity and to see the glimpse of where we are headed. And then you can face tomorrow. And you can make it. And the process begins now, if we let it.

I remember reading about a swimmer who was trying to swim the English Channel and to break all records. I think it’s something like 22 miles. A half mile from the shore she became exhausted and had to say to those who were tracking her with the boat that she had to give up. Later on she was asked “You know, you were ahead of everybody else. You could have broken the record. Couldn’t you have made it one more half mile?” And she said, “If I could have seen the land, I think I could have.”

If I could have seen the land I could have.

This morning we’ve seen the land. We’ve seen the glory. We’ve seen the transfiguration. We’ve seen where we are headed. And therefore we can make it. We can make it! Because we’ve seen it. Heaven has opened. God has shown us Christ, and God has shown us what we will be like. And that’s why we can make it.