Changed
by the Glory
By Rick Joyner
But we all, with
unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory,
just as from the Lord, the Spirit (II
Corinthians 3:18).
As this Scripture declares, we are changed as we
behold the glory of the Lord. Almost every Christian knows this, but it is
remarkable how many get it backward in practice. Instead of seeking to see His glory so that they can be
changed, they think that they have to change in order to see His glory.
As we have observed previously, when Adam and Eve
first sinned they took the course that is a natural reaction to sin—they tried
to hide from God. They also tried to cover up their own nakedness exposed by
the sin. When the Lord called them out, they tried to blame shift to put the
responsibility for their own failure on someone else. This is also a natural
reaction to sin—hide, and then when exposed, blame shift. This is the path to
darkness and further corruption.
However, the way of escape from both sin and the
consequences of sin is to resist doing what seems natural. We must learn to run
to God instead of away from Him. We must also seek to take responsibility for
the sin, and not try to blame someone else. The Lord will forgive our sins, but
He does not forgive excuses. When we make excuses for our sin it is obvious
that we have not really repented of them. As we are told in Hebrews 4:16:
Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne
of grace,
that we may receive mercy and may find
grace to help in time of need.
If you take the
first two chapters of the Bible, and the last two, you have a complete story.
Everything between those four chapters deal with one essential subject—redemption.
The Lord is in the redemption business. He seeks to take every failure and turn
it into a victory for us. That is why the failure of the first creation led to
the establishment of a new creation that was even greater than the first,
enabling man to partake of the heavenly nature through Christ.
However, the way we do this is through the cross. We
must die to all that we are in order to partake of the new and greater life. We
die in order to live; we lay down our lives in order to be raised up.
That is why we must learn to boldly turn to the throne of grace when we stumble,
instead of trying to hide or blame shift. We do not have to wait to become
perfect in order to enter into His presence, but rather entering into His
presence perfects us. In all things, even our sin and failures, we must
learn to turn to the Lord and seek to behold His glory. Then we will be
changed. When we behold
His glory we will begin to reflect His glory, because we will be changed into
His same image. This is our ultimate calling—to be like Him and do the
works that He did.
When we think of seeing His glory we think of
everything from beautiful colors to some perception of His nature. The story
about Moses when he asked to see His glory gives us some insight into what we
will see when we behold His glory.
Then Moses said, "I pray Thee, show me Thy
glory!"
And He said, "I Myself will make all
My goodness pass before you,
and will proclaim the Name of the LORD
before you;
and I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious,
and will show compassion on whom I will
show compassion."
But He said, "You cannot see My face,
for no man can see Me and live!"
Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is
a place by Me,
and you shall stand there on the rock; and
it will come about,
while My glory is passing by, that I will
put you in the cleft of the rock
and cover you with My hand until I have
passed by.
"Then I will take My hand away and
you shall see My back,
but My face shall not be seen"
(Exodus 33:18-23).
When Moses saw the Lord's back, what did he see? I
believe that he prophetically saw the stripes that were on His back. Remember,
the Lord was crucified from the beginning. When He created the world He knew
that He would also have to suffer and even die for it, yet He continued. There
is nothing else that will ever more fully reveal His glory. When we truly
behold what He did for us we will be changed.