Unveiled Faces
You are being transformed into the likeness of Christ as you turn to God and remove the veil from your face.
“The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance is to have these boundaries...Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom...Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea...For your northern boundary, run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor...For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea...This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side...Assign this land by lot as an inheritance."
Numbers 34:1-3, 6-7, 10, 12-13, 29
Have you ever stopped to think about how clear God was with His instructions about where the people were to live? He literally spelled out the boundaries for them and declared that the land would be their promised inheritance. The people were told where they were going just not the road to get there. The people were told of their promised inheritance just not when they would receive it. The people had to have faith that God would do what He said He would do.
How does where you are currently living and where you want to go influencing how you live? As people of the new covenant we have been given a new promise. God is not calling us to get up and move to the promised land in Israel. Jesus ushered in the new covenant and lifts our eyes to the promise of the Heavenly Kingdom. We live as people whose destination is eternity with God where we will dwell face to face. Jesus came to light up your life here and now with the promise of forevermore. His love is meant to make your face shine brightly as an ambassador of the kingdom. How does your eternal destination impact your every day life?
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked!"
Psalms 1:1-6
The word blessed is very important. What does it mean to you to be blessed? What did David mean when he wrote the first psalm? David is not saying you will receive a conditional blessing, David is describing a way of life that is flourishing, fortunate, and full of God's joy because of what happens when you walk with God. Jesus used the word Zoe which describes the kingdom life. It is a life so full of richness that the quality and quantity of life is transformed. You receive the hope of heaven and get to experience heaven here and now. Jesus gives us the zoe life led by the spirit with all the fruits of the spirit: joy, peace, patience, gentleness and more.
How is life going for you? Do you feel full of the spirit and replenished? Do you feel free and full of joy? Are you experiencing an abundance of peace and prosperity? If not, ask yourself why? Better yet, ask Jesus why? David invites his audience to live intentionally and allow God to shape their lives by flowing through them. One of the ways our lives are meant to change as we conform to the likeness of Christ when we choose to follow Him is by learning where we can give and serve with the strengths we have been given.
To meditate on the law day and night is not to memorize a series of rules. This is not like memorizing the Bill of Rights or U.S. Constitution. To meditate on the word is so much more. It is learning to live a life of worship connected to the Living Word with a heart, mind, and soul devoted to the Almighty God. What are you thinking about today? Are you meditating on the goodness and grace of God or on something you have not gotten?
“Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your beloved turn, that we may look for him with you? My beloved has gone down to his garden...I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”
Song of Songs 6:1-3
The image of a wedding between Jesus and His people as the bride of Christ is meant to frame our understanding of our relationship with the Risen Savior. Look at the language Solomon uses. Beloved. I am my Beloved and my Beloved is mine. He does not say my task master, the judge, or the disappointed parent. He talks of a love so unending that it lifts us up and leads us to a higher place.
Think of the last wedding you attended. Did the bride have a veil? Do you remember how you felt when you saw the magic in the eyes of the two people as they declared their vows before all people. This same intimacy is how life is meant to be lived by us with our Maker. Do you see Jesus as one who is smiling at you with the anticipation of beginning or continuing the journey you have been on?
“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “ ‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.” But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god. Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you?...Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you ...You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor."
Ezekiel 28:2-4, 11-18, 25-26
Ezekiel shares the broken heart of love that has failed. We live in a world where covenants are broken and love can fade away. Why? Why did it go this way for the city of Tyre? God said that you were made to be beautiful, perfect, full of wisdom, and to flourish. Much like Adam in the Garden, the humanity of the people of Tyre allowed sin to separate from the source of all love.
What is the truth that God calls out? What can harm our relationships with God and others like nothing else? God says your pride and the twisting of truth turned you away from who you were made to be. Is there anywhere in your life where pride or the voice of the false is impacting the way you see God or see yourself?
“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 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.”
2 Corinthians 3:3-6, 10-12, 15-18
Paul experienced transformation in his life as he turned from the life he had been living where he persecuted the followers of Jesus to a life of proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. Paul experienced personally the unveiling of love and his heart was freed. He was freed from the pain of the past decisions, the shame of who he had been and what he had done, and the fear of what was to come. In the place of all that separated him from his true self, Paul found a Savior who embraced him as he was then called him to a higher place.
When Paul says the letter of the law does not bring freedom he is speaking from his own personal testimony. He says following Jesus is not about getting all the rules right. He says it is about a relationship that will awaken your soul and bring new life to your heart. The love of Christ will make you bold and give you freedom like you have never known. You will be blessed like David says in the Psalms because the resurrected life in Christ tastes sweeter than the best meal you have eaten and nothing compares to the experience of being face to face with the glory of the Lord.
What happens when we allow Jesus to lift the veil of who we thought we were and hear the voice of truth as He tells us who we are made to be? We are transformed by His glory and starts the adventure of experiencing ever increasing glory through our trials and triumphs following Him. He does not promise us a life of ease. He promises us that we are seen, that we are known, and that we are loved. He calls you His. He calls you Beloved. He asks you to let go of everything and simply say yes to a life of faithful devotion to Him. Blessed in the one who says yes to Jesus. Blessed is the one who with unveiled face is transformed by the love of Jesus Christ and becomes a blessing to others.