Scripture Union Encounter With God 23rd July 2020 Devotional – From Glory To Glory
TODAY’S TOPIC: FROM GLORY INTO GLORY
Opening Prayer: “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psa. 19:1). With creation, I praise You, God, for Your glory. Help me to operate in the ministry of the Spirit.
Read 2 CORINTHIANS 3:7–18 – The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 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.
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Scripture Union Encounter With God 23rd July 2020
15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Footnotes:
a 2 Corinthians 3:18 Or reflect
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate: Encounter With God 23rd July 2020 Devotional
“Finish, then, thy new creation; / pure and spotless let us be: / let us see thy great salvation / perfectly restored in thee; / changed from glory into glory” (Charles Wesley, 1707–1788).
Think Further: Glory is one of the “the master images” of the Bible and is really important in the unfolding story that Scripture tells (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 330). It suggests splendor, majesty and brilliant, if not blazing, brightness. Such glory belongs to God alone, but astonishingly he shares it with us. Both Testaments declare this, but there is a difference between the old covenant and the new.
The old covenant is described as “glorious” (7–13). We should not be surprised that Moses has to veil his face after he has met with God: the light shining from it is simply too bright for the people to bear. Yet this glory is “transitory” (7,11). Crucially, it points forward to something far more wonderful to come. When Jesus stepped into time and space in our history, he changed everything. In Christ there is glory that is eternal and all-surpassing, so much so that the glory of the old covenant is “no glory” at all when compared with that of the new (10,11).
We worship Jesus, who reveals the glory of God to us, but we are called to respond in other ways too. First, we can be “very bold” (12). Through Christ we know the God of glory! Paul models this boldness: he gives himself wholeheartedly to ministry, as God gives him strength. We are to use our gifts and opportunities, whatever they are, with confidence, depending on him.
Secondly, we are to be transformed so that we become more and more like Christ, thus reflecting his glory as his Spirit works within us (18). To what extent do you and I reflect the glory of God? His brightness is often dimmed or even completely eclipsed by our stubbornness and our sin. How does God want to change you to become more like his Son, the all-glorious Lord Jesus?
Apply: Ask God to show you areas of your life he wants to transform so that you will better reflect his all-surpassing glory.
Closing Prayer: Lord, we beg You to remove any veil that lies over our eyes. Help us to reflect Your glory.
ONE YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Job 9,10 / Luke 15
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