But if the ministry
of death,
written and engraved
on stones,
was glorious, so that
the children of Israel
could not look
steadily at the face of Moses
because of the glory
of his countenance,
which glory was passing away,
how will the ministry
of the Spirit
not be more
glorious? For if the ministry
of condemnation had glory, the
ministry
of righteousness
exceeds much more glory.
2 Corinthians 3:7 --
9
In the last
blog I spoke about the sufficiency we have in Jesus Christ that we are not
lacking in anything, therefore, we are able to live in this world and by the
power of the Holy Spirit that makes us sufficient we do not need to sin. We are still sinners and have the defect of
original sin that makes up our fleshly nature; but with the coming of Jesus Christ,
the Messiah promised from the beginning of time for man, we have a New Covenant, one that is different from the old covenant. How is it different? Moses came down from the mountain holding on
to two stones that God had written His law upon that was to direct the people of
Israel how to live. This law was one of
condemnation for if one did not keep this law then they were condemned,
therefore the Old Testament dispensation was a ministration of death. Keep the law, and live! Don't keep the law, and die! Was the law so hard to keep because it
imposed upon the people that which was difficult? It is difficult unless a person keeps their eyes on God and not upon themselves, and
if one build their lives with a relationship to God then keeping the law
is not difficult, albeit hard due to our flesh. With the coming of Jesus Christ's and His dying upon the cross,
the Israelite law that was established secondary to the written law by God, the
10 Commandments, passed away, but the 10 Commandments remain, and we are also
to keep the 10 Commandments and by those Commandments sin is outlined for us,
therefore we are not insufficient. The
people of Israel, when Moses came down from the mountain, and due to the
glory that shone from him because of his close association to God, the
Israelites could not look upon Moses, the glory that shone. If Moses and the law was considered glorious
and the Israelites could not look upon him and the law, how much more glorious
is the ministry of the Spirit: "For
even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory
that excels. For if what is passing
away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious" (2 Corinthians 3:
10 -- 11). The law given by God in
Israel, a law that would show to them what is sinful, and what is sin, and
considered glorious how much more glorious is a ministry of righteousness. Jesus Christ, while here upon this earth was
not considered glorious by many people and yet, Jesus Christ excels above the
10 Commandments for by the New Covenant established by Him a comment that
establishes righteousness, a covenant of righteousness that does not pass away,
while the old covenant passes away.
Jesus Christ who established and maintains the new covenant by means of
His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into heaven whereby He eternally
makes intercession for the children of God remains, then this is a glorious
everlasting glory that excels above all other glory. By all of this the righteousness of God by faith is revealed, and
this revelation establishes for us that the just shall live by faith, and
reveals to us God's grace and mercy through His Son Jesus Christ for we can now
obtain remission of our sins and have eternal life. This is the gospel! We are to take this to the world. The gospel exceeds in glory and eclipses the
glory of any legal dispensation. As
Christians we are to learn the value of faithful ministry of the gospel. The outstanding characteristic of a
Christian is when we are frank before God and if this is done then we are the
mirror manifesting God and His Son for other lives. We have something that the world and never had before; the Holy
Spirit given to every child of God and by this the children of God are filled
with the Spirit and are transformed.
You know when you have beheld the glory of God, this glory of our Lord
for you feel this in your inner spirit and due to this you are and can be the
mirror of our Lord's own character.
Beware of anything that would sully this mirror and often this
clouding of this mirror comes with the feeling that what is occurring is a good
thing, but this is not the best.
We as children of God, who have the excelling glory that excels all
other glory of the world should be driving us to be totally consecrated to keep
our lives open to God. Everything else,
work, clothes, food, everything on earth -- letting go, and hold onto that one
thing. When we are rushing about
towards other things then there is a tendency to obscure your concentration on
God. God has not put a veil so that you
cannot see His glory, His will, as Moses needed veiling, no, we behold Him and
we keep our lives absolutely spiritual all through every circumstance. We let other things come and go as they may
come even when other people criticize us, but we never allow anything
to obscure this glorious life that excels above all glory, a life that is with Jesus Christ and God. Keep your relationship and God fresh and alive by abiding in
Him. The discipline in your Christian
life is to learn how to keep beholding our Lord, His glory.
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
nor fruit
be on the vines;
though the labor of the olive may fail,
and the
fields yield no food;
though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
and there'd
be no herd in the stalls -- --
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in
the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk
3: 17 -- 18
Rejoice in the glory of God
Richard L. Crumb
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