While Saul was on his way to Damascus, the majesty of the glory of the Lord arrested and subdued him. Saul's life-changing experience blinded him, and, while in prayer for the following three days, he saw no one save Him whom he had persecuted, the One who was now his Lord and Saviour. In Acts 9.12 we read that the Lord gave Saul a vision of Ananias coming in and laying his hand upon him to restore his sight. A daily spiritual vision of the Lord in glory will also subdue us, and through fervent prayer keep us faithful in the path of discipleship.
Saul, now the Apostle Paul, was wholly dedicated to the service of Christ. Writing to the Philippian Christians he said, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain" (Phil 1.21). His whole body, soul, and spirit were totally committed to Christ that he might be fully engaged with the mind and will of God through Christ. Paul was thus both morally and spiritually suited to be caught away into the third heaven where fundamental church truths, mysteries, and prophecies were revealed to him, some of which he was not permitted to disclose. It seems clear that during Paul's time in Paradise he experienced a unique revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, for he later wrote¹ about the Lord being the brightness of God's glory, the express image of His (God's) person; surely that is how we too should now see Him by faith.
The Apostle John, in his first epistle, records: "Beloved, now are we the sons (children, JND) of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he [the Lord Jesus] shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn 3.2). However, the glory the Father gave to the Son has already been bestowed upon us (Jn 17.22); for as children of God the Father, and heirs of salvation, God has bestowed upon us all the glory, dignity and honour He has bestowed upon His Son; all that we might appear before Him in love (Eph 1.3-6).
Notwithstanding the certainty of the glorious prospect before us, we have a responsibility as the children of God, to mirror the glory of Christ in our lives against the day when He will present us before God His Father, "holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight" (Col 1.22). Stephen, a man worthy of the meaning of his name (crown), had a wonderful vision of Christ standing at the right hand of God. As his bodily frame was battered with stones, so the glory of Christ shone through the human veil. Even when he stood before the council to answer to false accusations against him, we read that "all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel" (Acts 6.15). Stephen reflected the glory of the One with whom he had kept close company; he truly was transformed according to the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord, the Spirit.
When our blessed Saviour came into manhood, a floodlight of moral glory was revealed to the world, albeit few discerned such glory, for nothing like it had been seen on earth since before the fall. The Apostle John records: "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth (Jn 1.14, JND). Whilst it is by faith alone that we now get a view of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4.6); we also know that in the coming millennial age the surpassing excellency of the glory of Christ is going to fill all things (Eph 1.9-10). Accordingly, we should here and now reflect that same divine moral glory which radiated from that "Blessed One" when He was here on earth. We increase in moral glory by cultivating every divine feature we apprehend of the Person of Christ. The precious experience of celebrating the supper should also have a spiritual and moral impact upon our souls, to the extent that it influences the conduct and character of our walk throughout the following week.
If we are to reflect the moral glory of Christ in testimony, we must daily engage our hearts with the One who subsists in glory. The more we keep company with our Lord, the more like Him we shall become (Acts 4.13). For the Christian believer there is no veil as there was on the face of Moses, so it is by faith alone that we get an uninterrupted view into the realm of heaven to see the Person who would engage our hearts in blessed contemplation of His glory.
We note in 2 Corinthians 4.2-7 that as a result of the Apostle Paul spending time in the sanctuary he was privileged to reveal the new covenant glory of the gospel of Christ. Paul confirms that the ministry which is from the glory of heaven will both attract and fit us to reflect the glory of Christ. However, Paul is careful to point out that nothing must extol the vessel; he wrote: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Cor 4.7). The moment the old self intrudes upon our service, the glory of Christ will be veiled.
We have a valuable lesson in the experience of Gideon, as recorded in Judges 7. Although Gideon's 300 men had empty pitchers (nothing of self present), the pitchers had to be broken to allow the light to shine out. In reading verses 8-12 of 2 Corinthians 4, we see how the body (vessel) of the Apostle Paul was severely broken, as was Stephen's, to allow the light of the glory of Christ to shine out. From the time of his conversion, Paul never allowed the natural man to have its own will, he reckoned it "dead to sin" (Rom 6.1-11), to ensure that nothing but Christ would be seen in his life.
So we return to our opening title: "A spiritual vision of the glory of Christ". Let us daily spend time in the sanctuary so that in our walk and ways we become more like our precious Saviour, reflecting the excellence of His moral glory by the power of His Spirit within us. Meanwhile, may a verse by C A Bernstein (1672-1699) be our daily prayer:
O fix our earnest gaze
So wholly, Lord, on Thee,
That with Thy beauty occupied
We may transformèd be.
May our gracious God help us from day to day to keep our eye focused upon the unveiled face of His beloved Son, and so be transformed, according to the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord, the Spirit; and may we continue to sing from our redeemed hearts:
Changed from glory into glory,
'Till in heaven we take our place,
Then to worship and adore Thee,
Lost in wonder, love and praise.
C Wesley (Arr.)
Concluded.
¹ This assumes that Paul was the writer of the Hebrew Epistle.
