Messengers that shine like the Son

This transcript has been automatically generated

So the reading is Exodus chapter 34, starting at verse 29, which is page 89.

So starting at verse 29. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he with the 2 tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain. Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.

Afterwards, all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses face was shining, and Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with him.

So the second reading is from 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 7, found in 1161.

So that’s 2 Corinthians chapter 3, starting from verse 7. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which is being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practise cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement from the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to get the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Thanks, Ruth and Tim. And we’re on page 20 of the handout. Just give us a wave if you haven’t got a handout and someone will find some handouts and bring them to you. Great, somehow we’ve all got one, which is brilliant.

Good. Page 20 of the handouts, and do keep 2 Corinthians open. We will be Thinking a bit about that Exodus reading, but we’ll most of the time be in 2 Corinthians.

And we started looking at 2 Corinthians last night, a precious book that I described as an often missed letter of the New Testament, because it’s too long to read in one sitting and it’s not got the same famous passages as Romans and 1 Corinthians, but nonetheless it’s a punchy book. A punchy book boldly challenging us in our willingness to listen to the Gospel’s demand on our lives. We saw last night that it was a particular issue for the Corinthian church. In a kind of EastEnders-style punch-up, Paul had visited Corinth and challenged them to repent of their sin, but it had gone badly. They’d rejected his preaching.

He’d ended up shrinking back to his base on the other side of the sea over in Ephesus. Defeated and spurned by the church in Corinth. And he’d followed it up with a letter that we don’t have anymore, a letter that was written between 1 and 2 Corinthians, an anguished letter urging for them to follow through on their repentance. But the combination of that painful visit and this, this quite harsh letter have given Paul a reputation for being unduly bold, a gutsy, messenger. Harsh, even.

Unnecessarily confrontational. One who’s, kind of, overreaching his authority. After all, Paul himself is not very impressive in ministry. Take his failed attempt to go to Corinth to get them to repent. He’d gone to try and make them change their ways and he’d had to run away again.

And then change his plans so that he wouldn’t have to go back to them too quickly. In all, all in all, his bold preaching Just seems like he’s overreaching himself. And that’s actually the accusation that people are making against him. A bunch of false teachers had snuck in, we talked about them last night, as super apostles, because that’s the name that they’d given to themselves. Selling themselves as this upgrade from Paul.

They’re exciting, they’re dynamic, they’re not as controversial as Paul, and so they’re much easier to listen to. And while we were talking about that last night, we said it would be easy to think that’s all quite distant. Because there are no people calling themselves super apostles. If anyone has called themselves a super apostle since last night, let me know. I’d like to know if there are actually super apostles wandering around.

But we don’t have the same kind of history with Paul. It would be easy to think that this letter, written thousands of miles and thousands of years ago, has little to do with us. But we said, actually, we’re surprisingly close to the discontentment of Corinth. And not because we’re about to abandon Paul, necessarily. And not because we necessarily feel exactly the same way as the Corinthians do.

But because we don’t like being challenged either. We’re okay with teaching that affirms our decisions, but we hate it when we feel like we might have to change something. We’re okay with teaching on forgiveness, but we don’t really like teaching on repentance. We’re okay with the teaching that Jesus is Saviour, but we don’t really like the sharp end of Jesus is Lord.

The moment we’re on the receiving end of such bold teaching, we start to feel uncomfortable. The bold demands of the Gospel, they’re unsettling, and they prompt us to question the person that we’re listening to. So, if the person who’s telling us these hard things is weak and unimpressive, Well, if it gets, if it gets hard, we’re just going to stop listening to them. And yet Paul has told us that his is the very kind of ministry we’re going to want to listen to. We can see it in verse 5 of that reading from 2 Corinthians.

In fact, it’s just before the reading. 2 Corinthians 3:5, Paul says, we’re not, not that we’re sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, But our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. Now, Paul doesn’t say, listen to me because I’m so great. He says, listen to me because I’ve got God’s backing. He’s the one who’s at work.

We’re not going to listen to bold, challenging ministry just because it’s got a great face. And we’re especially not going to listen to bold, challenging ministry when it’s got an ugly face. I’ve been working hard on this illustration of that for 33 years. You’re definitely not going to listen to bold, challenging ministry when it’s got someone as unimpressive as Tim Shepherd up the front. But there is a kind of ministry that God gets behind, and that’s a ministry worth listening to, isn’t it?

And that’s what Paul goes on to talk about in tonight’s passage. And to start, I’m going to set you guys off to work straight away. You can see on the The handout is a grey box, and we’re going to just compare and contrast the 2 ministries that he talks about. Don’t worry about how far you’ll get, we’ll talk about it afterwards. But let’s just spend 5 minutes in threes and fours where we’re sitting, compare and contrast these 2 ministries that Paul talks about.

Shall we come back together?

Great. I’m sure you got as far as seeing there are 2 ministries going on. If you haven’t got that far, don’t worry, I’ve now made it clear. There are 2 ministries going on in this passage. The ministry of death and the ministry of the Spirit.

And again, in case you didn’t spot it, that first ministry, the ministry of death, in verse 7, is all about the Old Covenant ministry of Moses. A covenant’s one of those words, it means agreement. An agreement that was made between God and His people, Israel, in the Old Testament. In fact, it comes up in Exodus from the passage we were just reading, taken from a moment when the leader of God’s people, Moses, had gone up to the top of Mount Sinai, a mountain in the desert, in order to receive this agreement, these instructions from God on how their relationship was going to work, based around a series of laws, and epitomised in the Ten Commandments, which we’ll have heard of, I’m sure. And that’s the ministry of death.

It’s implied in verse 6. Paul contrasts the letter and the Spirit, just like he does in Romans 2 and Romans 7. But it’s even more explicit in verse 7. The ministry of death carved in letters on stone, which is a clear reference to the Ten Commandments that Paul was— that Moses was holding in Exodus 34. And if we’re not already there, the mention of the Israelites and Moses later on in the chapter seals the deal.

So, he’s talking about the Old Covenant ministry of Moses, and that is a stroke of genius for Paul, because the false teachers, these super apostles, are making a huge deal out of their Jewish heritage. In chapter 11, they’re clearly boasting about being Israelites, Hebrews, offspring of Abraham, and making a big deal of that Jewish connection, as though it sets them apart as better ministers, a people all the more worth listening to. And I guess most of us don’t really feel the pull of that. But it should be a powerful argument for us, because for centuries before Jesus came, the nation of Israel was where God was at work. More than that, the ministry of Moses, their leader right at the start, was the most impressive ministry this world had ever seen.

Later on, have a look at Exodus 19. Jot that down and have a look at it later, and you’ll see the kind of dramatic scene that Hollywood directors can only dream of producing. And black clouds enveloping this kind of volcanic mountainside as Moses ascends to its glorious summits. Moses, one of the greatest leaders in the Old Testament, was given direct revelation from God, handed these stone tablets inscribed by his very finger, the finger of God. Indeed, verse 7 says the ministry came with such glory that the Israelites couldn’t gaze at Moses’s face because of its glory.

And now, glory is one of those words that crops up a lot in the Bible, and I think we basically just use it and aren’t quite sure exactly what it means. If someone asks you, what does glory mean? You’re like, well, it’s glory, isn’t it? It’s glory. And you keep saying glory a few times till they move away.

Glory, the glory of God, is His brilliance, His awesomeness, His magnificence and greatness. Especially his greatness on display. The glory of God is the splendour and beauty of God. And that first ministry of the Old Covenant under Moses came with glory. So, it showed off how brilliant he is.

It showed off how perfect he is, how powerful he is. So, if you read the Ten Commandments, you see how concerned God is for a morally ordered universe. And as you read the rest of the Old Testament law, you’ll see how, how other God is, how holy, how separate from the world He is. If you read His acts in history through the rest of the Bible, you’ll see how mighty He is to achieve whatever He plans, however He wants.

And on that mountain, a channel was opened between heaven and earth, a crack in the eternal divide between God’s courtroom and the squalor of earth, where a human being, Moses, stood as a friend of God, communicating with God as no one had done since the Garden of Eden. We read in Exodus 34 that Moses’ face shone. Imagine one of those, kind of, glow-in-the-dark toys that you hold up to the light and it, kind of, charges up so that when you take it away from the light it’s still shining. That doesn’t happen unless it’s a glow-in-the-dark toy, does it? Our faces don’t work like that.

And yet it was so glorious, Moses’ face was just shining and he had to cover it up. What a ministry!

And yet look how it’s described in verse 7, the ministry of death. Or verse 9, the ministry of condemnation. The law was not a rule book that we can follow. It doesn’t declare to us an achievable standard for us. It declares a good standard, a right standard, and yet a standard that we can’t reach.

For anyone who comes to the law hoping for guidance on what we can do to be right with God, it gets a resounding declaration, you can’t. You’re not good enough. Guilty. Condemned.

It would be an oversimplification to say that was all that the law did, and yet Paul’s summary here leaves us in no doubt that it does do that. Verse 6, the letter kills. Here, the glorious ministry of Moses, showing off how brilliant God is, so much that it makes the face of a man shine, and yet it’s a ministry that brings death.

And more than that, it’s a ministry that was being brought to an end. I wonder if you guys spotted that. Verse 7 again, if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? Or verse 11, for if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. It was coming to an end, says Paul.

And we all know how frustrating endings are, don’t we? We’ve probably all experienced that quite recently with Christmas holidays coming to an end. It doesn’t matter how great or enjoyable something is, if it comes to an end, then it puts a bit of a dampener on it, doesn’t it? Imagine all of the best bits of Christmas, the bits you enjoyed the most, And then imagine that they went on forever without spoiling. Wouldn’t that be great?

Now, the fact that they are brought to an end is a dampener on our enjoyment of the glory of Christmas.

Moses’ ministry, even at its best, was a ministry of death and it came to an end. There’s no doubt that this was glorious. I’m guessing that we need to hear that as 21st century Christians looking back. And Moses’ ministry may not appeal to us that quickly, but Paul acknowledges it was glorious and we should recognise that. But we need to see that it’s a ministry that condemned, a ministry of death, and a ministry that was being brought to an end.

Which only goes to highlight just how much more glorious is the ministry of the Spirit. And we’re at the top of page 21. For those following on the handouts. Let me read from verse 9 again.

For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

We’re still talking about God breaking into history, showing how brilliant He is. It’s still God revealing Himself, as He did on that mountain. But this time it’s very different. And there’s plenty of differences that Paul could have focused on. That this is less dramatic.

There are no mountains. There’s no loud audible voices from the sky. No thick clouds. No visibly shining faces. Just Paul, with a Bible.

And you’d think this ministry doesn’t compare favourably with the other, but in fact this one is much more glorious. For a start, this is a ministry of righteousness. Contrary to the law, which brought condemnation, this is a ministry that puts us in the right with God. As we turn to trust in Jesus, we find our sins forgiven. A relationship with the eternal God of the universe is made possible, accessible.

We’re declared to be right with God. The eternal Creator opens up the gates of his heaven and welcomes us in. It’s the very ministry that every one of us needs, and especially those of us who are conscious of the last 3 or 4 weeks being weeks of walking away from Jesus. That may be in thoughts, or in word, or in deed. Moses was a ministry of condemnation.

It exposed our sin. It showed off how wretched we are. But we have a ministry of righteousness. We have the ministry of the Spirit, a ministry of life, a ministry that opens the arms of love and welcomes us. Whatever our past, even the past few days, any one of us who trusts in Jesus, it is a life-giving ministry.

Contrary to the letter that kills, verse 6 says, the Spirit gives life.

It’s easy, isn’t it, to think of the Gospel’s high demands as life-denying, limiting, stifling. Without the eyes of faith, we can buy into the narrative of our culture, which says Christianity has a suffocating influence. But see how God describes it here. A ministry that puts us into relationship with Him, that lifts from us the verdict of condemnation and opens to us the gates of heaven. It is the only context in which we will flourish.

And it’s permanent. Moses’ ministry was brought to an end, but this beautiful offer of life, of relationship with God through the Lord Jesus, is eternal. There’s no best before date or a use-by date. No moment when the curtain falls and we’re back to square one. This is a relationship which we will get to enjoy forever.

What a ministry!

I enjoyed the rest that I was able to get over the Christmas holidays. But New Year’s Day came and then it was back to work as usual. But my dad is looking forward to the 13th of March this year because it’s the day that he turns 65 and he gets to retire. And I’m sure it won’t be one long holiday, but as I look at it, it basically is just one long holiday. No more need to go out to work, rest that keeps going beyond a fortnight, beyond the summer, beyond next year.

It just keeps going. But even retirement is interrupted eventually by death. The ministry of the Spirit is endless. The relationship with God that we have opened to us is It’s got no end date. It just goes on and on forever.

Verse 11, if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Life, righteousness, permanence. Do we believe that?

Do we believe that about this ministry, about ministry that opens up the Bible? Do we see God’s Word to us as invigorating nectar or as poison? We’re often so much more excited by the kind of outwardly showy ministry, a ministry that’s obvious, more obviously glorious. Maybe smoke machines, flashing lights, worship experiences. Or perhaps for us it’s less of that stuff, less of the obvious razzmatazz, but still perhaps about the crowds.

About lots of young people? An impressive speaker? Someone that you’d be happy bringing your friends to come and hear? Someone with charisma, passion, an easy listening voice? We’re often drawn by ministry that is visibly impressive.

A ministry where you can see how glorious it is. The Old Covenant ministry seemed to tick that box. Moses’ face was shining. The only shine you’re getting is the light reflecting off my forehead. But Paul actually says that this is the ministry where the glory is on show.

Let me read verse 12 again. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold. Not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ, is it taken away?

Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

We looked already, didn’t we, at Exodus 34, with Moses’ face shining when he came off the mountain. And we’re told that he covered his face in between visits to speak with God. But we’re not told why in Exodus. Here’s our answer in chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians. Chapter 3, verse 13, so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.

Why cover his face? Why did Moses have to cover it? Well, because if the Israelites were allowed to see the glory of God, they would have seen ever more clearly the contrast between the glory of the perfect, holy God and their devastating failure to live up to his standards. And Moses was a shining example of the glory they lacked. A glimmering neon sign that declared their own condemnation.

And to look at Moses’ shining face would be like looking at the angel of death. His face was covered so that they wouldn’t see the outcome of the Old Covenant. A ministry made glorious even while it condemns them. And so a veil was put over Moses’ face. And figuratively speaking, a veil still lies over the hearts of those who are obsessing about the Old Covenant.

Verse 14, to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

Do you want to see the glory of God? You’ll see it as you turn to Christ. Only through Christ is the veil taken away. You see the glory of God. In the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.

It’s in Jesus, God Himself come to earth, that we see God’s glory in its incredible beauty. Now, those of us who’ve been studying Mark this year have had that great privilege, as we’ve opened it up week by week. But Paul goes further. Now, the glory is on show in the Covenant itself, as we look at Christ. But, like Moses’s face, God’s glory starts reflecting off those who’ve been exposed close to it.

Verse 18, we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another.

No one has fallen off their chair in astonishment, so I’m assuming we didn’t quite follow how amazing that verse is. Let me read it again. Don’t feel the need to fall off your chair just to make me happy. We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. As Christians look at Jesus, we see the glory of God, but more than that, we start to reflect it.

We’re increasingly transformed to be like Jesus, to reflect his glory. Not in a bright shining face, not this time. Rather than the shimmering skin of Moses, God is working in each of us, as we look at Jesus, to make us exhibit those remarkable characteristics that make us love Him so. Where we’ve been morally corrupt since the fall, since Adam and Eve sinned, where the Old Covenant couldn’t actually fix that, in the Gospel we are starting to look more like Jesus in His glorious, beautiful character. Not that we’re suddenly made sinlessly perfect.

Not that we’ll get there before the new creation, when Jesus comes back. But we, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, a bit by bit, from one degree of glory to another.

You know, you start to look more and more like people the more you spend time with them. You start to work the way they do, act the way they do. When I joined the student team, Charlie, the boss at the time, would pray in such a way where he’d start sentences with, pray this. Do you know how kind of we’d say, we pray that you would give us a good time at task. Charlie would say, pray that you’d give us a good time at task, like he’s asking God to do it.

Pray that you would give us a good time. Used to really wind me up. Problem I’ve found is that I do that now. I’ve spent too much time with Charlie. You will start doing it as you spend too much time with me.

You know, the more time you spend with someone, the more you start to look a bit like them. In an even more profound way, as we look at Jesus, we are being transformed more and more into His likeness.

Moses covered his face so that you couldn’t see God’s glory. But God’s— God has unveiled his glory in Christ and is now working in the gospel to make us radiate his glory. Isn’t that a ministry that you want in on? Now, these super apostles raving about their Jewish heritage, and maybe even talking about how glorious the Old Covenant is, they’ve totally missed the point. They’re pursuing something which is outwardly glorious, and yet in it the true glory of God is veiled.

Would we prefer something more tangible, more visibly glorious? Have we realised that to do so may actually obscure the glory of God? All of those options are woefully inferior to Paul’s New Covenant ministry of life. Righteousness and permanence, where the glory is on show. And so, of course, Paul says in verse 12, we are very bold.

Since we have such a hope, we’re very bold. Why would he hold back on the massive demands of the Gospel when this is the ministry that they are born out of? Why would he undersell the Gospel? Allowing it to only have a mild impact on our lives, when we’re talking about the glory of God. And when we’re talking about the glory of God radiating out of our own lives.

And so Paul says, 4:1, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. Now, it’d be worth taking a moment to think about that before we move on. So why not chat to your neighbour about what he’s said so far and why that drives him to that kind of conclusion. There’s a couple of questions to feed that discussion on the handout, and I’ll draw us together in 5 minutes or so.

Okay, let’s come back together.

Where have we got to? Paul, talking about his ministry, in the face of rejection and opposition, describes his God-backed ministry as even more glorious than the most glorious ministry he could compare it to. Where Moses had the ministry of death and condemnation, he has the ministry of life and righteousness and permanence, where the glory is on show.

But if it’s really on show, if it’s really so much more glorious than this Old Covenant ministry that the super apostles were raving about, why does Paul’s ministry seem to go so wrong? I mean, why does he visit Corinth and have to run away? Why do so many people seem to ignore his gospel. If Paul is showing people the glory of God, why does it seem to fail so often? You’ve rightly spotted that we’re on page 22 of the handouts.

If you’ve not already turned there, do that now, just so we’ve not got endless rustling.

Why does glorious ministry fail? It would easily prompt us to lose heart, wouldn’t it? I wonder if you came up with that answer when you were thinking about reasons you might lose heart. But as Paul shows us in chapter 4, he has no reason to lose heart. It’s been a while since we read those verses, so let me read them again for us.

Chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practise cunning or to tamper with God’s word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it’s veiled to those who are perishing.

In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Paul explains his ministry, and it’s exceptionally simple. Verse 2: We’ve renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.

We refuse to practise cunning or to tamper with God’s words, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves. Verse 5, what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. Now, Paul openly states the truth, plain and simple. And no faffing around, no tampering with it, no cunning deception to try and lure people in. The simple yet bold message, Jesus is Lord.

That’s the glorious ministry that we’ve been speaking about. Paul, Bible in hand, Christ in focus, proclaiming that Jesus is Lord. People are accusing Paul of shady dealing. Later on in the book, he’s said to be crafty, to be using deceit. But Paul is adamant.

We’ve renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practise cunning or to tamper with God’s Word. None of that. No deceit. The simple, open statement of the truth.

And, as we said, that often falls on deaf ears. Now, the simple proclamation of the Gospel is just really unimpressive, isn’t it? And no one’s going to respond to that kind of message. We need showmanship. We need razzmatazz.

We need something more impressive. Maybe we need apologetics. Maybe we need pre-evangelism. Years of, kind of, developing relationship before we can go as bold as Jesus is Lord. And we need to break down all of their barriers.

We need to prepare them for the Gospel. Paul’s ministry seemed frequently to fall on deaf ears. How can he say that he’s got such a glorious ministry when so many people seem to ignore it? Maybe it’s because he’s so tactless, jumping in with all of that Gospel stuff before he’s done all the prior work. Maybe it’s because he’s oversold the Gospel and it’s not actually that glorious after all.

No, says Paul. It may seem like it’s failing, but it’s only apparent failure, because there’s someone else at work. He calls him the god of this world, and he’s talking about the devil. And he says that he’s active. Verse 3, even if our gospel is veiled, it’s veiled to those who are perishing.

In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, To keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. The devil is active in our world. He is a real being, a real opponent to God. Not a comparable opponent. He has been defeated.

It’s while he’s dying that he’s lashing out. It’s, it’s not going to make any advance against Jesus. But he is active. And he’s eager to take down as many as he can. And he exercises a rule in this world that enables him to blind the minds of unbelievers, to leave them veiled.

When someone fails to understand the Gospel, their fundamental problem is a spiritual one. They have been blinded by the devil. Verse 4, in their case, blinded. When faithful, glory-on-show ministry fails, the fundamental reason is not a deficiency in the Gospel, but the behaviour of the god of this world. Paul is clear, the open statement of the truth is still the right way to go.

I’m not saying that friendships are bad to form. I’m glad to have the chance to meet up with friends and to get to know them, as well as taking opportunities to speak about Jesus. It has taken years with my book group to get to the stage where we can have these kind of conversations. And I’m not saying that apologetics are a wicked thing. They do show the integrity of the Gospel.

Apologetics frequently shows that the Gospel stands up to scrutiny, that we’ve got nothing to be afraid of with the truth. But it’s possible, isn’t it, to think that the hurdle which stands between my friends and their coming to faith is an intellectual one. Or a social one. That their salvation depends on my powers of persuasion or my ability to show the integrity of the Gospel. It isn’t.

Their hurdle is blindness. The devil is at work to blind people. The Gospel is the glory of God on show, but the devil is blinding people to it. And so, it’s not a weakness in Paul’s ministry that means it seems to fail. The ministry that puts the glory of God on show is a ministry that will sometimes fall on deaf ears because the devil is active.

But if you’re tempted to think for a second that that means it’s a dwindling glory, then think again. If you think Paul has so far been overselling his ministry, making it out to be more glorious than it really is, then listen up. If the person next to you is falling asleep, give them a jab in the rib cage because they’re going to want to hear this. So far, if anything, Paul has been underselling his gospel. Now, sure, there are some to whom the gospel is veiled.

But if there are any who are able to see the glory of God on show, it must have broken through the devil’s veil. If there are any to whom the glorious light of the gospel breaks through, then a miracle must have occurred. Now, Paul has said that his ministry is glorious. He said that it’s the true glory of God on show. But, in fact, as Paul proclaims Jesus is Lord, God is doing a miracle.

Verse 6 again: For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It’s a slightly complicated verse, but just 2 minutes to unpack it. Will reward us with great treasure. A God who said, let light shine out of darkness. When did God do that?

Well, that’s Genesis 1, isn’t it? Darkness was over the face of the deep and God said, let there be light, and there was light. Now, that same God is active today, but what is he doing now? God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give us new light. So, God is doing the same kind of work.

He’s still saying, let there be light, but this time in hearts. So, which light is He giving? The light of the knowledge of the glory of God. And not physical light this time, not photons emanating from the star at the centre of our solar system. At this time, it’s the illuminating light of knowledge.

Knowledge of His glory. God has shone into our hearts so that we would be able to know His glory, to see His glory on show, to see how brilliant He is. But it’s not a star that’s giving us that light. Where are we seeing it this time? In the face of Jesus Christ.

God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God has taken that same power which made the sun and the stars and exercised it in Paul. He’s pierced through Paul’s blindness and enabled him to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Now, Paul could have just talked about the understanding that he was given, but he phrases it in terms of Genesis 1 to make a deeper point. God is starting his new creation work.

We’ll see it later on in chapter 5, that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. But here we get this glimpse of the new Genesis 1, a new creation miracle. God saying, let there be light, all over again. And just as God has started that work in Paul, so Paul is set ablaze and starts passing it on. And do you remember what happens when we’re exposed to the glory of God in 3:18?

We are transformed and we start shining too. Paul has been given that light, like a fiery torch, set ablaze himself to become a beacon of the Gospel. And as he proclaims, Jesus Christ is Lord, he’s passing on that Gospel fire, so that others go on to be set alight too, erupting into a fiery Gospel blaze themselves. Now, just as he said back in chapter 3, we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image. It starts with Paul, but it overflows to us, piercing the veil and exposing our eyes to the brilliant glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In Genesis 1, the writer talks about God creating the sun on the 4th day. That is, the star that we call the sun. But here, as Paul describes the beginning of God’s new creation, we get the creation of many suns, and many glowing orbs of Gospel proclamation, each reflecting the glory of the Son, the eternal Son of God. It isn’t overselling it to say that the proclamation of the Gospel is the beginning of the second Genesis 1. This solar system has a glorious star at its centre, but God’s new creation has the uncreated Son at its centre.

The greatest revelation of God’s glory, the, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. God the Son himself. And from that Son, many other sons are being made. Men and women transformed into his likeness. And blazing away across the globe with the fiery glory of his gospel.

We’re not seeking to spread this news through brutality or bloodshed or bombs. This gospel spreads as more and more people are transformed into his likeness and proclaim the glorious news that Jesus is Lord. And even before God wraps up this creation and establishes His new physical creation. His work has begun in us as He makes us into His children. Sons and daughters spread across the world as mirrors of His glory.

They’re spiritual realities that are hidden, but they are no less cosmic.

And so we need to say this to one another, don’t we? Audrey was talking about our need to speak and sing the truth to each other. These are truths we need to say to each other. And we need to show one another the cosmic scale of God’s work in this ministry if we’re going to see how exciting it is. And we’re going to need to have 2 Corinthians open regularly if we’re to understand what’s going on every time someone becomes a believer.

And we’ll need to be familiar with these truths if we’re going to stick with the Gospel when we feel the sharp edge of Jesus is Lord. Because there will be countless other offers, other gospels that are less bold and more outwardly impressive. There’ll be countless individuals who criticise biblical ministry for being life-denying, limiting, stifling. There’ll be individuals who seem to respond to the gospel with apathy, who make us wonder if it’s really that glorious.

But here, We have the ministry of the Spirit, the ministry of life, God’s glory on show.

And God is penetrating our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Shall I lead us in prayer?

Almighty God, we praise You for exposing us to a ministry as glorious as this. And we plead with You that, in Your mercy, You might help us to see just how glorious it is. Please, we pray, would You help us to see with the eyes of our hearts. That we might not just know this, but deeply believe it. And we pray it in Jesus’ name.

Amen.