Pastor Colin Smith continues his Christmas season devotional to help you reflect on Jesus’ glory by taking a broad look at all that God has promised and accomplished in Him. The readings follow the pattern of his sermon series, “The Plan: God’s Design For the Universe and Your Place In It.” You can read, hear or watch these sermons as they are posted at Unlocking the Bible.
When the self-confidence of godless men and the unrelenting antagonism of a secular society towards the Gospel erode our faith and drain our joy, we need a glimpse of what the disciples saw in the Transfiguration.
Jesus went up a mountain with three of His disciples: “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning” (Luke. 9:29). How bright is a flash of lightning?
Peter, James, and John saw the glory, brightness, and splendor of the Lord Jesus Christ that the angels see in heaven, and that one day you will see also.
And there was more: “Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus” (Luke 9:30-31). Moses and Elijah had lived and died hundreds of years before. Now they appeared as large as life, sharing the glory of Jesus!
Then the voice of the Almighty spoke from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to Him” (Luke 9:35). The world today rejects Jesus Christ. But God calls you to listen to Him. God has chosen Him, and He is able to bring dead men into glory!
The Holy Spirit sustains us by showing us Christ’s glory. He renews your spiritual life through Christ-exalting worship and preaching and communion and prayer and fellowship. Seeing and savoring Christ’s glory will strengthen you for the rigors of life in this Christ-rejecting world today.
The disciples did not stay on the mountain. The cloud vanished. Moses and Elijah disappeared from view. Jesus’ face became as they had known it before. The disciples had to live by faith, not by sight, and when they came down the mountain, they walked into a situation of great evil and profound need (Luke 9:39).
That’s our position today. We have seen “the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). We are called to ministry in the darkness of a Christ-rejecting world, and we are sustained in that ministry by the Christ whose glory we will one day share.
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
