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Jesus Face
Knowing Forgiveness
Saying, "Jesus is Lord" is a prerequisite to knowing God's forgiveness and acceptance. Jesus promises support to those who speak about their faith, "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God."1In the Early Church, confessing Christ was life threatening, but it did crystallize a person's relationship to the Son of God. It is also true today. John writes, "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God."2
Face of God
We often feel guilty because we are too embarrassed or fearful to share our faith. In avoiding the mental conflict, our joy and purpose drain away. We mistakenly imagine that we need to be eloquent and theologically correct, but God only wants us to tell simply what we have personally experienced. Despite our frailty, Paul encourages us that God "through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."3
Christ's Face
When God works through his people, their outward appearances are changed. Moses met God on Mount Sinai and his face shone strangely. The people were so astonished at his glowing appearance that "they were afraid to come near him." Like Moses, Jesus' face lit up at the Transfiguration. "There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light."5 He was ablaze with godliness.
Stephen before his martyrdom also radiated God's glory as his face glowed like the sun. Christians' countenances reflect God's glory too. Though we tend to dismiss this aspect of The Faith, we instinctively recognize other Christians by it. In the Early Church, the Christians' glowing faces were so pronounced that some people thought that they had been drinking excessively!
Christ's Heart
After Jesus' ascension, the disciples change from being dejected and down to an enthusiastic confident company. What was on their faces came from their hearts. "Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God."6
Unveiled Face
Many of today's congregations are too anxious to rush out of church and home for lunch. The early Christian's greatest joy was to hang around the Temple and praise God. Happy praise in God's presence was their bread and butter. It should be ours too.Paul writes, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory; which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."7 Let Jesus work inwardly and invisibly in your inner being. He will open your eyes, enlarge your mind, speak through your mouth, put a glow on your face and set your heart on fire with love for him.
Notes
1Luke 12.8. 21 John 4.15. 32 Corinthians 2.14. 4Exodus 34.29-30. 5Matthew 17.2. 6Luke 24.52,53. 72 Corinthians 3.18.
"His face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord."4
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