Be with Jesus #7 Transfigured. See his glory We are on a journey together. The goal of the first part of this journey is to just be with Jesus. To take intentional time in your life to be with Jesus. Today we want to talk about glory. Seeing the glory of Jesus. My premise today is that many of us are living from a glory deficit. What I mean when I say glory deficit is that we are no longer taken with Jesus’ majesty. We are no longer captivated by his greatness. We are no longer amazed at his boundless power. Paul spoke about the glory of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. Paul points out a couple of things… Take a look at the face of Jesus. The face of Jesus reveals God’s glory. God’s glory is God’s infinite greatness and worth, his radiant all-encompassing Majesty. This glory is a brightness and a blinding light what shines in the heart of the Christian. It glows inside of us. And then Paul says that when we see his glory we are changed people – changed for the better. And lastly, we are to reflect the glory of the Lord. All throughout the Bible we have examples of people who saw God’s glory and were radically changed. Moses. Elijah. King Solomon. Isaiah. Stephen. Paul. The disciples saw the glory of Jesus one day. Luke 9:28 About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. 31 They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 34 But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. 35 Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” 36 When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen. Heaven and earth meet at that mountain. Elijah shows up somehow. Moses comes from out of nowhere. Elijah shows up representing the great prophets that pointed to Jesus. And Moses was the great lawgiver. And then God’s voice thunders and elevates Jesus above the prophets and the law and tells these men, “listen to him.” On this mountaintop it’s as if Jesus opened up his flesh and showed them what was inside of him. He showed them his glory. Unapproachable light. Dazzling holiness. Many years later, Peter wrote about this experience. 2 Peter 1:16 For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes 17 when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” 18 We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 1 John 1:1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. John would also write this; John 1:14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. Have you glimpsed the glory of Jesus? Let’s see what GOD can do! Pastor Brian Harrell