The Veil

“but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” – 2 Corinthians 3:16

[read 2 Cor 3: 7-18]

We’re going to hop out of John this week, but still maintain our focus on Christ. We’ve been reading this passage in 2 Corinthians for a few weeks in our family, thinking, dwelling and mulling over the words. We have soaked them up, and they have been with us throughout each day.

If you get the chance, read or skim all the chapters in Exodus. Then contrast those with the words in Corinthians. (Read them in the Message, or different versions). What do we see?

Firstly, we see the drudgery of serving God under the law; the rules to be observed, the penalties that we incur, the difficulty of maintaining this perfect record. uP and down the mountain Moses trudges, and for the rest, we are only able to observe, there is no connection.

Then we see the danger that exists with a God who is furious at sin. We find it difficult in our everyday world to see our own sin, and the Bible is useful in confronting us with our condition; such is the nature of God, that he wants to destroy all sin before him. It is almost as if he has to exert self-control not to reach across and put sinful man out of his sight. See how man lives in terror before God, a consuming fire. Our attempts to appease him are doomed to failure.

Throughout Scripture, God warns that nobody may see his face and live. Such is the glory of God, the contrast between us and him, that God’s glory is reflected back to Moses after he has been in the presence of God; Moses must wear a veil over his face, because those near him cannot stand to be in his presence. The notion of a veil is carried through into the temple as well, it is the veil across the ‘Holy of Holies’ that separates man from God.

Is there nothing then that can be done to bring this relationship back together?

2 Corinthians is Paul’s masterpiece on the centrality of Christ to all things, he is the very centre of all that God has in plan for this world and our future. The words in this passage highlight that so beautifully. In here, we see the contrast of the Old Testament, the separation that exists, against the new covenant under Christ.

Instead of the law, we have total freedom in Christ – there is absolutely no condemnation for those who are in Christ. For those who are in Christ, the veil is removed, and we can both see and reflect the Glory of God to those around us. The separateness from God is removed, we can for the first time see him as he really is. We are told that there are angels who cannot see the face of God, even though they are in his presence constantly, yet because of Christ, we can see him in all his glory.

Further, God begins an incredible work of transformation; he begins to turn us into the likeness of Christ. What does that mean exactly? Earlier in 1 Corinthians, we are told Jesus is the exact likeness of God, something that Adam even in his unfallen state, wasn’t like. So we are being remade into something even better than before, beings who are morally pure, free of sin and fit to be in the presence of God.

Friends, if you haven’t grasped this yet, let me encourage you to take these words to heart. Jesus is God’s answer to the separation that exists. We must take hold of Jesus, each day, as much of him as we can. In Christ, we have the very fullness of God himself, and we can join with Christ each day, each of us. Let us share that with those around us, the wonder, the beauty that is Jesus.

There is no other plan, outside of Jesus, to bring us back to God.