The Ultimate Call of the Believer – Part 2
Transfigured glory
2 Corinthians 3:6-14, "[It is He] who has qualified us [making us to be fit and worthy and sufficient] as ministers and dispensers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not [ministers] of the letter (of legally written code) but of the Spirit; for the code [of the Law] kills, but the [Holy] Spirit makes alive.
Now if the dispensation of death engraved in letters on stone [the ministration of the Law], was inaugurated with such glory and splendor that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses because of its brilliance, [a glory] that was to fade and pass away,
Why should not the dispensation of the Spirit [this spiritual ministry whose task it is to cause men to obtain and be governed by the Holy Spirit] be attended with much greater and more splendid glory?
For if the service that condemns [the ministration of doom] had glory, how infinitely more abounding in splendor and glory must be the service that makes righteous [the ministry that produces and fosters righteous living and right standing with God]!
Indeed, in view of this fact, what once had splendor [the glory of the Law in the face of Moses] has come to have no splendor at all, because of the overwhelming glory that exceeds and excels it [the glory of the Gospel in the face of Jesus Christ].
For if that which was but passing and fading away came with splendor, how much more must that which remains and is permanent abide in glory and splendor!
Since we have such [glorious] hope (such joyful and confident expectation), we speak very freely and openly and fearlessly.
Nor [do we act] like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze upon the finish of the vanishing [splendor which had been upon it].
In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused [they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding]; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies [on the hearts], not being lifted [to reveal] that in Christ it is made void and done away."
2 Corinthians 3:16-18, "But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).
And all of us, as with unveiled face [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit."
In the book, "The Midrash", it speaks of the event at the foot of the mountain when the Law was given to Israel. It says, "In the occasion of the giving of the Torah to the children of Israel. They not only heard Hashem, the Lord’s voice, but also actually saw the sound waves as they emerged from Hashem, the Lord’s mouth. They visualized them as a fiery substance. Each commandment that left Hashem’s mouth traveled around the entire camp and then to each Jewish person individually asking him, "Do you accept upon yourself this commandment with all of the requirements of My Law pertaining to it? Every Hebrew answered "yes" after each commandment. Finally, the fiery substance they saw engraved itself on the tablets of their heart. They saw what they heard and they heard what they saw. At Sinai, Israel’s senses were so heightened that they became aware of the one overwhelming truth, the word of the living God. The word of God that their ears heard was more tangible, more real than the sight of their own eyes. Transitory, essentially meaningless stimuli lost all significance to them. They saw the truth and eternity of the word of God. Furthermore, that which they saw with their eyes was relatively vague and unimpressive. Their eyes suspect for they could easily be deceived, just as Adams eyes were."
He goes on further to say that as the word proceeded from God it virtually lifted them up, all Israelites, millions, standing at the foot of that mountain. It literally lifted them up and placed them back into the Adamic purity and they saw eternity through God’s eyes. They stood in the awesome revelation of the kingdom of God experientially.
When I was reading this the first time the Lord lifted me up and let me experience what Israel experienced at the foot of that mountain. I was taken up through a cloud and as I passed through this cloud, I was taken into a plane where I had become one, not only with God, but one with all of the kingdom of God. It was as if all of the kingdom of God saturated every part of me. Every veil was off my eyes and I could see eternity through the eyes of God. He then said to me, "This is where Enoch walked with me". Enoch was so totally above the curse that he walked in the present reality of the Kingdom of God every moment of his life because everything that pertained to the curse was expunged from his soul. Christ, Who is the Kingdom, inhabited his soul. Every believer is called to walk in this place.
I can also remember an experience I had while we were in England. Ricci and the rest of the group had gone out to look at some of the sites in England before we had to leave the city, but I stayed in the hotel and prayed. As I was praying, I found myself face to face with Moses. The beams of glory were virtually like flashes of lightening from his face. These beams were so great that although his face was clothed with these beams, these beams also clothed him down past the knees. The flashes of glory reminded me of when we were growing up and we used to light sparklers on the 4th of July. The way in which the sparklers would flash from the stick is the way in which these beams of glory would flash from Moses’ face in every direction. The light that was flashing was with such brilliance that I could not stand to gaze at him and I finally had to close my eyes because it was so bright. It was more intense than trying to look at the sun.
The Lord spoke to me and He said, "There will be a company who will walk in the visible manifestation of what you just saw. There will be another company who also will be clothed with equal glory but it will not be visibly manifested, just like it was not visibly manifested in the life of My Son". Some will walk in the transfiguration glory that Jesus manifested on top of the mountain of transfiguration and the glory in which Moses walked. There will also be those who will walk in the inner transfiguration glory but the glory will not emanate from them in a manifested way.
What God is about to do is going to be an amazing thing. The thing that is the most amazing is that any one who will, can walk there! As I mentioned earlier, God has waited through all eternity for this moment to give every one reading this article the capacity to walk in the fullness of the stature of Christ so that He can bring forth an entire company of such people. In future articles I will share with you some practical steps that will help you along your journey into adult sonship.
Nita (LaFond) Johnson