"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
- 2 Corinthians 3:18
One of the great works in redemption is the present day ministry of the Holy Spirit. Christ came and set in place the legal aspect of salvation, which we call the finished work of Calvary. The Holy Spirit has come to set in place the vital aspect of our salvation, which we might call the finishing work of Calvary. In other words, he is enabling us to become what we have already become. He is working in us to bring into completion what Christ already completed.
From a legal standpoint, we are already made whole. We are a glorious church with spot or wrinkle. How else could we even begin to think of ourselves as being in Christ or in union with him, if we were to be otherwise? Yet, being in him does not mean we have fully arrived. Paul himself even said, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12).
There is a work of glory that has already begun in us. Second Corinthians chapter three, tells us that whatever glory was manifested in the Old Covenant pales in comparison to the glory of the New Covenant: "For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious" (2 Cor. 3:11-12).
The truth is we are being changed from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). The more we come to know and experience the truth of the gospel the more we are going to step into the revelation of our redemption.
There is a glory in righteousness that belongs to every one of us. It is the product of God's life. The Bible says, "...we are called to glory and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3). When we come to understand the righteousness of God in Christ, then the revelation to our calling will start to bring us into a place where the honorable and sacred acts of the Holy Spirit start to build into us a life of glory. It is in this glory where we discover a life of significance.
Man once stood as the tallest of all God's creation. Sin reduced him to a life of depravity. It is because of the fallen nature that man struggles with a diminished mindset. He grapples with his own inabilities, inadequacies, and insignificance. It is only in righteousness that we are put back into a place of aptness where we once again carry a life that has meaning and purpose.
The finished work of Christ is actually the exaltation of the divine nature in man. This exalted nature carries the glory of God. We were not created just for the purpose of living as some ordinary earthly creature. We were created to live above the carnal demands of our flesh and to function with the influence of heaven. The new birth is intended to fit us for the glory world. But it is not just about having the promise of a life in heaven. It carries within it a life where heaven can now live in us and work through us.
The call to glory is a path that will lead us to reach the very summit of life until that life begins to live itself in us and through us. Its divine purpose is to bring us into the fullness of God. Think of it as an evasion of heaven into your very nature. The Bible says, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:17-19). What causes so many to let this truth escape their thinking is their own failure to allow the Holy Spirit to bring them into this level of revelation!
Sometimes truth can sail right over our heads. It's like a professor of relativity or aerodynamics trying to explain to a child the depth of what he knows. They would hear words that have no meaning to them. Many times we hear such wonderful truths as this but because we have not growth into the revelation of such truths, all we hear are words with no meaning. We haven't arrived at a place in our Christian growth where they become applicable. But thank God we are coming into days of revelation! The Holy Spirit is beginning to take us to higher heights and deeper depths.
There is a truth concerning the glory that is intended to outfit us for kingdom business. The same glory that rested upon Adam and provided him with that sense of significance and empowerment is now living in us in the person of Christ. It is out of the riches of his glory that we now hold in Him what is to become the key to us carrying the weight and duty of our spiritual employment with God.*
