The Veil is Lifted
How many of you have ever played blind man’s bluff? We use to play this game all the time when I was a kid. The idea of the game is one player is blindfolded and must tag other players who are not. They run around a specified area reaching out to try to catch others who are calling out to him/her. In Exodus 19-20, it describes the time when Moses first goes up Mount Sinai to get the law from God. The mountain is encased in smoke and a dense cloud because God had to be hidden from the people. They were, in a sense, blindfolded. Then in Exodus 34, Moses goes up the mountain again to speak with God. When he comes down the mountain, his face is glowing because of the glory of God and the people are terrified, so he puts a veil over his face. Once again the people are blinded from seeing the glory of God. There is another veil in scripture – the veil in the temple of God. It was there because the glory of God was so great, the people could not encounter it without falling dead. Once a year, the high priest would go through the veil into the Holy of Holies with fear and trembling to seek forgiveness before the mercy seat of God. At the death of Jesus, that veil was ripped in two from top to bottom forever opening up a path to God. We can now come to Him through Jesus Christ. No longer are we blindfolded. But, many in the world are still blinded from seeing God and from knowing His grace. There is still a veil between them and God. That is why it is so important to share the good news of grace – so that the veil can be lifted.
Vs. 4-6 We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.
One thing I’ve learned in my life – I am not perfect and I never will be! If I waited to be perfect before doing what God asks me to do, I would still be waiting around. This is what Paul is saying here. His confidence was not in his own abilities. Yes, he was a very learned man with many skills, but he also knew none of that mattered. His confidence and competence was through Christ and from God. Going back to Moses – It reminds me when he came upon the burning bush and was asked by God to do some tough stuff. He made up all kinds of excuses as to why he couldn’t do them. I can’t, I’m not, I don’t know how… With each excuse, God showed him that he could, he was and he could know how to through the power of God. God would be with him and enable him to do extraordinary things. The great J. S. Bach said, “I play the notes that are written, but it is God who makes the music.” If we would just hold our hands out and say take these and use them, God will make us competent to be ministers of His new covenant. He will make the music! The law of God that Moses brought down the mountain showed us our incompetence. It showed us what we couldn’t do. But, God’s Spirit enables us, enriches us and breathes life into us, giving us the competence we need to do what He has asked of us.
Vs. 7-11 Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face—a fading glory— how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.
The law of God is perfect and holy – so perfect and holy, it shows us our glaring incompetence and underscores our lack of holiness. We couldn’t even look at God – he had to blindfold us from His glory. It took the ministry of His Spirit before we could take the blindfold off. We can now see God through His perfect Son Jesus, who is even more glorious than the law. Moses’ face reflected the glory of God – so much so, he had to put a veil over his face. After time, that glory faded, until he went up the mountain again and then the veil went back on. Moses couldn’t continue to reflect the glory of God without being in His presence, and he couldn’t be in his presence without going up the mountain. But Jesus is a constant reflection of God’s glory, therefore, when we encounter Jesus, we can also be a constant reflection of the glory of God – as long as we are in his presence. That is why Hebrews 12:1b-2 says, “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” He is the source and perfecter of our faith. Through him, we have the confidence and the competence we need to minister in this world.
Vs 12-18 Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness. We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away, but their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
There are many in this world who are still blinded from seeing the glory of God. They are in a perceptual game of blind man’s bluff – wandering around trying to find that what they seek. Their minds are closed to the truth that will set them free. Here, Paul says they have a veil that lies over their hearts and so they cannot see the glory of God. They are lost, trying to call out and find the thing they are missing. Scripture tells us, the only way for that veil to be removed is through Jesus Christ. In John 14:6-7, “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. “If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” When we encounter Jesus, we will be transformed – our minds will be renewed.
Vs 4:1-6 Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up. Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking in deceit or distorting God’s message, but commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in God’s sight by an open display of the truth. But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus. For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
So, Paul says, we’ve got to walk around with the veil off! We have to reflect the glory of God in everything we do. We can no longer say I can’t, I’m unable, I’m not… Through Christ we can, we are able and we are. We must renounce the shameful secret things of our life. We must stop walking in deceit or distorting God’s message. The Greek words for deceit and distorting are panourgia and dolountes. Panourgia is a word meaning craftiness or cunning. It describes a person who is up to anything and will use any trick to get it. Dolountes is a word meaning to ensnare or to adulterate. We use the word adulterate when we describe someone who adds inferior substances to gold and then tries to pass it off as pure. It is a lie and deceitful. When I was a child, my grandmother taught me this lesson by giving me two necklaces. The first necklace was a chain with a big nugget of fools gold (pyrite) on it. I was excited until she told me it wasn’t real. The second necklace she gave me was a thin gold chain with a a small gold cross on it. Even though it was smaller, it was worth a lot more than the large fake fools gold nugget. She wanted to remind me to always seek the truth, not to just go after the things that look good.
The veil must come off and the glory of God must be reflected in our lives to the world. It can’t be a trick or a lie. It must be the truth. In Matthew 5:13-16 of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, he says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” The salt must be salty, and our light must be out there for all to see. Lately, I’ve seen many try to pass off the fools gold because it’s bigger, “better” or more visible. They do it so people will be attracted to it, to bring in the crowd. But, just like my two necklaces, the smaller less ostentatious one was worth way more. We don’t want to just attract a crowd, we want the world to know the truth. We want the blindfold to come off so they can see the real glory of God – the real gold that is only found in Christ Jesus!
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