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
Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai in communion with God. When he came down, his face shown with divine glory. It was so evidently God’s glory that Aaron and the people feared to approach him (Exodus 34:30). In this we have an image of what takes place in the New Testament. When we behold the glory of God in Christ, in the mirror of the Holy Scriptures, His glory shines on us and fills us until it shines out from us again.
The heavenly Father shows us His divine glory in the face of Jesus because He knows that, by gazing on it, we will be conformed to the same image. Continually look to the divine glory as seen in Christ. What is the special characteristic of that glory? The chief marks of the image of the divine glory in Christ are His humiliation and His love.
There is the glory of His humiliation. When you see how the eternal Son emptied Himself and became man, and how as Man He humbled Himself as a servant and was obedient even unto the death of the cross (Philippians 2:7–8), you have seen the highest glory of God.
The glory of His love is inseparable from this. The humiliation leads you back to the love as its origin and power. It is from love that the humiliation gains its beauty. But this love was a hidden mystery until it was manifest in Christ Jesus.
Do you want to be like Christ? Gaze on the glory of God, that is to say, do not look only to the words in which His glory is seen, but look to Jesus Himself, the living Christ. Look into His very eyes, into His face, as a loving Friend, as the living God.
Beholding Jesus and His glory, you can confidently expect to become like Him. Gaze on and adore the glory of God in Christ; you will be changed with divine power from glory to glory. In the power of the Holy Spirit, the mighty transformation will be worked, your desires will be fulfilled, and becoming like Christ will be the blessed, God-given experience of your life.