We are not citizens of this world trying to make our way to heaven; we are citizens of heaven trying to make our way through this world ... We are not to live so as to earn God's love, inherit heaven, and purchase our salvation ... [these] are gifts bought by Jesus on the cross ... We are to live as God's redeemed, as heirs of heaven, and citizens of another land: the kingdom of God. Because of God's redemption we are now on a journey home! "... a home we know will have the lights on and the door open and our Father waiting for us when we arrive." The writer comments that all of this, "... means in all adversity our worship of God is joyful, our life is hopeful, our future is secure. There is nothing we can lose on earth that can rob us of the treasures God has given us and will give us." - The Anglican Digest[1]

We who have a relationship with God - a covenant with him - understand that God will dwell with us! What an exciting discovery we make when we grasp that truth. When Moses comes from the mountain where he and God had been in communion, Moses reflected the very presence and glory of God. He even had to put on a veil so that his face would not blind people as he spoke to them. Wouldn't it be exciting if we had such a brilliance and radiance about us after our time of prayer and communion with God?

Today is Transfiguration Sunday and is the time when the church universal celebrates the Messiah as the glorified Son of the Father (Matthew 17:1-5). Moses is seen as the reflection of God's glory, but Jesus, the Messiah, is authentically the glory of God.

Both the Exodus passage and the transfiguration passage from Matthew remind us of the radiance that is in God and shows through the lives of those who follow him.

I. The Glory Of God Is Revealed In Change

Myron Augsburger tells us that the word "transfigured" stems from the word "metamorphosis." This metamorphosis occurs in the core of a person's spirit.

It affects the internal change when an individual's life has been transfigured and transformed by a relationship with God.

The internal and external changes occur when Christ comes to dwell in the heart by faith bringing salvation to us. We become a new creature ... a newborn in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). There are some "new" things that occur.

* New hope - with Christ there is a confident expectation of things seen and unforeseen!

* New home - with Christ there is now a place to go for safety, love, and care.

* New attitude - with Christ there is a new inclination to live right.

* New heart - the sinful heart has been replaced by a clean heart!

The newborn shakes his head, blinks, looks around at his first glimpse of new life, and he can hardly believe it. And the world? Why, of course, it rushes on. Unconcerned, busy, preoccupied; it has to "stay on schedule." Someone's eternal new birth has occurred. Although it doesn't attract a second glance from those standing around. God's kingdom is being silently enlarged. It happens every day in our vast world. It even happened today. For all you know, maybe two minutes from your own front door.[2]

We need a change of heart in the core of our existence. When we experience the authentic power of God, our lives take on a new glow. Our faces shine with the presence of God as our hearts become white when the light of God enters.

II. The Glory Of God Is Revealed In The Fulfillment

There is no recorded conversation between Moses, Elijah, and Jesus on the mountain that day. The best speculation is that their conversation was a confirmation of Jesus' authority and fulfillment of the Old Testament law and prophets.

Moses represents the law of God and with him is the revelation of understanding right from wrong. Elijah represents the prophets and brings us to an understanding of the spirit of ethics and morals. Jesus synthesized the two and fulfilled them as the pinnacle of truth.

At that time Jesus heard the familiar voice of his Father. It was the moment when the Father confirmed verbally his satisfaction with his Son. When the Father said, "Listen to him," it was not only for those three disciples on the mountain that day but for all people for all time!

III. The Glory Of God Is Revealed In Worship

The disciples impulsively fell on their faces in awe of Jesus. The "awe" of God was on Moses' face. When we are in the presence of God the most natural response for us is to fall on our faces in worship.

Patrick Morely wrote that his family once attended a tawdry, gimmicky, religious meeting. He says that the minutes painfully ticked by ever so slowly. He said that he even fell asleep in his chair as the speaker drawled on for what seemed forever. According to him the organizers created a freakish, carnival-like atmosphere similar to a midway sideshow with a "barker-like" man hawking religious souvenirs with Brother Love's zeal.

I couldn't help but wonder, Would they be a bit embarrassed if they learned Jesus had sat on the front row? He then says that when we know God is on the front row, "our first reaction is to hide from the awfulness of his presence. We want to see the face of God, until the presence of his glory draws near. Then, we want him to hide us in the cleft of a rock. His presence is like peals of thunder and the fierce winds of a violent storm, and we reconsider the foolishness of our whim to see him. He is a holy God. Not only holy, but holy, holy holy...." - Revelation 4:8[3]

When we come to worship our God, we come to consider who he is through his ...

* holy power - Edmund Steimle said, "Do you really want to see divine power at work? Then discard your human notions of power and look at the way Christ lived and died."[4]

* holy wealth - he owns everything!

* holy wisdom - nothing is hidden from God. He is the all-wise, all-knowing God.

* holy love - who else would send their one and only son to take on the sin of all humanity?

Let us approach him with praise and thanksgiving in holy recognition that we are in the presence of the holy. As we approach the throne of grace we do so with confidence, respect, and admiration! We need to pause and mediate as we enter his presence with praise and honor!

IV. The Glory Of God Is Revealed In The Personal Touch

The people of Israel were in awe of Moses. The disciples on the day of Jesus' transfiguration were also awed and fearful. Christ and Moses both used the personal touch to dispel their fears.

In the case of Jesus he would die for the whole world, but the whole world is composed of individuals like you and me.

In 1880, Fanny Crosby wrote the words to the song, "Tell Me The Story Of Jesus." The third verse says:

Tell of the cross where they nailed him writhing in anguish and pain.
Tell of the grave where they laid him; tell how he liveth again.
Love in that story so tender clearer than ever I see.
Stay, let me weep while you whisper; love paid the ransom for me.[5]

On our journey of faith each of us must come to a personal relationship with Christ. Love ... Christ ... paid the ransom for our lives. We do not come to Christ by osmosis, wishful thinking, or parental inheritance. It is a willful decision to accept the terms of Jesus and to surrender to him. As we give up our plans, our desires, our wills, and our sins our goal is to become his followers. He will replace them with a much better plan for our lives because he will be at the control center directing, guiding, and challenging us to live life to the fullest.

Today Jesus can transform our lives if we allow him to do so. He will not force, coerce, or destroy our will, but will gently ask us to come to him. Jesus said, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock ..." (Revelation 3:20a NIV).

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. - John 3:16-18 (NIV)

God personally wants to touch your life. Will you let him? Amen.

1. Jan Karon, Patches of Godlight (New York: Penguin Books, 2001), npn.

2. Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1983), p. 118.

3. Patrick Morely, Walking with Christ in the Details of Life (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992), p. 18.

4. Albert M. Wells Jr., compiler, Inspiring Quotations (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1988), p. 157.

5. "Tell Me The Story Of Jesus" words by Fanny J. Crosby, 1880. In the public domain.