Unveiled

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image”  2 Corinthians 3:18

Unveiled – Jesus does reverse plastic surgery.  Before we schedule an appointment with Him, we spend our lives fitting masks to our faces.  We have one outward look at work, another at home, another at church, another with friends.   After years of refinement, many of these masks become completely attached.  It takes a very skilled surgeon to remove them.  The only surgeon capable of such a task is Jesus.  Why?  Because he is the only one who remembers what we were supposed to look like from the beginning.

This radical de-construction takes a long time.  It starts the first day of our first appointment with him.  But it is a slow and sometimes difficult process.  Jesus has to peel back layer after layer of false faces until he is able to uncover the image that God intended.  Even though the process is a lifetime of work, once he starts the job, he never stops until it is complete.

Paul knew all about this de-constructive surgery.  Paul’s first appointment left him blind and confused.  But soon we find that his old masks, the Rabbinic face, his Jewish face, his zealot face, were being lifted away to reveal the face of his destiny.  In this verse, Paul uses the Greek word anakalupto.  It is a combination word meaning, “to take back a covering or shell.”  It is the word for the process of becoming like Christ.  All of the shells must be removed to reveal the face of God.

But there is another important part of this word that is not in the meaning.  It is in the grammar.  This word is in the perfect passive tense.  That means it is an action that is completed in the past but has continuing consequences into the present (the perfect tense) and it is not something that we do, it is done to us (the passive mood).  You don’t have to worry about getting your new face.  Just make the first appointment.  Jesus guarantees he will take care of the rest of the job, no matter how long it takes.  It’s what he does best.

My Target Today:  Today I will let one person see the face of Jesus in me.

(continued tomorrow)