BiblicalInsights.net

The Word of God declares, “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” (II Cor. 3:18).
God made us in His image (Gen. 1:26-27) and this image is marred by our sin.  Christians are redeemed by the blood of Christ and undergo a new birth making them new creatures (Rom. 6:3-4).  This new life in Christ is characterized by imitation of His character and obedience to His teachings.  We behold His glory and bear His image as we become like Him.
Open Face
When Moses spoke with God on Mt. Sinai, He spoke with God without a vail and his countenance was affected by the glory of the LORD and his face did shine.  He spoke with God face to face and his countenance was transformed.  We approach Jesus with an “open face.”  Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the image of Christ.
The Glory of the Lord
Jesus’ glory is the glory of deity enveloped in humanity (Col. 2:9).  The glory of His nature, His character, His wisdom, His power, His sacrifice, and His redemptive work. It is the sum total of all that Jesus is and that He revealed to the world.  In particular, it is His deity, His humility, His obedience to the Father, His love, grace, and mercy, His perfect life and his authoritative teaching. Disciples of Jesus Christ follow His teaching and imitate His character.  This transformation begins at conversion and continues throughout life.
Our Glory
The word beholding indicates much more than a passing glance.  It is a stedfast stare.  A constant gaze.  Our glory is a reflection of His glory.  This is accomplished through His redemptive work and our imitation of Him and obedience to His teachings.  This produces our salvation and sanctification.  Our personal identity is derived not from exertion of self, but by self-denial that is intentional so that Christ can live in us (Gal. 2:20).  God works in us to accomplish His purposes for His pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
From Glory to Glory
The transformation begins from His glory to our glory.  It continues as we advance in progress toward becoming like Him.  It is step by step (incremental).  It is sometimes painful (difficult and challenging).  But, it is always progressive (spiritual growth toward perfection).  The process involves His Word in us and His life modeled by us through our love for Him and our faith in Him.  In this way, His Spirit works in us to produce fruit.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23).  Character development is connected to discipleship.
The Christian life is a beautiful life reflecting the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ in all of His communicable perfections.  It is a transformed life–transformed by the beauty of the Lord.  As we begin a new year, may each of resolve to be more like Jesus.  This begins by becoming a disciple of Jesus through obedience to the gospel (Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38).  It continues as we deny self and permit the beauty of Jesus to be seen in us.