I want to talk to you today about the oceans of grace available to us in Christ Jesus. We have been chosen by God, adopted by God, to share His riches. It is the Father’s desire that we would obtain so much of what He lavishes that our very lives would declare the goodness of the Lord. Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes the glory of this present Church age—
Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. —2 Corinthians 3:7-11
In these verses Paul is comparing the glory of God revealed during the time of Moses to the present Church age. He uses the word “glory” ten times. Glory is the display of a thing, in this case, God. Glory is the manifestation of who God is. What Paul is saying here is amazing in light of how the glory of God was revealed in the days of Moses.
Think about the spectacular ways the Lord showed Himself in those ancient days. He appeared to Moses in a burning bush, He brought water out from a rock, He healed people of diseases, He divided the Red Sea. The people were led by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. Moses went on the mountain and the glory of God descended upon it. The Lord manifested Himself in dramatic ways.
Pales in comparison
But Paul is saying that the way God revealed Himself in the days of Moses pales in comparison with what we now have in Christ. It is like the light of the moon compared to the light of the sun. It is like an anthill compared to Mount Everest. It is like a dandelion compared to a mighty Redwood Tree. Take that in. The Church age we are presently in has more glory than anything we can read about in the Old Testament.
At least in America, and other countries in the West, it doesn’t exactly seem like the display of glory is surpassing the days of Moses. In fact, the glory of God has even departed or diminished in many churches. But just because we aren’t seeing the glory manifested doesn’t mean that it’s not upon us. It’s like someone with a small beach bucket with water saying to us, “that’s all I could find”—when the ocean is right behind him! The truth is that we don’t realize just how much is available to us in God.
Radiance of the glory of God
The big idea in these verses is that the glory in the days of Moses was nothing compared to the glory now. We are no longer waiting for a Messiah—He has come! Jesus, God the Son, came and dwelt among us and gave His life as a sacrifice for our sin. And He rose from the dead triumphant over death! Christ was the most spectacular manifestation of the glory of God this world has ever seen. Consider this verse:
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, —Hebrews 1:1-3
Exploration
What does all this mean for our pursuit of God? The reality is that we are in Christ. We aren’t pursuing Christ because we are looking for Him the way we might search for a wedding ring we dropped in a yard full of leaves. No. Those who are new creations have Christ; we are in Christ. The pursuit of God is about exploration. Get this! We are inside Christ Jesus, and He has given us freedom to explore the riches in Him. We are invited to search out the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To tap the fountains of His love and joy!
The exciting thing about all this is that we don’t have to settle for a small bucket of water. Sometimes it really hits me what I have compared to what I could have in God. We are like people who live in poverty when there is gold galore right underneath our feet. We are like a man dying of thirst in a boat surrounded by freshwater, or a woman picking food out of a garbage can outside a wedding feast she has been invited to.
Dig deep!
Why am I saying all this? Because I want you to realize that you are in the Church age of surpassing glory. We have access into the presence of God. Heaven has been opened. The veil has been removed. We aren’t praying to the distant God way up on the mountain. We are at His table, we are in His arms. We have been made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit, and our life is now hidden in Christ Jesus.
My friend, go after it. Drink deep from the well of God. Don’t settle for crumbs when a feast has been prepared. Someone once said, “You can have as much of God as you want.” And it’s true! The storehouses of heaven are wide open to us. We are children of God, and we’ve been given keys to all the rooms of the divine house. We are not only permitted to explore but encouraged by the Lord! He wants us to dig deeper and discover all that He is.
Easter egg hunt
Have you watched parents hide Easter eggs around the house or yard for their child? It certainly would be much more efficient to just give the kid a paper bag filled with chocolate and call it a day, right? But there is something exciting about the hunt. Mom hides the candy in hard-to-find places. Some candies are easy finds, but the more special candies are hidden really well. What does the little girl do when she finds one? She looks at her parents and glows. She says, “I got one!” And she keeps going to search for more. She may even ask, “Is there more?” and Dad says, “Oh yeah, a lot more, keep going.” As the search gets harder, something sweet begins to happen. The parent is now guiding and helping the child. Finding the candy is fun, but the real treasure is the joy of searching and discovering together.
The Lord can do anything, right? He’s God. All things are possible with Him. He could give everything to us, and make everything known to us, on the first day of our walk with Him. But He doesn’t. He has designed the discovery of His wonders to be a sort of game of search and discovery. It’s a little like video games that once we get to a certain level another level unlocks. The treasures that God has hidden for us to find cannot be found without His guidance. The whole design is meant to be something we do together with God.
1000 wonders
My point is that the Father has hidden thousands of treasures for us to find, but after finding a few decent ones, we quit searching. No! There’s so much more to find! I’m not talking at all about material treasures but spiritual treasures. Things like wisdom, glimpses of eternity, the knowledge of God, whispers of His voice, divine embraces, gifts of the Holy Spirit, baptisms of fire, outpourings of love, green pastures and still waters, and 1000 other wonders.
These things are hidden and they are for you. Don’t worry, it’s not like one of those Easter egg hunts where 158 kids run out into a field and trample each other to get the most eggs. And the big kids come flying back with baskets overflowing. And the little kids are still out in the field, looking bewildered, crying with their basket with one egg. Why do churches do this? This is a terrible idea. Anyway, the Lord doesn’t do it like this. What is hidden is hidden for you and you alone.
Father’s joy
Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could find out our treasure status? What percentage of what God has hidden for us have we found so far? I have the feeling we would be surprised at how little we have found. Maybe 20%. Maybe 2%. Maybe less even. Think about the hundreds of promises in the Bible that apply to us. How many have we laid hold of? Really? What’s even more concerning is that we would finish our life, and stand before the Lord, and find out we only discovered a tiny fraction of what was possible to find.
Oh my dear friends, let’s pursue the wonders the Lord has hidden for us. Let’s not settle for one egg in our basket. The Father takes joy when we discover what He’s hidden. We aren’t being greedy to want to pursue more. Not at all. The Father wants us to find every single treasure! Seek Him. Go deep. Put aside other things for the sake of the “one thing necessary.” Search with intensity. Grab the Father’s hand and say, “Please, help me, guide me—give me a hint!”