April Reading from The Message
Do you view God as a giver of rules or a living, personal presence? Jesus shows us who God is. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us that God is accessible through Christ. The veil has been lifted! When we’re with Christ, we’re in touch with the father and positive change in our lives is possible.
12-15 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn’t notice.
They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.
16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete.
We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
Scripture Insight
Changed By What We See
The first thing that strikes me about 2 Corinthians 3 is the confident air of freedom in it. Change is possible. We don’t have to remain as we are. But change isn’t automatic. And it isn’t something inherent in us. It has a cause. Change is rooted in a relationship with Jesus Christ. In him, God becomes open, personal, and accessible to us.
The person of Jesus shows us who God is. When we’re with Christ, we’re in touch with all that we can apprehend about God. In that environment we’re changed by what we see, changed into the likeness of Christ. If we’re exposed to the sun, our skin is changed. But if we’re exposed to Christ, our lives are changed. The change is a result of our relationship with him. By opening ourselves to him, we come under his influence and are changed into his likeness, “our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful” (verse 18), from one level of maturity to another, from one stage of development to another.
The Message Student Bible
Learn the essential context surrounding every book of the Bible as you fall in love with reading God’s Word. Students love the single-column, minimalist design that allows for comfortable reading as they find themselves leaning into the Bible to discover the surprises and wonders that await in Scripture. Take a look inside here.
