2 Corinthians 3:17-18
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV).
Lent is a season that has historically served the Church as a time of personal examination and remembrance of Christ’s work on the cross. How has Christ transformed your life in the past, and what do you expect Him to do going forward?
I. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” V. 17
Everyone who comes to faith in Christ has been a slave to something – unforgiveness, fear, pride, lust, greed, attention, deceit – or any other of a long list of masters that have controlled us.
When you found freedom in Christ, from what slavedrivers were you set free?
II. “And we all…beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed….” V. 18A
There is a transformation, the Bible tells us, that occurs when our faces are unveiled (see 2 Cor. 3:13 and Exodus 34:29-35) and we continually gaze on God’s glory. Worship facilitates this.
Was there a time in your life where you felt completely exposed before God, and He met you in a powerful, transforming way?
III. “For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” V. 18B
During Lent, the Spirit will work in us in many ways – all to make us real disciples of Jesus.
How could you utilize this season, this time frame, to approach God with a new willingness to be transformed in your relationships – with God, with other people, with yourself, or with creation around you?
We can either be conformed to the world, to its attitudes, or to its opinions – or transformed by the Spirit into the likeness of Christ. Which would you like to see occur during this Lent? Make a commitment.