increasing glory

Luke 20, 2 Corinthians 4

I had a great conversation with Herb on the bus on Monday evening.  He is still reading through the Old Testament; he is in Daniel right now.  He shared some of the most wonderful insights from Ezekiel and the Old Testament in general.  He told me that his biggest problem is with the idea that Jesus is God in a Trinitarian way.  I sent him an email with a list of Scriptures that explain the deity of Christ, and many of them suggest a Trinitarian perspective, but perhaps it would be helpful if I supplied some Scriptures that support the concept of the Trinity.  As I read 2 Corinthians 4 this morning, several of these verses reinforced this topic of the person of Christ and my relationship with Herb:

^{2 Cor 4:3} If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. ⁴ Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵You see, we don't go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

I pray for several friends regularly that the Lord will give spiritual sight to see Jesus clearly and trust Him as Savior and Lord, for the glory of God:

¹⁵ ... And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. ¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Those last couple of verses remind me of a few lines in David Crowder's song that I quoted a couple of days ago:

When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

Heavenly Father, your love for us is amazing.  Your work through us is amazing.  Lord, please use me, an ordinary clay pot, to shine the light of Jesus Christ and bring others to know you.  Lord, please deliver my friends from spiritual blindness, and put faith in their hearts so that they will believe and experience the life of Christ at work through them, also.  Lord, I know that you will receive glory as you do this.  Please give me strength to be faithful during times of testing as I realize that these troubles are minor and temporary compared to your Eternal Rightousness.  May your name be praised among the nations.  I ask in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.