Purified and Repurposed for God’s Glory

10 He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. 12 And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. 13 He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 14 Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 15 He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. 16 And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.

17 He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. 18 And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 19 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 21 and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. 22 Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 23 And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made it and all its utensils out of a talent of pure gold.

25 He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. 26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it, 27 and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. 28 And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

29 He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer. – Exodus 37:10-29 ESV

Seven different times in these verses, Moses mentions Bezalel using “pure gold” to overlay or fashion the various objects he was creating. Many of these items, like the Ark of the Covenant, the Table of Shewbread, and the poles used to carry them, were made of wood. But they were covered in a thin veneer of gold leaf that transformed them into objects of beauty and great worth. Though made of common materials, their appearance was greatly altered and enhanced by Bezalel’s careful addition of the gold overlay. These sacred objects were meant to symbolize God’s power to take that which was ordinary and transform it into something holy and set apart for His use.

The table that Bezalel created was to sit just outside the Holy of Holies in the Holy Place. But it was nothing more than a well-made wooden box, 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches tall. It was not impressive in and of itself. But when the gold veneer was added, it took on a different appearance. The ordinary was transformed into the extraordinary. The commonplace became uncommonly beautiful and worthy of being set apart for God’s use. In some ways, what the layer of gold did to the Ark of the Covenant and the Table of Shewbread was exactly what happened to Moses when the glory of God transformed his face. During his 40-day encounter with God on Mount Sinai, Moses’ countenance was dramatically altered so that his face literally glowed. This ordinary and highly flawed man had been radically transformed by God. To the people of Israel, he no longer appeared as the Moses they had grown to know. They were terrified by his glowing face and he was forced to cover it with a veil.

But God is in the transformation business. He had taken Moses, who had been nothing more than a common shepherd and a convicted murderer, and transformed him into the man who would stand before Pharaoh and deliver the people of Israel out of their captivity in Egypt. The timid and tentative Moses had to be divinely altered so that he might accomplish that task the Lord had assigned for him to do. Moses was still Moses, with all his faults and failings, but he had been transformed by the power of God and equipped with all the resources he needed to accomplish the will of God.

There was nothing special about the table that Bezalel crafted, but the layer of gold leaf he affixed to it gave it an aura of worth and value beyond comprehension. It’s value increased dramatically and made this ordinary table worthy of occupying the inner recesses of God’s house. And on this golden table would be placed the Bread of the Presence – a memorial food offering to the Lord. This was to be God’s dining table. But the bread placed on the table was meant to symbolize God’s presence. It was to be baked from the finest flour and placed on the table each Sabbath day.

“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord's food offerings, a perpetual due.” – Leviticus 24:5-9 ESV

God graciously allowed Aaron and his sons to eat the Bread of the Presence that sat on the golden table in the Holy Place. But they had to be wearing their designated priestly robes and had to have gone through the proper purification ceremony. Their divinely-designed garments, like the gold leaf on the table, not only altered their outer appearance but transformed them from their normal, ordinary state to that of set-apart servants of God. They were worthy of entering His presence and sharing a meal from His table.

Located in the windowless recesses of the Tabernacle, the table was illuminated by a special lampstand that Bezalel also handcrafted. But unlike the Table of Shewbread, the lampstand was to be made from nothing but gold. There would be no wooden substructure. Bezalel “made the lampstand of pure, hammered gold. He made the entire lampstand and its decorations of one piece—the base, center stem, lamp cups, buds, and petals” (Exodus 37:17 NLT). It is estimated that this ornate object was crafted from 75 pounds of the purest gold. As a skilled metallurgist, Bezalel would have gone to great lengths to ensure that the gold he used to craft this lampstand was only of the highest quality. He would accept no impurities and imperfections. As the sole source of light within God's house, this lamp had to be both functional and beautiful. It would burn 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the oil used to light its flames would be of the highest quality as well. Its rays would illuminate the darkness of the Holy Place, reflecting off the golden Table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense.

This lamp was covered in golden blossoms and buds, symbolizing life. So, it represented both light and life, and offered a fitting image of the one who would eventually come to earth as the light of life.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:1-5 ESV

The lamp contained no wood. It was made of the purest gold and, therefore, of extraordinary value and worth. There was no gold leaf veneer covering an inferior interior. Like Jesus, who referred to Himself as “the light of the world” (John 8:12), this lampstand was perfectly pure and holy. The apostle Paul described Jesus as sinless.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

His light was pure and able to illuminate the darkness of sin that pervaded the lives of men. He gave light to the world and life to all those who would step into His glorious presence.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… – John 1:9-12 ESV

The final piece of furniture Bezalal crafted for the Holy Place was the Altar of Incense. Just 18 inches square and 36 inches high, this wooden altar was far from impressive in size. Yet, it too was covered in a layer of gold and equipped with carrying poles that were veneered with a fine layer of gold leaf. But this diminutive piece of furniture had a significant role to play in God’s house. It was from this altar that the priests would burn sweet-smelling incense to the Lord. And even the recipe for this incense was proprietary in nature, and only to be used within the confines of the Tabernacle. It was to represent the prayers of God’s people and illustrated their dependence upon Him.

Glistening gold, brightly shining light, sweet-smelling incense. All of these elements were to reflect the glory of God, but it must not be missed that they emanated from ordinary objects made by human hands. Yet, God transformed them from their ordinary, pedestrian state to that of holy and set-apart objects worthy of use in His house. God had communicated their design and designated the nature of their purpose. He made sure that they would be holy and distinct, perfectly unique, and totally dedicated to His use.

The apostle Paul reminds us that, as Christians, we too have been set apart for God’s use. We have been transformed from ordinary, sin-stained people into His holy temple. He has covered us in the righteousness of His Son and transformed us into objects of beauty and holiness, worthy to be used for His glory.

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

But By the Grace of God…

9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. – 1 Corinthians 15:9-11 ESV

Paul had a healthy self-identity. He knew who he was and was well aware of all he had accomplished in his life, including the good and the bad. He didn’t attempt to sugarcoat his past actions or paint himself as some kind of super saint who had his proverbial act together. At one point, he told the believers in Philippi, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me” (Philippians 3:10 NLT). Paul knew he was a work in process, a personal project of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But he wasn’t God’s only reclamation project. He reminded the Philippian believers that “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13 NLT).

That’s why he could encourage them to “work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear” (Philippians 2:12 NLT). He wasn’t asking them to do the impossible. He was telling them to display the new nature that had been given to them by God through their faith in Christ and made possible by the indwelling Holy Spirit. They had been saved for a reason and it wasn’t just so they could go to heaven one day. God had a present plan for their lives and He had equipped them with all they would need to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. 

But back to Paul and his healthy sense of self-worth. Look at what he wrote to the believers in Corinth: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” Paul knew who he was, but he had no delusions of grandeur. He didn’t view himself as somehow deserving of God’s goodness and grace. In fact, he makes it quite clear that his past track record of persecuting the church would have been more than enough reason for God to avoid him like the plague. So, when Paul says that he is what he is by the grace of God, what is he saying? Yes, he’s obviously talking about his salvation. He stands before God as righteous, forgiven of his sins, and free from all condemnation. But as great as that is, I think Paul has more in mind.

Throughout his letters, Paul consistently introduced himself in terms that expressed his awareness of his identity.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God… – Romans 1:1 ESV

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus… – 1 Corinthians 1:1 ESV

In virtually every letter Paul wrote, he introduced himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus. He willingly and proudly described himself as a servant or slave of Jesus. In other words, he was a servant-leader. He had been called and commissioned by Jesus Himself to take the gospel to the Gentiles, but he knew that his primary role was that of servant. And he had no problem with that role. Which is why he was able to tell the Philippian believers, “But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God” (Philippians 2:17 NLT). Paul knew who he was and what he had been called to do. He was completely at peace with his identity and his purpose.

But not only had Paul been called and commissioned, he was being constantly conditioned by virtue of his relationship with the Holy Spirit. The grace of God had made him who he was: a fully forgiven child of God; but it was also transforming him into the likeness of Jesus Himself.

Paul was confident that his entire life was in the hands of God. It was by God’s grace he even existed. It was by God’s grace he had been called. And it was by God’s grace he stood before the Corinthians as a servant and apostle of Christ. His life, from start to finish, was the work of God. He fully believed what he told the Philippian believers:

God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. – Philippians 1:6 NET

God was going to complete what He began. All according to His grace, not based on Paul’s merit or hard work. Paul’s transformation into the image of Christ was no more the byproduct of his own effort than was his deliverance from death to life. And this is why he was able to tell his brothers and sisters in Philippi that “the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God” (Philippians 2:13 NET).

We should not treat lightly Paul’s admission, “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle.” This wasn’t some kind of rhetorical flourish designed to make him appear more spiritual to the believers in Philippi. He truly believed it. He was blown away that he had been considered worthy to be an apostle. But he knew it had not been based on this own worthiness, but that of Christ. If fact, he describes himself as “one untimely born,” a very graphic term which, in the Greek, refers to a stillborn baby. Paul uses this disparaging term in reference to Jesus’ appearance to him on the road to Damascus as recorded in Acts 9. In essence, Paul was comparing himself to a lifeless, prematurely born baby. As such, he would have had no inherent value or worth, yet Jesus chose to reveal Himself to Paul. Not only that, Jesus had called him, commissioned him, and was in the process of conditioning his character so that it mirrored His own.

And Paul recognized that his transformation into the likeness of Christ was the work of God based on the grace of God, just as his salvation had been.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. – Galatians 2:20-21 NLT

The grace of God. For Paul, it meant everything. Without grace, Paul was one untimely born and the least-deserving of all men to be called, commissioned, or conditioned by God for His service. God’s grace left Paul slack-jawed and awe-struck. He never got over the shock of who he had once been and who he had become – in Christ. And any value he used to hold in his former life was, by his own admission, little better than dung, when compared to his current standing as a child of God.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am. That was Paul’s firm belief. He knew it to be true and he saw it lived out in his life on a daily basis. I love the way The New Living Translation puts it: “But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results.” God’s grace produces results. It transforms and conditions. It radically alters and is constantly changing us so that we “are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18 BSV).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Live With the End In Mind.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. – John 17:24 ESV John 17:1-26

If taken out of context, this prayer would appear to have been prayed by Jesus from heaven, long after His death, resurrection and ascension. He makes mention of His desire that the disciples be able to join Him where He is. At the point Jesus prayed this prayer, the disciples were right there with Him. He was still earth-bound and facing His coming trials and crucifixion. But He prayed with a sense of accomplishment and finality, as if He was already back in heaven with His Father. He had full confidence that His death would result in His glorification. He would have to die, but He would also be raised back to life by the Father and restored to His original position of power and authority at His Father's side. He longed for His disciples to be able to see His coming glory. The three, Peter, James and John, had gotten a slight glimpse of what it might be like when they witnessed Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain. But Jesus was looking forward to the day when all His followers would see Him for who He truly is – the sovereign, all-powerful Son of God. On earth, while Jesus could perform incredible miracles, He had limitations. He suffered from hunger. He grew tired. He was susceptible to pain. He could calm the storm, walk on water, even raise the dead, but He would be brutally put to death at the hands of men. But there is a day coming when we will see Him like He really is. His appearance on earth as a man, His incarnation, was a necessary, but temporary condition. Paul reminds us, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV). Jesus willingly humbled Himself and took on human flesh. He became a servant to sinful men. He even submitted Himself to death at the hands of men in order to pay for their sins and make it possible for them to be restored to a right relationship with God the Father. But Paul goes on to say, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV). This was what Jesus was praying about. He longed for the day when His followers would witness His true glory. The apostle John wrote about that very event. “Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2 NLT). There is a day coming, when we will see Jesus in all His glory, but we will also see ourselves in our glorified state as well. “And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory” (Colossians 3:4 NLT).

In essence, Jesus was praying for and longing for the culmination of all things. He knew that He was going to have to die. He also knew that His disciples were going to be left behind, which is why He promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit. He was also fully aware that no one, Himself included, knew the day of His own return. In the meantime, His followers would have to continue to live on this earth, facing the attacks of the enemy, enduring the hatred of the world, and wrestling with their own sin natures. So Jesus prayed for the day when all His followers would be with Him and able to see Him in His glorified state. That day would signify the completion of God's redemptive work on earth. Sin would be eradicated, death would be defeated, Satan would be destroyed, and God's Kingdom would be established over all the earth. God's Kingdom would have come and His will done on earth as it is in heaven. This prayer reminds us that God's plan is not yet complete and that Jesus' work is not yet done. So like Jesus, we should live with a sense of eager anticipation. We should long for our glorification so that we can enjoy the thrill of seeing Him as He truly is. This world is temporary. Our place here is not intended to be permanent. God has something far greater in store for all of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us, “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die…” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54 NLT).

All of this will take place because God loves His Son and that love is timeless and limitless. He has loved Him from eternity past and the extend of His love for Him will be revealed to all of us when we see Jesus in all His glory. We will witness the culmination of God's great redemptive plan and be able to see with our own eyes, the incredible love that the Father has for His Son. Right now, we know in part, but the day is coming when we will have full knowledge and understanding of just how great God's love really is. “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13 NLT).

New & Improved.

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Shouldn't we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?. – 2 Corinthians 3:8 NLT

In this section of his letter, Paul addresses the differences between the old covenant, represented by the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets, and the new covenant, written on the hearts of men through the power of the Holy Spirit. He compares one to the other, using the word glory 19 times in an attempt to prove the new covenant superior to the old. The old covenant was given by God and, therefore, was good. But it has been replaced by the new covenant. Both were marked by God's glory, but the glory of the new covenant was greater. The old covenant, or way, was dependent on man keeping the laws of God, given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The problem was that man, because of his sin nature, was incapable of keeping his part of the covenant. He continually sinned, breaking God's commands and failing to keep God's holy standards for righteousness. The old covenant ended up condemning man, exposing his sin and revealing his failure to meet God's requirements for holiness and acceptance.

Paul understood the purpose of the law in the lives of men. He wrote about it extensively in his letter to the believers in Rome. In fact, Paul was constantly having to fight against those who wanted to demand that the keeping of the law was still a requirement, even on Christians. There were those who followed Paul on his missionary journeys, teaching new converts that their salvation was incomplete unless they also kept all the Jewish laws and religious rituals like circumcision. These individuals were a constant thorn in Paul's side and he had to deal with their false teachings everywhere he went. He told the Roman believers, "it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, 'You must not covet.' But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power…sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me" (Romans 7:7-8, 11 NLT).

But what made the new covenant of Christ's death so much more glorious was that it nullified the need for men to keep the law as a requirement for being made right with God. Paul wrote, "But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are" (Romans 3:21-22 NLT). Paul told the Corinthians, "how much more glorious the new way, which makes us right with God!" (2 Corinthians 3:9b NLT). The objectives of both the old and new covenants were to make men right with God. Sin had separated man from God. Sin is nothing more or nothing less than rebellion against God's authority. It is rejection of his rule over our lives and refusal to acknowledge Him as our Lord and Master. God's law revealed His holy standards for righteous living. It put down in writing what God required for men to have a right relationship with Him. But all it did was reveal man's inability to live up to that standard. For generations, man attempted to restore his relationship with God through self-effort and better behavior, only to fail miserably. That's why God sent His Son. That's why the new covenant is more glorious than the old. Because the new covenant provided a fail-proof way for man to be restored to God. Jesus Christ provided a means by which sinful man can be cleansed, forgiven and given new life. We have a Spirit-empowered capacity to obey God that we didn't have before. We have been given new hearts that desire to live according to God's standard. And God is slowly, but surely transforming us into the likeness of His Son. "And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image" (2 Corinthians 3:18b NLT). And it just doesn't get any better than that!

Father, I can't thank You enough for the new way You provided so that I might be made right with You. I never could have kept the law and lived up to Your holy standard. I was doomed to defeat, a product and a victim of my own sinfulness. But while I was stuck in my sin, You sent Your Son to die for me. He took my place on the cross and suffered the penalty and the punishment that was meant for me. He took my sins on Himself and, in exchange, He gave me His righteousness. So I stand before You as holy and righteous, uncondemned and totally forgiven. I am right with You because of what Your Son did for me. Thank You! Amen.