Christianity is No Con Game

JESUS REVEALS HIS GLORY AS THE SON OF GOD:

Last Sunday after the Epiphany - The Transfiguration of Our Lord, February 23, 2020

A remarkable miracle occurs in worship this week. Jesus is transfigured before a trio of disciples, and as he is we see Jesus radiate the glory of God. With their own eyes they saw his face shine like the sun. What followed was a happy reunion with Moses and Elijah as the voice of God spoke from the heaven affirming Jesus as Savior.

Our world often looks much less glorious. Sin - our own and others - makes it look downright bleak and ugly. Many diminish the role of Jesus either by referring to him as just a prophet, likening him to another cartoon character or maybe a moralist. The insinuation is that he is certainly not God with us. What a gloomy outlook! An endlessly ugly world with no solution?

Jesus’ transfiguration dispels all that foolishness. The world is already full of pithy sayings and conventional wisdom. We need a Savior who brings us more than a witticism fit for a fortune cookie. We need God himself to destroy the very thing that makes the world gloomy, and replace it with hope and wonder and glory. That’s what's there on the mountain. It’s the handprint of God - the dead are raised, the voice from heaven, the radiant glory of Jesus. God is obviously with us!

Jesus’ transfiguration provides the reassurance that Jesus is God. It is grounding for our lives. In a world where you're never quite sure who’s telling the truth, at least we know the Bible is true. Peter saw Jesus’ glory with his own eyes, and because he did he argued that all the prophecies and stories of Jesus are all true. The Bible is really God’s own word to man. You can trust it implicitly. You can believe it confidently.

► Readings:

• Exodus 24:9-18: Moses sees God's glory on the mountain.

• 2 Peter 1:16-21: Prophecy in Scripture.

• Matthew 17:1-9: Peter, James and John see God's glory on the mountain.

• Psalm: 119

► Sermon theme on 2 Peter 1:16-21: "Christianity is No Con Game" (Sermon Video) (Sermon transcript)