So, Everywhere?

www.bible.com/1713/2co.3.17.csb

If you believe in the Christian God at some point you’ve been taught the ”omni’s”, the omniscience of God, the omnipresence of God, the omnipotence of God. That is to say, God is all-knowing, everywhere, and all-powerful.

Our verse this morning teaches us that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So, that must mean that God’s Spirit, Who is omnipresent, must have freedom in all places, everywhere it is possible to be.

I remember this verse especially as it graced the front page of my hometown newspaper every morning. It seemed to say that God and liberty go hand in hand. But sadly, very few read this verse in context.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing about the veil that Moses wore to protect the Israelites from the glory that reflected on his face from God’s presence. They couldn’t endure exposure to that glory. They asked him to wear a veil so they could talk to him. Paul writes that those in Christ (believers) see His glory as in a glass (a mirror, a reflection ) but one day we will see Him face to face. Unlike the Israelites, we welcome the glory of God’s presence. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (from the veil). We are free from veiling God’s glory because we have been saved from sin. We no longer stand in judgment but have been justified and can stand before Him and welcome His presence. I don’t think that’s what my hometown newspaper had in mind when they printed this everyday.

We often import the concepts of freedom and liberty into this verse, but it has more the sense of privilege. We have this privilege to come before Him with unveiled faces. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, we have this privilege, because we carry His Spirit as His gift to us. Wherever we go, there He is too.

May God bless you today, wherever you go, going in the will and pleasure of the Lord.