3rd April 2025

In 1918 the hymn writer Helen Lemmel was handed a religious pamphlet entitled Focussed written by Lilias Trotter, a missionary to Muslims in Algeria. Although Helen’s own eyesight was failing, she was captivated by a phrase from the booklet: ‘So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face, and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.’ Those words inspired Helen to write the beautiful hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, published in 1922.

In 2 Corinthians we find a similar theme. It recalls a story from the book of Exodus where Moses returned to the Israelites having received the Ten Commandments on stone tablets for the second time. Having encountered a glimpse of God’s glory, Moses’ face shone so brightly the people couldn’t bear it and he had to wear a veil so they could look at him.

Yet the problem with looking at someone through a veil is that we can’t see what they really look like; we only gain a dim, imperfect view of their image. And the Apostle Paul tells us there was a more fundamental problem: the glory the Israelites couldn’t bear to look at wasn’t anywhere near the full glory God would reveal. In fact he calls it ‘the ministry of death’! ‘Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?’ (2 Corinthians 3:7-8 ESV).

Despite having glory, Paul says the old covenant dispensation was a ministry of condemnation (v.9). This is because if you’re dependent on your performance being measured against a list of rules and regulations, as soon as you fail to comply with even a tiny one you stand guilty and condemned. Therefore, Paul says the ministry of righteousness which replaced the ministry of condemnation must far exceed it in glory: ‘For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!’ (vv.10 -11 NIV). 

Moses’ veil meant the Israelites couldn’t see what was really going on (v.13). If they’d been able to cope with the glory in Moses’ face perhaps they’d have realised it was merely a reflection of the far greater true glory of God. ‘But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read…Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.’ (vv.14-15).

What then is the solution? ‘…only in Christ is it taken away…But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.’ (vv.14, 16). If we turn our eyes upon Jesus the veil is taken away and we can see the true glory in the one who ‘…is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…’ (Hebrews 1:3). By comparison, everything else fades into insignificance. 

What does this mean for us in practice? The Apostle Paul tells us that we, ‘…with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…’ (2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV). The Greek word for ‘transformed’ is actually the word we know in English as ‘metamorphosed’. We are going through metamorphosis into the image of Christ! The subsequent verses go on to show that as we look fully to Jesus, God’s Spirit gives us the strength to persevere so we don’t lose heart, and it also starts to change our behaviour both in the way we live and in proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord (2 Corinthians 4:1-5). As we turn our eyes upon Jesus, not only does the old covenant fade away, but so do our old ways of living and the cares of this world.

May the words of Helen Lemmel a century ago be our prayer: 

Local congregation:
Grace Communion Peterborough
Farcet Village Hall                                                    
Main Street
Farcet
Peterborough
PE7 3AN

Meeting time:
Sunday 11.00 am

Local congregational contact:
Richard Dempsey
Email:  richard.dempsey@btinternet.com
Local church website: GRACE COMMUNION CHURCH PETERBOROUGH – Landing Page

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church