Kennedy: "The glory of the Old Covenant and the superlative glory of the New Covenant are that they show us Christ"

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

“Now, we are gazing on the glory of the Christ of the New Covenant. We do so through the whole Bible. We are not yet beholding Christ directly. Yes, our hearts are unveiled. But the glory of Christ is seen in the Word of God. The glory of the face of Jesus Christ is seen through the Bible. The glory of the Old Covenant and the superlative glory of the New Covenant are that they show us Christ. So, there is a great value in reading, studying and preaching the Old Testament. There, those in Christ, see the glory of Christ.

“...Seeing the glory of Christ through the whole Bible transforms us. As we gaze on Him through the Bible, we are transformed into the image of Christ as from glory to glory. Two things may be intimated here. Our transformation is actually progressive glorification. Or, we are being transformed by moving from the glory of the Old Covenant through to the glories of the New Covenant. Either way, we will be changed by seeing the glory of Christ in the glory of the old, fading as it was and in glory of the new, superlative as it is.

“...There is much that would distract us from the centrality of Christ through His Word and Spirit. There are many attractive substitutes for Word ministry – may we be a people who will revel in Christ in the Word publicly proclaimed and privately ministered.

“...Learn your Old Testaments. See Christ therein. See His great glory there. We study the Old Testament so that we will see the variegated glories of Christ shining through their pages. We do not read them as Jews. We do not read them as though we were a synagogue. We read them as Christians. We see Christ in them because He is in them. We do so because Christ taught that He was in them. We do so because the New Testament saw Christ in them. So while the Old Covenant itself fades, its remaining glory to be seen by believing and un-veiled hearts is the very glory of Christ.

"May we be transformed by seeing the glory of Christ all through the Bible. The transforming power of beholding Christ emerges from the pages of the whole Bible. We are transformed from glory to glory as we see Him there. Want to grow and change? Want to reflect Christ to others? Gaze on Him in the pages of your Bible.” – Russ Kennedy, “The Fading Glory”, mp3