Unveiled Faces

In this morning’s sermon text, Paul continues his contrast between the Old and New Covenants. Because of Jesus’s coming, the veil that Moses used to hide the evidence of God’s glory is removed (v. 16), and we can behold the glory face to face (v. 18). But we don’t merely see it, we are transformed to be like it. This imagery of veils and faces can be found in many of the hymns we sing this morning. In the first half of the service, we confess that the Lord’s glory is so bright, it must be “hid from our eyes” (Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise). Though we rest on His grace, at times “darkness veils His lovely face” (My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less). But we also look forward to Christ’s coming in beauty, when “we His face shall see” (The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns). Receiving assurance that our sins are forgiven, we can “look full in His wonderful face,” making the cares and follies of this world grow “strangely dim” (Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus). We are invited to the table as a foretaste of the day when we will “stand in glory” face to face with our Savior (There Is A Redeemer), experiencing in full the “beauty of holiness” (The Voice Of The Lord Is Over The Waters—Psalm 29). Our service concludes with a vision of eternity, when we ascend to Heaven “on eagles’ wings” (The God Of Abraham Praise). There we will “behold His face,” and join with the angels, archangels, and all the saints that precede us in death, singing “the wonders of His grace forever more.” —Henry C. Haffner & Emma Marsh