Glory into Glory

‘All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another.’

(2 Corinthians 3: 19)

Once more we find ourselves in this season of Lent, a time of preparation, spiritual discipline, repentance etc.

As I did last Advent, I plan to try and post on my blog somewhat more frequently during Lent.

A lot of things have been going through my mind in the days approaching Lent. Questions arose in my mind, some a little deeper than others;

Why do we do Lent? (those of us who do!)

What does repentance mean and signify?

What do Christians mean when they speak about ‘holiness’?

Am I going to give up (or ‘take up’) anything for Lent?

...and so on and on.

As I pondered these my thoughts began to turn to the concept of theosis which – as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Churches is a transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God. A rough translation might be ‘divinisation’ as in the words of St Athanasius who famously said ‘He was incarnate that we might be made divine’.

These are not concepts that have generally been popular in Western Christianity and have even been regarded as heresy by some parts of the Western Church.

And I can understand why (but won’t bore you with that here!).

But I see this as a biblical emphasis which is one that makes sense to me. It emphasises a process of becoming more like God – a process made possible by the Incarnation and enabled by the Spirit at work in us.

Paul said ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you...’ (Philippians 2: 12-13). We are in a process of becoming. God is working within us to effect the transformation that we require and seek. But we are to work with him in this process (and – again – to some Christians in the West, even this may be a little controversial!)

This all fits with my own experience and understanding. It is a process, and I cannot do it by myself, but neither can I expect the transformation to occur unless I cooperate and work with God who is at work in me.

We are being changed from glory into glory.