More From The Mountain

This past Sunday morning we spent some time on the 'Mountain of Transfiguration' trying to appreciate what that passage has to teach us and what God wants us to take away from it. We looked at the account in Mark 9 and then at Peter’s later reference to his experience there in 2Peter 1. We didn’t have the time to go to a few other passages that would have been helpful so I have decided to share them here. If you were able to hear the message on Sunday then I urge you to consider the ending you didn’t hear:

James didn’t get to write a whole lot about the experience, maybe because Herod had him killed early on. John simply said it this way, “We have seen His glory.” Jn 1:14

Paul was a little different. He met the glorified Christ after He had risen and ascended. When Paul (then known as Saul) was on the road traveling to Damascus to persecute Christians there, Christ appeared to him in all His glory and Paul’s description of his experience then was very similar to that of Peter, James and John … “I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun…” (Acts 26:13)

Now, as regarding the greatness and significance of Christ and what He means to us as we seek to live for Him, here is what Paul had to say in his letter to the Colossians:

Col 1:15-20
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Col 2:6-10
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

That is where I was really hoping to end up on Sunday but, as I say, the time just wasn’t sufficient for it. But these passages from Paul’s pen go a long way towards helping us appreciate what it means to live a ‘Christ centred’ life. Our focus needs to be always upon Him. What is needed in our lives is not 5 keys to an effective prayer life or 6 steps to a healthy marriage or any other list. Sometimes this type of ‘principle’ approach can produce some desirable results and as such can be part of the big picture. But so often they take our focus off of the main thing upon which everything else depends. If we focus on performance or activity we will not get the results we are ultimately looking for in our lives. The lives we are called to live for Him depend upon us getting to know Christ better every day and trusting Him more in every way. The same goes for those we are trying to reach for Him. We need to consistently be pointing them towards Christ, “… for in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ”.