The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian View of Spirituality:3-5 by Francis A. Schaeffer

Author:Francis A. Schaeffer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Schaeffer, Classics, Christian
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

And it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening. And, behold, there talked with him two men, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem... . And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son; hear him.

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself (or renounce himself)” (9:23). That is the same thing we read in Corinthians — not seeking our own “things,” even if we have rights to them.

“Who appeared in glory, and spoke of his decease” — this word “spoke” in the Greek has a sense of continuing to speak; it is not just one short speaking. It is a continuing to speak of Christ’s coming death that is involved here.

Luke 9:35 puts us in a different perspective. “This is my Son: listen to Him!” We have here at the Mount of Transfiguration a preview of Christ in His glory. We have here a preview of that portion of the kingdom of God in which we stand after we have accepted Christ as our Savior. But we are swept on beyond this to the resurrection — not only Christ’s resurrection, but our future resurrection; we are swept on to the reign of Christ, and to eternity.

This is a different perspective. It is a perspective which is completely the antithesis of the world’s perspective, which normally surrounds us. When we begin to look at these words in this setting, this totally other perspective — the perspective of the kingdom of God rather than the perspective of the fallen world and our own fallen nature — it is different. Pressure is put upon us by a world that does not want to say “no” to self — not just for a minor reason, but out of principle, because people are determined to be the center of the universe. When we step out of that very black perspective and into the perspective of the kingdom of God, then these negatives which are laid upon us take on an entirely different aspect.

You notice that they kept speaking of Christ’s coming death. It was the topic of conversation. We are not told how long they talked, but it was not the speaking of a single phrase. It was a conversation that continued; they spoke, kept speaking, of His coming death. Remember that when John the Baptist introduced Jesus Christ, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” As he introduced Jesus Christ, he directed consideration to Christ’s death. Here on the Mount of Transfiguration, in this environment of the kingdom of God, the conversation was involved with an extended talk about Christ’s coming death.

Here then is the wonder of wonders, the wonder of the ages.

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