Skip to main content

Beholding the Glory of God in Christ, Part I

Image
By
Ephesians 5:8 teaches believers that “at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” This is an awesome truth and since it is in the Word of God we believe it, but the question is this: how does this work? In the ebb and flow of daily life, how do believers transform from darkness to light?

In brief, here are my answers: (1) We transform from darkness to light by beholding the glory of God in the face of Christ [2 Corinthians 4:6]; (2) We grow in holiness and Christ-likeness by beholding the glory of God in the face of Christ [2 Corinthians 3:18]; and (3) The destiny of every Christian is to be thoroughly and totally transformed by beholding the glory of God in the face of Christ [1 John 3:1-3].

If what I’ve suggested is true, then the question becomes this: How do we behold the glory of God in the face of Christ? There are many important answers to this question, but over the next two weeks I want to offer you two thoughts from John Owen’s The Glory of Christ (Banner of Truth Trust: Carlisle, PA, 1994).

Owen writes, “How, then, can we behold the glory of Christ? We need, firstly, a spiritual understanding of his glory as revealed in Scripture” (115). Owen does not explain what he means by this, but I take him to mean that we cannot behold his glory until we have come to faith in him. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, the “natural person” must be overcome by grace through faith in order to have sight of Christ. But ironically, the way the “natural person” is overcome is by being granted the sight of Christ.

Consider 2 Corinthians 4:6—“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” And consider the implications of the language in Ephesians 1:18 and Hebrews 10:32, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened…but recall the former days when, after you were enlightened” (see also John 1:9 & 2 Tim. 1:10). 

The implication of these verses is that coming to faith in Christ is equal to seeing the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ and believing in him. Darkness flees in the presence of light, and when the light of Christ overcomes the “natural person” he or she is now in a place, more properly, to behold and comprehend and enjoy and praise the glory of Christ. Thus, we behold the glory of Christ by seeking Christ. More next week.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord, by George Muller

By Anonymous
To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord By George Muller “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. “I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflective Glory: How the Moon Displays the Mercy of God

By
Our sun is a fitting metaphor for the glory of God. In the context of our solar system, it is massive, bright, beautiful, powerful, self-sufficient, heat-producing, life-giving, and dangerous. It is, by far, the dominant feature of our solar system and without it the system would fling apart and all living things therein would die.  On the other hand, our moon is a fitting metaphor for human beings, especially for those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, compared to the sun, the moon is tiny and dim. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, its mass is 27 million times greater than the mass of the moon, and from our perspective its light shines 450,000 times brighter than that of the moon. The sun is so much greater than the moon that it’s difficult to quantify and express the difference. Likewise, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is so much great than each and all of us that it’s impossible to quantify or express the difference. Indeed, the Lord is very great and greatly...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sermon Questions - April 10, 2016

By
Exiled in Faithfulness 1 Samuel 26:1-27:12 April 10, 2016 Study Questions 1.       Read 1 Samuel 26:1-5. Why did the Ziphites betray David? Had they done this before? How did Saul respond and why? How did David learn of Saul’s location and what did he do? 2.     Read 1 Samuel 26:6-16. What did David first do? What did Abishai encourage him to do? How did David respond? What did David assert about Saul’s future? What did David then do and why did his plan work? 3.      Once the plan was executed, who did David call out to and why? Of what did David accuse him? Was David right? 4.      Read 1 Samuel 26:17-25. How did Saul know it was David speaking? Specifically, what did David say to Saul? How did Saul respond? What did he promise? 5.        Read 1 Samuel 27:1-4. Despite Saul’s words, what did David think about his future? Why did he decide to flee to the Philistines and where in pa...
Post a Comment
Read more