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Beholding the Glory of God in Christ, Part I

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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.

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