The wisdom of beholding! The grand design of the eye! The
eyes are gateways of fascination. The affections of the heart follow the locked
gaze of the eyes. The God of pleasure designed us to delight in that which we
behold. Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If
therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your
eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light
that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Simply put, whatever
you focus your gaze on is what you become. Don’t commit your gaze to anything
less than the nobility of Jesus. That is why Jesus called us to consider the
gravity of our lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh in Matthew 5:29, “If
your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is
more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole
body to be cast into hell.”
The first step into holy, violent love is to fix the
adoring gaze of the heart on the person of Jesus. It takes fierce determination
to believe that we can approach the Almighty for communion, for the many enemies
of the soul try to subvert this process of God revealing God to the human heart.
We can live our lives doing religious services and exercises, yet never gazing,
never adoring the object of worship. We were made for encounter, for
experiencing the presence and depths of God. Even fragments of revelation are
enough to transform and thrill the human heart. Dim glimpses of God are enough
to fascinate the heart, transform the mind, and apprehend the will to gaze on
glory.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians
3:17-18
The highest pleasure of the human race is for God to reveal
Himself to us. This is more pleasurable and intoxicating, wondrous, and
terrifying than any other thing in the universe. We were made to experience His
depths, to search the vast ocean of His Deity, to mine the treasures that
creation longs to look into.
At the end of the age, God’s strategy will be to unfold the
splendor of His Son in such a way that lovesickness, wholeheartedness, and
exploits of faith are produced in His people.
“In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and
glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those
of Israel who have escaped.” Isaiah 4:2. “In that day the Lord of Hosts
will be a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His
people.” Isaiah 28:5
John Owen says it this way in his book the The
Glory of Christ. “It is by beholding the glory of
Christ by faith we are spiritually edified and built up in this world, for as we
behold His glory, the life and power of faith grow stronger. It is by faith that
we grow to love Christ. So if we desire strong faith and powerful love, which
give us rest, peace and satisfaction, we must seek them by diligently beholding
the glory of Christ by faith. In this duty I desire to live and to die. On
Christ’s glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see the
glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my
eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world. It will become to me
like something dead and putrid, impossible for me to enjoy.”
Let us fix our mind’s eye on that which reveals the glory of
Christ Jesus in His divine-human person. It is the most noble and beneficial
pursuit to set our hearts on, now and forever. Consider these guidelines below
as you begin or continue the process of beholding:
1. Diligently study the bible and the revelation of His glory
revealed there, staying within the safe confines of
2 Corinthians 12:4 and Revelation 10:4. Scripture includes
direct descriptions of His glorious person and incarnation, prophecies, and
clear instructions concerning Him, leading our thoughts to behold His
glory. Psalms, hymns, and poetry are a faithful source of scripture that will
lead our soul to marvel as His beauty.
2. Meditate frequently on His glory.
3. Let your thoughts of Christ be many, increasing more and
more each day.
4. Let all our thoughts concerning Christ and His glory be
accompanied with admiration, adoration, and thanksgiving.
5. Ask to behold Him in dreams, visions, and visitations. Ask
God to reveal Christ to you in all the many facets of divine communication.
Dedicate your sleep to God, asking Him to reveal His person and ways through
dreams.
6. Say ‘breath’ prayers throughout the day, unceasingly
praying to the Lord in all of the daily menial affairs.
7. As you behold Him, worship Him with Psalms, hymns,
spiritual songs. Sing and pray with your mind and with your Spirit. Paul tells
us that when we pray and sing with our mind, we gain understanding; when we pray
with our spirit, we speak mysteries unto God and edify ourselves. “For he who
speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him;
however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks
edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue
edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” 1 Corinthians
14:1-2.
There is a battle for our hearts, and it begins with the
eyes. Our gaze is the very method by which we are transformed by the knowledge
of God through a fascinated, lovesick heart. Enjoy Him as you behold.
Father, teach us, help us to gaze upon the beauty of Your
Son. Renew our minds, transform our hearts, and set our lives on a course to
behold His glory all the days of our life.
