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.
