Fighters, Beholders, Believers

I love this excerpt from Gospel-centered Discipleship by Jonathan Dodson. It touches on the battle of our faith, the battle to behold the Beautiful One. There is a sublimity to the Christian walk. There is battle, blood, and beauty in this life we are called to.

In summary, disciples of Jesus are called to fight, not in physical or virtual combat, but for the noble cause of everyday faith in Jesus. We are called to beauty, not through performance, but by beholding Jesus. We fight to behold the image of the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. This faith fights not for perfection, but for belief. We fight to believe that Jesus is more precious, satisfying, and thrilling than anything else this world has to offer. This is faith in the gospel-the grand announcement that Jesus has defeated sin, death, and evil through his own death and resurrection and is making all things new, even us. When we believe the gospel, we get to enjoy the promises of God's grace, peace, and joy. When we don't believe the gospel, we move away from these things. most of all, we move away from Jesus, who is worth our every effort, every gaze, and every belief.

(Dodson, Jonathan K. Gospel-centered Discipleship. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. Print. 59-60)

A vision correcting gospel

This is a fantastic excerpt by Jonathan K. Dodson from his book Gospel Centered Discipleship. Every sentence in this passage is worth contemplating. The Piperian paradigm of sanctification (Piper didn't invent it, but I first encountered it through him), beholding-is-becoming-ism, has become something that I find very helpful. In his book, Dodson formulates helpful discipleship issues and ideas along the same lines.

Only by looking to Jesus can our disfigured image be restored and our contemptuous disregard forgiven. When we look away from ourselves into the face of Christ, we behold "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). This gospel knowledge corrects our vision so that we not only behold but also become the image of the glory of God in Christ. True nobility and beauty converge in the image of Jesus.

It is a fundamental truth that we become what we behold. Children become like their parents; interns become like their mentors. If we behold the beauty of Christ, we become beautiful like Christ. While it is true that our first glance into the face of Christ restores our image (Rom. 5:1-2; 8:29-30), it is also true that we drift back into fashioning our own distorted image. We slip into our own distorted forms of masculinity and femininity. The gospel calls us back to look at Jesus over and over again. A disciple of Jesus is a person who so looks at Jesus that he or she actually begins to reflect his beauty in everyday life. The gospel gives us the eyes to Jesus as well as the power to look like him. It changes us into the image of his glory: "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor. 3:18). This transformative vision comes from the presence and power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17-18) ... gospel-centered disciples rely on the Spirit, who focuses our hearts' attention on Jesus, where beholding him results in becoming like him. This goal is worth fighting for.

Beholding is becoming

There has been, over the past couple of years, a study for and an appreciation of the whole concept of "beholding is becoming" in light of our sanctification as believers. Two books in particular brought this idea home to my head and my heart: One Thing by Sam Storms and God is the Gospel by John Piper. Essentially, this concept suggests that the way become Christ-like is through the beholding of Christ.

There is a rule of the soul that we become what we worship. That thing that captures our affection and admiration is that thing which we, willingly or not, aspire to become like. In terms of Christ, it follows that if we who have the Spirit in us behold him then we will worship him. And in worshiping him we will become like him. The Scripture passage which is not alone in its declaration of this truth but is most often cited is from 2 Corinthians 3; verse 18 reads, "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." Our beholding the glory of Christ is the effectual antecedent to our transformation into his image.

This morning in my devotional reading of Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53 by James Durham, I came across the following quote:

The reason why we press you to this [the study of Christ and his works] , is, not only that you may have more clear theory and contemplation, but also, and mainly, that your affections may be delighted in him, and that your faith may, without hink [scruple] or hesitation, come to give him credit...there is no study more pleasant, more precious, and more profitable. (218)

Durham is imploring the reader to study-an intense beholding as it were-Christ and his works resulting in a clear understanding of the doctrinal distinctives pertain to the Son of God as well as causing one's affections for Christ to be raised. This raising of our affections is nothing less than an ascribing to and recognition  of the worth of Christ, or, a worshiping of him. Which leads, via the Spirit, our transformation.

Make it a regular habit of yours to behold the Son; you will become more like him.

Benefits of beholding

A constant view of the glory of Christ will revive our souls and cause our spiritual lives to flourish and thrive. Our souls will be revived by the transforming power with which beholding Christ is always accompanied. This is what transforms us daily into the likeness of Christ. So let us live in the constant contemplation of the glory of Christ, and power will then flow from him to us, healing all our declensions, renewing a right spirit in us and enabling us to abound in all the duties that God requires of us. (Law, R. J. K. The Glory of Christ. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994. Print. 167)

We see in this excerpt by John Owen that there are many benefits to beholding the glory of Christ:

• revival of our souls
• spiritual flourishing
• daily transformation to Christlikeness
• power flowing to us from Christ
• healing of declensions
• renewed spirits
• abounding in our God-given duties

Aside from the fact that this is what we ought to do, let us consider the benefits as a means of encouraging us to behold Him!

How can we behold the glory of Christ?

John Owen, in his work The Glory of Christ, addresses a question dealing with the means and methods of beholding the glory of Christ:

How then can we behold the glory of Christ? We need, firstly, a spiritual understanding of his glory as revealed in Scripture. Secondly, we need to think much about him if we wish to enjoy him fully.

In regards to his first point-having a spiritual and Scriptural understanding-he writes, "If we are satisfied with vague ideas about him we shall find no transforming power communicated to us." Thus, our primary need in beholding the glory of Christ is an understanding that is both spiritual and Scriptural. "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 Corinthians 2:14 ESV) Without the imparting of a revelation from the Holy Spirit-the regeneration of our spirits initially and a revelatory illumination continually-we have no hope of beholding his glory. Furthermore, the primary source of this knowledge is Scripture. We need to be in God's Word if we wish to behold the glory of the Son of God.

To his second point, thinking much about him, Owen declares, "But when we cling wholeheartedly to him and our minds are filled with thoughts of him and we constantly delight ourselves in him, then spiritual power will flow from him to purify our hearts, increase our holiness, strengthen our graces, and sometimes fill us 'with joy inexpressible and full of glory'". From earlier on in this treatise on Christ's glory we are convinced of the author's stance that transformative workings of God such as a purified heart or an increased holiness are only worked in us through the beholding of Jesus' glory. Therefore, he writes here that the results described come from beholding his glory, and to behold his glory we must cling wholeheartedly and think thoroughly and delight constantly; that is we need to "think much about him".

Our beholding of Christ is a twofold process, one foundational and the other dependent on the first. The spiritual work of God is essential to us beholding Christ. We can not accomplish this by ourselves. But, God, having done a work in us, requires us to work in him by clinging and thinking and delighting on Christ. This is the path to beholding the glory of Christ.