Advent Week 2; Behold and Become

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem

Come and behold Him Born the King of Angels O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord!

This Christmas season we have another opportunity to behold the glory of God, and as we behold Him we are inevitably becoming more like His Son. But you may ask the question, how do you behold the glory of God? This hymn gives us a clue into one of the primary ways by which we accomplish this goal.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “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.” I would like to focus our minds now to how we can see and savor God’s glory through 3 clear avenues.

We See His Glory through His Creation

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

As believers we should be full of praise to God for the beauty he has so graciously given to us. When you see a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or you marvel at the splendor of the mountains, or even in your pondering of science and the complexity of something as specific as the human eyeball, give praise to the one worthy. Those things do not just happen. The Creator of the world, our Heavenly Father, has created so much for us to enjoy. We can savor His goodness in what we may think of as simple things, but really our enjoyment of our favorite dessert is even a gift of His gracious handiwork. The sky proclaims His wonderful working. His power, His glory, and His authority are revealed in the world around us. This Christmas season let’s behold Him in the gifts He has given. Let's worship and adore Him as we stand in awe at His creation.

We See His Glory through His Word

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

If you are not spending time daily interacting with the Word of God, then you will fall far from experiencing the blessing of His glory through Scripture. 2 Corinthians 3:18 I quoted at the beginning of this post, and it is my favorite verse in Scripture. In our dependence we cling to His word. In His work He is changing us. What may initially seem like a duty will inevitably become a delight if you spend time pursuing knowledge that leads to heart transformation. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Our responsibility is a diligent pursuit of renewing our minds. Mind renewal takes place as we are digging into His word. God promises us our change into Christlikeness as we stay faithful in our dependent, obedient living.

This Christmas season we should spend time studying God’s word and who He is so that we may be becoming more like His Son as we behold Him more and more through His word. The Christmas story is sobering and humbling yet also thrilling and joyful. Meditating on the Christmas story as well as the gospel will further our heart’s worship of our Lord and King. As we know Him more in an experiential way by beholding Him in His word, we will become more like Him. And as we become more like Him, we better glorify Him.

We See His Glory through His Son

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15).

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

This truth is something to get excited about. The Word, Jesus, became flesh and we get to see His glory. “The glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). In seeing the glory of Christ, we simultaneously see the glory of God. In Christ we have the fullest expression of the glory of God. As we read in the hymn, "come and behold Him" we are privileged with not only beholding Jesus Christ but also God the Father. "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" (2 Corinthians 4:6). So if we are striving to better understand and see the glory of God, a natural conclusion would be to absorb everything we can about what we know about Christ. In studying the person of Christ, we will see God’s glory. And in studying the person of Christ we will be again reminded of our unworthiness, humbled by His love, and a proper response to our salvation would be continually striving to see His glory and loop every ounce of glory back to worship of Him. He is worthy.

Our hearts should then cry out, “Oh come let us adore Him!” And let us now adore Christ this Christmas season by beholding God through His creation, through His word, and through His Son.