The Transforming Secret We’ve Missed
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…. II Corinthians 3:18
How does this transformation take place? Exactly how do we “behold the glory…? DON’T MISS THIS !
As I studied more about the path to transformation, I continued to find more references to the power of the mind. It might seem as though I’ve belabored this point, but it took me a while to be convinced that there wasn’t more to it than this. If you’re having the same doubts then maybe my sharing the multitude of evidence I saw in God’s Word will help you as it did me. Furthermore, looking back I can honestly say that primarily…this change is what brought change. Since ultimately this is the essence of what ‘walking in the spirit’ is about (Romans 8:4-5), and since it is by walking in the spirit that we stop fulfilling the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16), well, I consider this topic worth revisiting.
So, let me share another of my discoveries… yet another reference to transformation and how it occurs.
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 from the Lord, the Spirit. II Corinthians 3:18
In light of what I’d learned about the importance of what I focus my attention on, I couldn’t help but notice the word ‘beholding’ in this verse about transformation. The word ‘behold’ means to see or observe, thus beholding has to do with what we’re looking at. Once again, this confirmed everything the Lord had been showing me about the connection between my transformation and my concentration. I was beginning to conclude that my fruit was determined by my focus, that to walk in the spirit I was to set my mind on the realities of my recreated spirit. However, according to this scripture, on what was my mind to be set? What was I supposed to be beholding?
Beholding…the glory of the Lord
So how exactly was I to behold the glory of the Lord? Was I to set my mind and focus on all His wonderful attributes, meditating on His holiness and splendor? In doing so, would I then be miraculously transformed into that same image? Is that what it meant to ‘behold the glory of the Lord’?
You might guess what I did at this point. I conducted another search, consulting commentaries to uncover the meaning of ‘beholding the glory’. What did I find? As you might expect, yet again, I found more exhortations concerning what I must do. Read the Scriptures to behold the glory. Pray and spend time with God as Moses had when his face shone with glory. Need I say that I felt the same disappointment as at other times to think that transformation depended on my efforts once again? I was willing to believe these opinions, especially since I was almost trying to prove myself wrong for fear that I’d over-simplified things. (see Really? and Metamorphosis). However, so much had lined up thus far that I continued to dig for truth, relying on God’s spirit to lead me. (John 16:13)
As I researched the meaning of the word ‘behold/beholding’ I discovered something amazing. These words are used nearly two hundred times in the New Testament, but the word that is used in this verse is used only once. The word used here is not simply ‘beholding’, it is actually ‘beholding as in a mirror’. There is a difference.
How is it different? Well, I can do some ‘beholding’ in a lot of different places. I can do some beholding in a garden and see flowers. I can do some beholding in a forest and see trees. But remember, this scripture doesn’t say ‘beholding’….it says ‘beholding as in a mirror’. So if I go to a mirror to do some beholding, what do I see? Beholding in a mirror…I see ME! So according to II Corinthians 3:18, we are not told to behold the glory of the Lord, we are told to behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. Therefore, the transformation promised in this verse comes from beholding the glory of the Lord IN ME!!!!
Most Christians (including those commentators) explain beholding God’s glory as looking to see what God looks like. But when I go to a mirror I don’t go to see what the mirror looks like…I go to see what I look like. Unless I’ve got glass cleaner in my hand, my focus is not on what the mirror looks like, but on what I look like.
Transformation comes by beholding the glory of the Lord IN YOU. As we see the glory of the Lord that is within we will begin to reflect that glory for, truly, it is….
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27
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