When We Look to Jesus

Sinful asceticism is described in Colossians 2:20-23. Here
Paul has in mind those who impose man-made rules concerning the body
and one’s behavior as a means for enhancing one’s relationship with God.

Paul finds fault with this approach to the Christian life
on several grounds, including the fact that such rules are man-made, not
divinely given. These rules, prohibitions and self-denial that spring
from man’s own religious creativity are utterly ineffective in curbing
the desires of the flesh (see v. 23).

But Paul does have a remarkably simple remedy for fleshly
indulgence. It is found in Colossians 3:1-2: “If then you have been
raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not
on the things that are on earth” (NASB, emphasis added).

Holiness, in this case the ability to say no to the flesh,
comes from a mind captivated and controlled by the beauty and majesty
of the risen Christ and all that we are in Him in the heavenlies!

The apostle is not averse to calling us away from the
earthly temptations of the flesh. But only because he has something
incomparably more glorious to which he has already called us—namely,
Jesus and the grandeur of heaven.

Beholding His Glory

Becoming like Jesus is the fruit of beholding Jesus. We
will take on the characteristics, values and qualities of whatever we
most cherish and to which we devote our hearts and minds.

This is Paul’s point in 2 Corinthians 3:18 when he says
that “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.”

I believe the transforming vision of the glory of Jesus is
found in the anointed portrayal of Him in holy Scripture. When we drink
from the fountain of Scripture, Jesus comes alive in our souls, and His
beauty and loving presence are indelibly stamped on our hearts.

Paul’s mirror analogy speaks of an experience wherein we
are transformed from our fallen and rebellious image into that of Jesus
Himself. “Seeing” Jesus in the Word effects an inward change in the core
of our souls and transforms the disposition of our hearts in terms of
what we love, desire, cherish and hate.

Would that this change might happen once and for all,
forever putting to rest the daily struggle! But this experience of
sanctification is progressive, taking us from one stage of glory to
another.

Hoping in Him

Whereas the indirect vision of Christ in Scripture
sanctifies us progressively, seeing Him face to face in the future will
sanctify us wholly. In either case, it is our apprehension of Christ
that sanctifies (see 1 John 3:2-3).

There is some dispute as to the precise causal
relationship between the vision of Christ and our final glorification.
Some argue that holiness is a prerequisite to the vision of Christ and
thus must precede it.

More likely, though, is the view that when Christ appears
the Father will unleash a power in His people that will forever expel
all sinful impulses from their souls and replace them with the mind,
will, disposition and character of Christ Himself.

The possession now of such hope—securely fixed upon Him—is
the strongest imaginable incentive to purity of life. Simply stated,
the Christian hope is incompatible with moral indifference. The mind
that is singularly fixed on meeting Jesus at His return will discover a
renewed power to pursue righteousness.

This transformation will go far beyond a mere alteration
of how we act and talk and look. We will not merely decline to sin; we
will despise sin itself.

It takes my breath away to think of a day when my mind
will be utterly free and void of greedy, lustful, envious, bitter
thoughts. It’s not that in heaven I’ll have the strength I now lack to
say no to sin. I won’t need the strength because I’ll forever be
delivered of a nature that could even want to sin.

Oh, for the day when our hearts will instinctively recoil
from the slightest contact with sin. Oh, for the day when, upon seeing
Jesus, we will forever disdain contamination by the world, the flesh and
the devil.

John’s vision is thus of an intense, inner purification
from sin because of a deep sensibility to it. And those who now long for
that moment, who have fixed their hope on that day, whose souls now
pant for the presence of Jesus, purify themselves now even as Jesus
Himself is pure (see 1 John 3:3).

Personal transformation is the product, not so much of
seeing the ugliness of sin as of seeing the beauty of the Savior. Fix
your eyes on the One who is pure, gentle and merciful, who endured so
much for us. Consider Jesus. Meditate on Him.

Sam Storms is associate pastor at Metro Christian
Fellowship in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of numerous books,
including The Singing God (Creation House). He desires to see
the Word and the Spirit united in the lives of all believers. Adapted
from Pleasures Evermore by Sam Storms, copyright © 2000.
Published by NavPress. Used by permission.