THE CAUSE OF CHANGE

" . . . but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:2)

HERE, THE SPIRIT DECLARES the cause of our ultimate appointed "change." "We shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (NASB). When the Spirit says "see Him as He is," He does not suggest that the vision of faith is not accurate. Rather, it is not complete, being only introductory to what is to come. As powerful as faith is, it only introduces us to the glory of Christ. That does not mean faith is inferior. Faith can perceive whatever has been revealed. It only introduces us to the glory of Christ because we have an introductory revelation. This accents the greatness of the glory the Lord Jesus possesses.

HOWEVER, WE WILL YET SEE HIM in a new and indescribable way. God will yet show Him to us fully, withholding no part of His glory from us. That is involved in the promise, "Which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Tim 6:15-16).

IT IS THE SIGHT ITSELF that will change us! This should not surprise us, because we have already experienced an introduction to this kind of transformation. The new birth itself is effected by exposure to the glory of God. Here is how it is stated in the fourth chapter of Second Corinthians. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). The means by which the transformation takes place is "the face of Jesus Christ." The One accomplishing it is "God." The objective is to give us "the light of the glory of God," or cause us to "participate in the Divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4).

THE ONLY EFFECTIVE UNDERSTANDING of God comes through Jesus Christ – "the face of Christ." Further, it is the Gospel that opens Christ Jesus to us. As we behold that glory, by faith, we "are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory" by the very "Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor 3:18, NIV). Just as the glory of God changed the face of Moses, so the glory of Jesus changes the character of the saints, who are exposed to that glory through faith and by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 3:7-9,18).

CONSEQUENTLY, THE LESS WE ARE EXPOSED to Jesus and His glory, the less spiritual change takes place, and the less we are conformed to the image of God's Son. We are not molded into Christ's image by human expression, such as praise or worship, but by exposure to glory. We do not become more like Jesus by following a set of rules and procedures, but by beholding the glory of God "in the face of Christ Jesus." When Jesus is preached, the door to moral and spiritual change is opened.

THIS SAME PROCESS will occur when Jesus comes again in all of His own glory, the glory of His Father, and the glory of the holy angels (Lk 9:26). Not only will the heavens and the earth flee from before His face (Rev 20:11), but all that has concealed the saints of God will also be removed. Then their transformation will be complete, and they will fully "bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor 15:49). Until that time, however far we may have advanced, we are still in a state of transition – of being conformed to the image of God's Son.

AS AN ADDENDUM to this observation, it is only to the degree that we see Christ NOW, that any effective change is wrought within us. The kind of change God has determined cannot be accomplished by moral disciplines, however hallowed they may be. Souls who refuse to look to Jesus (Heb 12:2) cannot be changed into His likeness. They have, by that refusal, shut themselves into a condemned state in which there is no spiritual change – there is only condemnation. The need for such a change is what condemned us in the first place.

IN VIEW OF THIS CIRCUMSTANCE, we should make much of Jesus in our preaching. His atoning death, effective intercession, and return in glory must be in the forefront of all our preaching and teaching. How succinctly this is stated in the ninth chapter of Hebrews. Three appearings are mentioned, all of which are imperative for our salvation. "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to APPEAR in the presence of God for us . . . but now, once at the end of the ages, He has APPEARED to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself . . . To those who eagerly wait for Him He will APPEAR a second time, apart from sin, for salvation" (Heb 9:24-28, NJKV). His appearing to put away sin provided a righteous basis for our initial change – the new birth. His present appearing provides the means for our continued change "from glory unto glory" – sanctification. His "second" appearing will be the means of our final transformation, when we will "be like Him" – Resurrection.

THE CONSIDERATION OF THESE THINGS brings great grace and encouragement to the soul.

– Given O. Blakely