Members Behold Christ

ME (A hook):

This past week,

I came across a really interesting short story.

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It’s called “The Great Stone Face” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

It begins with this mountain overlooking a small village.

On this mountain etched in stone,

Was the face of a man.

Village legend taught that one day,

A wise man with that face would come to the village,

And would be a source of all sorts of blessings for the villagers.

One young boy in the village named Ernest heard the legend.

He longed for the day that man would come.

Day after day,

Ernest would gaze upon that great stone face.

He studied every contour,

He thought about all the ways that wise man would bring blessings one day.

As the years went by,

Rumors would pop up here and there about someone coming who resembled the great stone face.

Whenever Ernest would hear these rumors,

He would rush in excitement to see if the wise man had truly come.

But every time,

Ernest could tell the moment he saw one of these visitors,

That it was not the great stone face.

As Ernest grew,

His longing for that man to come never grew weary,

And his love for the village continued to grow.

He became someone the village looked to for wisdom and care.

Then one day,

A man approached Ernest from behind,

While Ernest was gazing on great stone face,

As he often did,

And when Ernest turned to the man,

The man saw Ernest and the great stone face side by side.

Suddenly, the man threw his arms around Ernest in an excited embrace,

And shouted to the other villagers nearby,

“Behold! Behold!

Ernest is the likeness of the Great Stone Face!”

By the end of the story,

Ernest became what he beheld.

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This idea that we become what we behold is an idea I learned from biblical scholar, Jen Wilkin.

And this idea is true in parenting.

If you’ve ever heard the song,

“I’ve Been Watching You” by Rodney Atkins,

Same idea.

It is also true in sports, entertainment, politics, and work.

The more we study a person,

The more we listen to them,

The more we observe them,

The more we begin to emulate them.

Most importantly,

We see this idea in the Bible!

Members Behold Christ!

And in Matt. 17, we see that Christ is worth beholding.

The more we behold Him,

The more we will become like Him.

The more we fix our attention and our affection on Him,

The more our lives will begin to resemble His.

So, our goal anytime we read God’s Word,

Must be to behold our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our passage this morning,

Is one of the most exciting,

Awe-inspiring,

And worship-stirring picture of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel!

And as we see Him,

We should want to conform to His character, His love, and His life.

This is how we grow in Christlikeness,

It is the idea we talk about called sanctification.

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So, as we go through ch. 17 this morning,

We will highlight three overarching aspects of Christ to behold:

Behold Christ’s Glory (vs. 1-13)

Behold Christ’s Grace (vs. 14-21)

Behold Christ’s Gifts (vs. 22-27)

We become what we behold.

WE Behold Christ’s Glory (vs.1-13) (Why does this matter to us?):

While there are multiple portraits of Jesus to behold in this chapter,

We are going to spend most of our time beholding Christ’s glory.

Because we see here that His glory is not just any glory,

His glory is the glory of God.

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Vs. 1 says this display of glory occurs exactly six days after the disciples confess that Jesus is the Christ.

Matthew rarely writes in exact times.

So, he likely included this specific reference to connect their confession with the glorious display that follows,

The transfiguration of Christ.

The disciples are beginning to understand who Jesus truly is,

So, He is quickly moving forward, toward the climax of His work on earth.

His transfiguration is His preparation for this climax.

This account is also in Mark 9 and Luke 9.

And one of the witnesses here,

The Apostle John,

Seems to allude to the transfiguration in John 1:14,

Where He says,

John 1:14 ESV

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.

So, vs. 2 says that Jesus is transfigured.

But what does this mean?

Most simply,

The transfiguration reveals Jesus’ glory as God.

And the way the Bible is written is so incredible.

Outside of this account,

There are only two other places in the NT the word used for transfigured here is also used.

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The first is in Romans 12:2, which says

Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (transfigured, revealing the glory of God) 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.

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The second place is 2 Cor. 3:18,

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (transfigured) into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

So, as we behold the glory of Jesus,

We are transformed (transfigured) into the same glorious image of Jesus,

One degree at a time.

This transformation, Corinthians says, comes from the Holy Spirit,

Whom dwells in us.

This is growing in Christlikeness,

This is sanctification.

So, transfiguration literally means to change form.

As we are transformed into the image of Christ,

We begin to take on a new form.

Christ transforms the way we think, feel, believe, act, and worship.

This is what it means for us to be transfigured.

But Jesus’ transfiguration is different from ours.

Because He is already perfectly sanctified.

So, what is the difference?

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Going back to Matthew,

Jesus is on the mountain with three of His closest friends,

He begins praying,

Then His appearance suddenly changes.

No longer does He conceal His glory as God.

For a moment,

His glory is manifested.

It says a bright light shines from His face,

Which is the radiance of His glory as God’s Son.

This is the way Jesus is introduced at the start of Hebrews,

A letter written to Jewish believers,

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Hebrews 1:1-3 says,

Hebrews 1:1–3 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

God’s OT Word pointed to Jesus.

His clothes becoming white as light,

Is how the Ancient of Days is described in Daniel 7.

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And we also see,

Peter, James, and John aren’t the only ones up on that mountain with Jesus.

Vs. 3 says there are two men of God from the OT there also,

Moses and Elijah.

Most biblical scholars believe Moses is here to represent the OT law.

In Exodus, God met with Moses to give the law to His people.

This meeting took place on a mountain.

Moses asked to see God’s glory.

But God told him that he could not see God’s face or he would die.

So, instead God let His glory pass by Moses.

After Moses got to see God’s glory pass by,

He received the Ten Commandments from God on two stone tablets,

And when he came down from the mountain,

He didn’t realize that his face had been shining brightly from beholding God’s glory.

It was so bright,

That the people had to put a veil over his face.

So, God used Moses to reveal His law.

By doing this,

Moses literally reflected God’s glory.

The other person here with Jesus is Elijah.

Elijah is meant to represent the OT prophets.

So, while Moses reflected God’s glory,

Elijah proclaimed God’s glory.

In 1 Kings 18,

On another mountain,

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal,

By proclaiming the glory of God over these false gods that were being worshiped by God’s people.

In response,

God brought fire down from heaven.

In the next chapter,

Elijah fled for his life,

Hiding out on another mountain,

Where God revealed His glory with impressive displays of power,

And through a still, small voice.

So, God has these two men,

One to represent the law,

Another to represent the prophets,

Both of whom had seen God’s glory on a mountain,

Present as Christ’s glory is revealed on a mountain,

To show how Jesus is the fulfillment of both the law and the prophets,

Just as Hebrews says.

But remember how Hebrews also said that Jesus made purification for sins?

Well that is what Jesus is talking about with Moses and Elijah here.

Although Matthew does not include this detail,

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Luke’s account says they talked about Jesus’ departure.

Other translations say they are talking about His death.

Amazing...

During the revelation of His glory,

Jesus discusses His death with Moses and Elijah.

Because His death is central to His glorious mission.

By His death, He makes purification for sins.

But after His death,

Which makes purification for sins,

Hebrews says,

Jesus rises from the dead then returns to heaven.

The interesting thing about this,

Is the word for departure is the Greek word for exodus.

So, Christ’s departure is not just about Him leaving this world.

It is His way of redeeming His people,

Just as the exodus from Egypt was not just a way for God’s people to leave Egypt,

It was God’s way of liberating His people from slavery,

His way of redeeming His people.

So, once again,

We see that Jesus is the new and greater Moses.

Moses reflected the glory of God,

Jesus reveals it from Himself.

Moses was used by God to deliver His people from slavery,

Jesus was sent by the Father to deliver His people from sin.

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But in vs. 4,

Peter is ready to make a tent for Moses and Elijah and Jesus.

This idea may not make a lot of sense to us.

But basically,

Peter is wanting to make an equal dwelling place for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.

So, Peter is essentially putting these two people on the same level as Jesus.

Which is foolishness!

Jesus is far superior to Moses and Elijah!

The disciples need to get this!

So, in vs. 5, the Father basically tells Peter to be quiet,

Because Jesus is the only one worth beholding!

This is what the transfiguration is all about!

Jesus radiates the glory of God!

For a brief moment,

God pulls back the curtain,

And reveals Christ’s glory,

That had been covered.

As Phil 2:7 describes,

Christ...

Philippians 2:7 (ESV)

...emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

This is the side of Jesus we see play out through the Gospels.

But in ch. 17,

We get this glimpse of His glory revealed.

Just before the Father speaks,

Matthew says, a bright cloud overshadowed the disciples.

This is how God manifested His presence in the OT.

So, the point is to understand,

God is present here,

As He declares,

That Jesus is His beloved Son!

Just as He declared back at Christ’s baptism.

These are the only two times God speaks from heaven in Matthew.

Both times,

He expresses His love for Jesus,

And His delight in His works.

When the Father looks at Jesus,

He cherishes what He sees.

But notice how at the end,

The Father also says to listen to Jesus.

Why?

Because Jesus reveals God’s glory,

As He speaks God’s Word.

In fact,

As John says in his Gospel,

Jesus is the Word made flesh.

This is what the disciples have been learning.

Going back to ch. 16,

When Jesus first told the disciples about His need to suffer and die,

Peter rebuked Him.

So, it is kinda interesting,

As Peter begins to speak up again,

The Father chimes in and basically says,

“Stop talking,

Listen to Jesus!”

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After hearing from the Father in heaven,

The disciples understandably fall facedown in terror.

This is what we see in the OT.

When humankind encounters the glory of God,

It terrifies them!

But Jesus,

God in the flesh,

Comes to the disciples, vs. 7 says,

Touches them,

Then tells them to,

“Get up,

And to not be afraid.”

When they do,

They saw no one left there except Jesus all by Himself.

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Then, in vs. 9,

As they begin to come down the mountain.

Jesus commands them to tell no one about what they saw,

Until after the Son of Man is raised from the dead.

This is very similar to what He said back in 16:20,

After Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ,

The Son of the living God.

Why would Jesus tell this to His disciples?

On one hand,

If the disciples went around proclaiming this before the right time,

It could have instigated a political movement that would have hampered His mission.

We get an idea of this potential in John 6:15,

Where Jesus...

John 6:15 ESV

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

But on the other hand,

What is more likely.

Is that the people did not expect suffering to be a central part of the Messiah’s ministry.

So, after making purification for sins by His death on the cross,

And rising from the dead.

Then, they could talk about the transfiguration,

Because the resurrection makes it clear that Jesus is the Messiah,

And this was all a part of His work on earth.

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But when Jesus talks about the Son of Man here,

The disciples are confused,

The scribes taught that Elijah must come before the great Day of the Lord.

Jesus says, the scribes are right,

Elijah does come first.

As Mal. 4:5 prophesied,

Elijah would come to prepare the way of the Lord.

But, Jesus says,

The scribes failed to recognize that Elijah had already come.

Jesus already identified John the Baptist as Elijah back in 11:14.

But, Jesus had said,

This identification required eyes of faith.

So, if John the Baptist is Elijah,

This leads to a deeper question,

Then how is John the Elijah supposed to restore all things?

At this point, John has already been beheaded.

And as far as they can tell,

He never ushered in some great restoration.

So, their confusion means they still are not understanding the work of the Messiah.

John’s ministry of restoration began with the announcement that the Kingdom of heaven was near,

And the call to repent.

His ministry continued,

By the scribes doing whatever they wanted to him.

Which included having John the Baptist arrested,

Eventually leading to his death.

Jesus says,

This is not only true of John,

He prepared the way for Christ to suffer the same treatment from the scribes,

Leading to His death on the cross.

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This is what Jesus is preparing His disciples for.

His ministry of redemption is accomplished through His suffering and death.

Again, this is completely different from what they were expecting.

They wanted the Messiah to set up God’s Kingdom immediately.

But Jesus teaches that the cross comes before the crown.

There is no true glory apart from the cross.

It is central to Christ’s glory.

That is why amid the display of His glory as God,

Christ was talking about the cross with Moses and Elijah.

From a worldly perspective,

This makes no sense.

But just as it was crucial for the disciples to get this,

It is crucial for us to understand as well.

Because we behold Christ’s glory,

When we behold Christ’s cross.

GOD Behold Christ’s Grace (vs. 14-21) (Teach the text):

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As we turn to vs. 14-21,

We also Behold Christ’s Grace.

Jesus and His disciples come down from the mountain,

And immediately we go from beholding the glory of Christ,

To seeing God stoop down as a man,

Identifying with us in our suffering in this world,

To bring us salvation from sin.

In vs. 14,

Jesus reaches this crowd that had been following Him,

Where a man approaches Him,

Kneels down,

And asks Jesus for mercy on his son,

Who suffers terribly from seizures.

It seems these seizures are a result of demon possession,

Because the demon would cause him to fall into fire or water.

If you have ever witnessed someone suffer from an epileptic seizure,

You know how painful that suffering can be.

And if a fire or a body of water is nearby,

It can be life threatening.

This exemplifies how tragic suffering in this sinful world can be.

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But before Jesus casts out the demon,

He has some harsh words for His disciples,

Calling them a faithless and twisted generation.

Other translations say an unbelieving and perverse generation.

Again, this parallels Moses in the OT.

When Moses came down from the mountain,

To the crowd of God’s people,

He encountered unbelief,

A faithless and twisted generation.

Similarly,

Jesus comes down from the mountain immediately after His transfiguration,

And encounters a lack of faith from His disciples,

To do the very thing He gave them authority to do.

But just as God was gracious and patient with His people in the wilderness,

Enduring their unbelief.

Jesus is gracious and patient with His disciples,

Enduring their unbelief.

And the same is true for us.

Jesus endures our unbelief.

Christ’s grace toward people is on full display here,

And thankfully,

He treats us with that same grace.

A grace that meets our greatest needs.

After rebuking His disciples,

Jesus commands them to bring the boy to Him.

Immediately, He rebukes the demon,

It comes out of the boy,

And from that exact moment,

The boy was healed,

Instantly brought out of his misery.

Jesus is the only One Who has that kind of power.

The power to heal,

The power to save,

The power to deliver,

The power to meet the deepest needs of your life!

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After this miraculous healing,

The disciples approach Jesus privately in vs. 19,

To ask Him why they couldn’t drive the demon out.

Here is where we see that Jesus enables you for His ministry.

We can only wonder what was going on in the minds and hearts of the disciples when they failed to cast out the demon.

I mean,

They had been able to do this earlier in their ministry.

Now, for the third time in Matthew,

Jesus rebukes them for having little faith.

But they are confused because they clearly expected to be successful,

They were surprised when they were not able to heal the boy.

The problem seems to be that their expectation was not properly grounded in relationship to God.

So, Jesus teaches, how just a tiny grain of genuine faith,

Rooted in a trusting submission to God,

Is effective.

In fact,

He says it is enough to command a mountain to move.

Mark’s account of this teaching makes His point even more clear.

Because it adds that prayer is key.

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Perhaps the disciples were treating ministry as something mechanical,

Depending on their own ability instead of on God.

So, Jesus simply points them back to Him,

To trusting in His power,

To focus on Himself as the object of their faith.

Because just a little bit of trust in Him can do great things.

He says that nothing is impossible for you,

If you trust in Christ’s power,

To accomplish Christ’s will,

By beholding Christ’s grace.

YOU Behold Christ’s Gifts (vs. 22-27) (Response):

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Next, we behold a series of Christ’s gifts in vs. 22-27.

For the second time in Matthew,

Jesus predicts His suffering, death, and resurrection.

John Calvin notes here,

“The nearer the time of His death, the more often Christ warned His disciples, lest that particular sorrow should undermine their faith.”

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Jesus was repeatedly preparing His disciples for His certain yet completely willing death.

As a believer today,

You may feel familiar with hearing about the cross.

But put yourself in the place of these disciples.

This is still relatively new for you,

And after all you have just seen and heard,

You have to wonder,

How could anyone overpower Jesus?

He is God in the flesh!

If Jesus is going to die at the hands of men,

As He says He will,

The only way this could possibly happen,

Is if He chooses to die.

If His death was no accident.

Yes, sinful men killed Jesus,

But it is only because He willingly walked into their hands.

Why?

Why would the Son of Man do this?

That seems to be what they are wondering.

Going back to the first time they heard this,

Peter was like, “No way!”

But this time,

No one speaks up,

They are all just deeply distressed.

They’re having a hard time with this.

Jesus also says He will be raised from the dead.

But they are so overwhelmed,

They can’t seem to wrap their minds around the resurrection.

I mean,

Even after He rises from the dead in Luke 24,

They still didn’t believe it was real.

But it was!

The same Jesus who gets nailed to the cross,

Is raised in power, glory, and victory.

He willingly gives Himself as a gift.

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Then, ch. 17 ends with another gift from Christ we must behold!

In vs. 24, we are introduced to who Matthew describes as collectors of the two-drachma tax.

Also called the half-shekel tax or the temple tax.

This is not a Roman tax,

This was collected by specific Jewish leaders for the service of the temple in Jerusalem.

It comes from God’s law in Exodus 30:13.

Every Jewish male over the age of twenty was expected to pay this tax to help provide for the temple.

So, these temple tax collectors are abiding by God’s Word,

They are not trying any sort of scam.

But earlier in Matthew,

Jesus has already claimed to be greater than the temple.

Because He is the literal dwelling place of God,

Who came to usher in a new and greater way to access God,

By giving Himself!

That is what happened when Jesus died on the cross.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two.

So, Jesus and His members have no need to pay the temple tax.

That is the point He is getting at,

As He asks Peter if kings tax their own children or other people?

Peter rightly answers that king’s tax other people.

And Jesus adds,

That it is because the sons are free.

The analogy is a simple one,

God is the King,

Jesus is the Son,

Who is free from having to pay the temple tax.

But the gift is that His members are also God’s children,

Because we are adopted into God’s family by faith in Christ.

This means,

Jesus and His members are not obligated to pay the temple tax.

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Yet, in vs. 27,

Jesus still miraculously provides the tax for Peter and Himself,

By having Peter catch a fish,

Find a shekel in it’s mouth,

And dedicate that shekel to the temple for both of them.

Think about that for a moment.

Jesus in His sovereignty,

Had someone drop a shekel in the water at some point.

Then had the fish swallow it.

Then had the fish swim where He had Peter cast a hook.

All so He could give to Peter the amount needed for the temple tax.

Either that or Jesus made a shekel appear out of nothing in the mouth of the fish.

Either way,

Behold Christ’s miraculous gifts!

In one sense,

Through Christ,

We enjoy a relationship with God that frees us from legal obligations.

But even though we have liberty in Him,

He still has Peter conform here,

Why?

He says to avoid offending them.

Jesus is not working for His own liberty.

He is working for the salvation of others,

And He calls His members to the same.

This is an important model the members of the early church follow.

Later in Romans 14,

The Apostle Paul teaches this same thing.

After demonstrating it twice himself in Acts 16:3 and 21:26.

Jesus calls His members,

God’s children,

To sacrifice our liberty,

To not cause offense,

For the salvation of others.

But even through miraculous ways,

Jesus gifts us what we need to answer this call.

WE (Paint a picture of the future):

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So, in light of all Christ’s glory, grace, and gifts displayed in Matt. 17,

How should we respond?

First, consider Christ’s worth.

He revealed the glory of God,

He is gracious toward our unbelief,

He willingly gave Himself as a gift,

Providing us certain victory over sin and death.

So, how should we respond?

Fall down and worship Him!

Fix your mind,

Your attention,

Your affection on Jesus Christ!

Don’t spend your life on trivial things!

Don’t give yourself to what is temporary!

The things of earth should grow strangely dim,

In the light of Christ’s glory and grace!

Secondly, listen to Christ’s Word.

Peter goes on to write about his experience as a witness of the transfiguration in 2 Peter 1,

Then follows in vs.19-20, saying,

2 Peter 1:19–20 ESV

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.

It is tempting to read about the transfiguration and think,

“Well, yea, my life would be drastically different if I witnessed that kind of event,

Or heard from God with that kind of certainty!”

But the fact that we just read it means we have!

We have the NT!

It contains the record of the transfiguration three times!

It explains the significance of the transfiguration to us.

We don’t need anything more.

We have all we need right here in God’s Word.

If you want to behold Christ’s glory every day,

Then read His Word,

Study it,

Meditate on it,

Memorize it!

In it,

We see His glory!

And it is lovely!

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Third, Live for Christ’s glory & spread His gospel.

When we see His glory,

Man, it should stir in us the desire to live for His glory!

We shouldn’t see His glory and be silent!

So, speak to people about this Jesus we cherish so deeply!

And spreading His gospel,

Means embracing the suffering He endured.

Remember, the cross comes before the crown.

If this is true for Jesus,

Then it is true for His members.

Suffering in this world comes before the final reward.

The cross is central to Christ’s glory.

He suffered to spread His gospel,

So, we should expect the same.

As He said in ch. 16,

We must take up our cross.

Because our suffering in this world,

Are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us.

But as Christ taught at the end of ch. 17,

Although our reward is in the future,

We have a responsibility in the here and now.

So, let us live as members of Christ’s body,

Longing for Christ’s return.

Be mindful of our witness in the world.

Don’t live for your own liberty,

Live and work for the salvation of others.

All while eagerly anticipating the day when faith shall be made sight,

And we will see Jesus as the Father sees Him.

Beholding Christ’s unfiltered glory for all eternity!

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As John, who beheld Christ’s glory at the transfiguration,

Went on to write in 1 John 3:2-3,

1 John 3:2–3 ESV

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

This is our hope as Christ’s members.

Behold Christ’s glory,

Behold Christ’s grace,

Behold Christ’s gifts,

Behold Christ!

Because we become what we behold.

Pray.