"But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." --1 John 3:2b
When I read the above verse I wondered what the connection is between seeing Jesus as He is when He returns and becoming like Him in that moment.
Have you seen this video morphing Queen Elizabeth from an infant to the the present time. It's interesting to see how she changes through the years. When I look at myself in the mirror it is hard for me to imagine myself as ever having been a child, and when I was a child I could not imagine myself as I am now....
David Roper in today's Our Daily Bread talks about "hyperseeing." It's what a sculptor sees in a block of stone or what a potter does when he envisions his finished vessel in a lump of clay. Roper likens it to how God views us. He can see what we're to become once He is finished with us as Philippians 1:6 states, "...He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
This brings me back to the scripture I started with: "But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:2b). I'd never really dissected that verse before, but I'm seeing it differently in light of everything else I know now about the Holy Spirit in me. What I'm understanding now is that upon seeing Christ when He returns I shall become like Him in every way. Until then I am like a work of art in progress. I'm still "morphing" into what I am to become. God already knows what that looks like, and He uses His own Hands as well as tools to carve away all that doesn't look like that finished piece.
Before He left, Jesus prayed this for the church, "Father...the glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou has loved me." (John 17:22,23)
It occurred to me that since Jesus prayed to the Father asking to be in us and because "we will see Him as He is" when He comes again what we will be seeing is our own reflection, and in doing so, we will become fully aware that we are like Him. He is in us now, and God is in the process of refining and polishing us so that when Christ returns to get us we shall be declared finished....made complete....perfected.
Father, too easily I forget that I am a work in progress and become disheartened when I fail to reflect Your glory which makes me vulnerable to the lies of the world. I know that you no longer desire sacrifice, for You have already provided for my guilt to be removed. Instead you desire that I act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with You (Micah 6:8), and I know that You will see me through to completion because You can see the finished me.
Link to scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:12
Take action:
When I read the above verse I wondered what the connection is between seeing Jesus as He is when He returns and becoming like Him in that moment.
Have you seen this video morphing Queen Elizabeth from an infant to the the present time. It's interesting to see how she changes through the years. When I look at myself in the mirror it is hard for me to imagine myself as ever having been a child, and when I was a child I could not imagine myself as I am now....
David Roper in today's Our Daily Bread talks about "hyperseeing." It's what a sculptor sees in a block of stone or what a potter does when he envisions his finished vessel in a lump of clay. Roper likens it to how God views us. He can see what we're to become once He is finished with us as Philippians 1:6 states, "...He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
This brings me back to the scripture I started with: "But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:2b). I'd never really dissected that verse before, but I'm seeing it differently in light of everything else I know now about the Holy Spirit in me. What I'm understanding now is that upon seeing Christ when He returns I shall become like Him in every way. Until then I am like a work of art in progress. I'm still "morphing" into what I am to become. God already knows what that looks like, and He uses His own Hands as well as tools to carve away all that doesn't look like that finished piece.
Before He left, Jesus prayed this for the church, "Father...the glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou has loved me." (John 17:22,23)
It occurred to me that since Jesus prayed to the Father asking to be in us and because "we will see Him as He is" when He comes again what we will be seeing is our own reflection, and in doing so, we will become fully aware that we are like Him. He is in us now, and God is in the process of refining and polishing us so that when Christ returns to get us we shall be declared finished....made complete....perfected.
Father, too easily I forget that I am a work in progress and become disheartened when I fail to reflect Your glory which makes me vulnerable to the lies of the world. I know that you no longer desire sacrifice, for You have already provided for my guilt to be removed. Instead you desire that I act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with You (Micah 6:8), and I know that You will see me through to completion because You can see the finished me.
Link to scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:12
Take action:
Cathy, Thank you for this bold but yet gentle reminder to be thankful for both the good and bad things that come into our life. He uses those things to sharpen and mold us into who He wants and knows we can be! Have to pray daily to remember that He is the potter and knows what is better for me than I myself. So tempted to always do it my way! Lord please remind me to be pliable as clay and workable to become more like you!!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you, Belinda, for your added thoughts on this subject....I feel we all, especially I, need "reinforcements" to lend support to this message of the Holy Spirit in us, working to bring us to completion.
DeleteBeautiful insights, Cathy. So thankful that God isn't finished with me yet! That would be a pretty sorry state in which to leave me! Love the hope we have in seeing Him face to face one day! xo
ReplyDeleteKaren, thank you for sharing your heart ♡
ReplyDelete