How Do I See the Glory of Christ?

[Music] well how do i see the glory of christ this is a key question for everyone uh we must see christ's glory his glory is the epicenter the the engine of the entire christian life we must see it and delight in it because to not see christ's glory is to not be a believer it's that simple the stakes are that high and those high stakes are why we got this email from a listener named david hello pastor john i have a question for you he writes your articles on what truth saving faith is really opened my eyes to see what it is and to see that i don't have this i don't see jesus as beautiful i feel blind to his glory how does one have his eyes opened i know i can't do anything i'm desperate can you help me let me try to clarify david's reference to what i have said about the nature of saving faith i believe the bible teaches that saving faith is a trusting and treasuring of jesus christ that rises from a spirit given sight of the truth and greatness and beauty and worth of jesus as we see him at work in the gospel and what david rightly sees in this understanding of faith is that faith is not mere agreement with facts about jesus and it's not a mere trust in jesus to do for us things that even unbelievers want done saving faith does not receive jesus merely as useful saving faith received jesus as himself the greatest gift of the gospel this means that saving faith sees jesus as supremely desirable supremely great supremely beautiful valuable all of which the bible sums up by saying that jesus has divine glory so those words valuable beautiful great desirable they're all subsumed i think in what the bible means by glory saving faith is a treasuring trust in jesus as more valuable more beautiful more satisfying than anything else now here's a glimpse of this truth in 2nd corinthians 4 4 the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of christ who is the image of god amazing let me say it again the gospel of the glory of christ paul is happy to sum up the gospel as the gospel of the glory of christ this is why david is right in his question when he says that we need to see the glory of christ in order to have saving faith because the gospel is the gospel of the glory of christ so i take david's question very seriously it is the right question to ask if i don't see christ as glorious as supremely beautiful and valuable and satisfying what should i do that's his question so let me come at it like this let me try to at least partially demystify the idea of god's revealing his glory those very words may just sound like nonsense to some people psalm 19 1 says the heavens declare the glory of god and the sky above proclaims his handiwork jeremiah 10 12 then puts meat on those bones it is the lord who made the earth by his power who established the world by his wisdom and by his understanding stretched out the heavens and then romans 1 20 and 21 say god's invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived in the things that have been made so they're without excuse for although they knew god they did not glorify him as god so from these texts i conclude that god has made visible his glory his beauty his power his wisdom his greatness his worth in the works of his hands in nature and it's our obligation as humans to see this glory recognize it as a manifestation of the beauty of god the greatness of god the worth of god and not just the beauty and greatness and worth of stars and the reason i said that this is a demystification of the revelation of god's glory is that on the one hand most of us catch on to the notion of glory as beauty and greatness and worth when we see the magnificence of the galaxies and and the power of a bolt of lightning and the great sound of rolling thunder and the majesty of soaring mountains it's it's not a complete mystery that such glory in nature is a revelation of god most people can catch on to that but the reason it's only a partial demystification is that apart from the regenerating work of the holy spirit we won't see this glory for what it really is namely god's glory god's glory so if there is a partial clarification of the revelation of god's glory by looking at nature maybe david will be able to make the transition to the revelation of the glory of christ in the inspired stories in matthew mark luke and john because that's why they're there this is why god inspired the writing of these stories just like he put the stars in place he he inspired them so that glory would shine through christ's glory here's john 1 14. the word became flesh so this is why christ walked the earth and the gospels were written to show him to us 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 and when jesus starts to do his work john says in in john 2 11 this is the first sign that jesus did at cana in galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him so john is showing us why his gospel is written to reveal the glory of christ and awaken faith it's the gospel of the glory of christ and at the end of his life jesus prayed father i glorified you on the earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do that's what his life and work were for to reveal in himself through himself the glory of god or another way to say it from john 20 31 these things are written that you may believe because that's what happens when you see the glory of christ for what it really is you believe so david's question is if satan blinds the minds of unbelievers the way ii corinthians 4 4 says he does and if we by nature are resistant to the beauty of god's supremacy what can we do what should he do that's what he's asking pastor john tell me what i can do is there anything i mean he says i can't do anything but that's not true so here's four things as much as it lies within you david renounce your love affair with the glory that comes from people because jesus said in john 5 44 how can you believe when you receive glory from one another and don't seek the glory that comes from god it's a great obstacle to love the glory of man all of us are born loving the glory we get from other people while that love is supreme in our hearts we cannot believe so let's renounce it as much as it lies within you say to god i'm done with it i want to be done with it deliver me i want to be free from this bondage to the love of human glory second read and listen to the word of god as much as you can especially the gospels since god inspired his word as a revelation of his glory and he said faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of christ this is true for the rest of our lives saving faith is awakened and saving faith is sustained by the word of god as long as we live number three in all of your listening and all of your reading and all of your hearing turn to christ don't just read passively don't just read vaguely paul said in second corinthians 3 16 when one turns to the lord the veil is removed and he means the veil that keeps you from seeing the glory of christ don't just read and listen passively direct your heart as you read and listen to christ and say say it show me yourself christ show me yourself in your word show me that you are real show me your truth and greatness and beauty and worth show me your glory and then finally number four in and through it all pray that the eyes of your heart would be opened paul models this for us in ephesians 1 18 i pray that the eyes of your hearts would be enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which you've been called so those are four things david renounce pride read the word turn to christ pray for sight and and i would just close with this maybe maybe go online and get a copy of the song [Music] come you sinners poor and needy and sing it or say it especially this verse i will arise and go to jesus he will embrace me in his arms in the arms of my dear savior oh there are ten thousand charms yeah there's nothing greater than christ and his glory and having spiritual eyes open to behold that glory thank you pastor john and thank you for joining us today you can ask a question of your own search our growing archive or subscribe to the podcast all at desiringgod.org forward slash ask pastor john and speaking of the miracle of conversion six times over the years we've gotten an email from a woman named rose her emails are always the same always brief in fact they're always just the same sentence this one pastor john how do i pray for my husband to be saved that's the question up next time on monday i'm your host tony ranki and pastor john and i will see you then have a great weekend

Channel: Desiring God

Views: 103,480

Keywords: Desiring God, John Piper, God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, Christian Hedonism, Ask Pastor John, APJ, How Do I See the Glory of Christ? Saving..., See the Glory of Christ, Glory of Christ, Glory of God, Faith, The Supremacy of Christ

Id: SYw7vHBZx3E

Length: 12min 50sec (770 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 30 2022