SEEING

 August 1, 2023

“But 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 by the Spirit of the Lord.”

—II Corinthians 3:18 

I had an appointment with the optometrist today. My double vision has been getting worse, so in I went. They went through all the normal tests, then the doctor ran some special tests on me that told him the corrective measures I need to be able to see clearly. This morning’s Scripture came to life. It’s all about seeing.

Mirrors in Biblical times were usually made of polished brass. The image reflected would have been dim, imperfect, and somewhat blurry, merely an approximation of reality, but it was the best they had. Paul’s analogy is true to life. We see the Lord’s glory only partially…dimly, as it were. We don’t see the full glory of his visage; to do so, the Biblical writers uniformly assert, would kill us. But though our vision is only partial, it has the power to transform us, bit by bit enabling us to approach the glory we see only in part. Someday we will see him face to face, in his full glory, and when that happens, we shall truly be like him (1 John 3:2).

Psalm 115:8 and 135:18 tell us that we become like what we worship, which is why setting our gaze upon Jesus Christ is paramount. If I aspire in any way to be like him, the Perfect Man (even though I see him imperfectly), I must, as Hebrews 12:1-2 says, keep my eyes fixed on him. 

The entire fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians deals with sight. The god of this age shines his false light in our eyes, blinding us to the real light of Christ that exposes him for the liar he is, keeping our focus on the things of this world which are easily seen, making it difficult to see those things which cannot be seen—love, truth, hope, forgiveness, salvation. Our first instinct is to look at those things easily seen by anyone. It requires the work of the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to the Scriptures to see clearly. In this life, we still see dimly, but we do see, and as we keep our gaze upon Jesus, that sight gets clearer day by day.