While our salvation is by grace alone, we daily choose to press into deeper communion with our Savior or pull away from him. Believers are empowered by the mighty Spirit of God. By his grace, we can choose to turn our minds and thoughts toward Christ. This is what it means to practice considering him. Your next action step for looking at Christ? Turn your attention to him. Think about him. Daily meditate on who he is, what he has done, and what he is doing. 

Some talk much of imitating Christ and following his example. But no man will ever become ‘like him’ by trying to imitate his behavior and life if they know nothing of the transforming power of beholding his glory.” -John Owen, The Glory of Christ (21)

Looking at Christ transforms people. In part one, we see that Christ saves, exposes, and changes his children. This article considers the same theme—the transformative power of looking at Christ—but from a more practical angle. How do we turn from sexual sin? How do we grow as beholders of Christ when sins and sorrows press down? We need to practice considering Christ.

Looking at Someone We Can’t See

Believers are made by and for beholding Christ. But—we can’t see him. Jesus is in heaven, at the Father’s hand, sustaining the universe and interceding for us. How do we gaze upon a person who isn’t with us?

While Jesus is physically located in heaven, he is also mystically and unbreakably united to his redeemed people by his Spirit. He is with you and me, yet “with” isn’t close enough. In union with Christ, our mighty Lord is in us—he is ours, and we are his (Song 2:16, 6:3).

This union is so intimate and life-giving that Jesus told his disciples it would be better for them when he physically left because then they would have the Holy Spirit (John 16:5–7). If you’re looking to Jesus in faith, then you are united with him, too. He is yours and you are his, forever. Isn’t the stain of sin so much uglier against this backdrop of union with Christ?

Faith Now, Sight Later

The expression “suffering now, glory later” is helpful for moderating believers’ expectations. Jesus tells us to expect suffering in this life, but glory is coming (2 Cor. 4:16–18). Similarly, we can say “faith now, sight later” when it comes to beholding Jesus. We can’t yet see our Savior with physical eyes, but we can behold his glory with eyes of faith right now. We can intentionally turn our thoughts Christ-ward in specific ways today and every day until our faith is made sight (1 Cor. 13:12).

The puritan John Owen teaches believers how to see Jesus with eyes of faith. In this article, I’m shamelessly pilfering gems from his book The Glory of Christ. Please, get a copy and read it¹—on your own or, even better, with a few friends.

Owen highlights three behaviors that expand our view of Jesus:

1. Reading and studying the Bible,
2. Meditating frequently on Christ’s glory and acknowledging the danger of neglecting this meditation

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