Look and Listen - Part One

Look and Listen – Part One

I was recently struck by the words of Romans 13:11 which says: “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because OUR SALVATION IS NEARER NOW than when we first believed.” And it was the words “OUR SALVATION IS NEARER NOW” that particularly stood out for me.

As a man of a certain age, as well as coming as one of the all too frequent reminders of the pace at which the years fly by, these words prompted me to recall once again the day that I think of as the day I was saved, a day which is now a rather frightening 50 years behind me.

Verses such as those Paul penned in his letter to the Ephesians, tend to substantiate the view held by many of us that our salvation happened at a point in time. After all doesn’t Paul tell us in Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you HAVE BEEN saved, through faith . . .” That’s a verse which uses the past tense to pinpoint a specific time in our personal experience, a time in the past, as being the moment we were saved. Before that time we were NOT saved and after that time our faith gives us the confidence to believe and declare that we ARE saved.

But if that is the case, how can Paul speak in Romans of our salvation as being “nearer now than when we first believed”? Far from suggesting that salvation happened at a point in our past, this verse suggests that it has not yet happened and awaits a moment yet to arrive. If you think about it, it is in fact suggesting that the further we move on from that moment we first believed in God, the nearer our salvation actually becomes.

And this is not the only scripture in which Paul talks of a salvation that is to come. In Romans 5:8–10 for example, we read “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more SHALL WE BE SAVED from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, SHALL WE BE SAVED through his life!” So here the use of the term “shall we” clearly indicates a salvation that lies ahead of us.

For Paul then, there seems to be truth in both statements. Our salvation is both behind us, if we are Christians, in terms of our having been justified by God and reconciled to God because of the cross of Christ, but it also lies ahead of us, somewhere further along the road, when we will experience our deliverance from death and our entrance into glory.

In fact, in 1 Corinthians 1:18 Paul declares:” For the message of the cross is foolishness to those WHO ARE PERISHING, but to us WHO ARE BEING SAVED it is the power of God.” So whether we are those who are BEING saved or indeed those who ARE perishing, we are in the midst of A PROCESS that has not yet actually culminated in either salvation or perishing.

But here is the real kernel of truth that I want us to see from this. If we are those who are somewhere on the road between salvation–RECONCILIATION and salvation-GLORIFICATION, we need to recognise and appreciate that fact.

We need to be acutely and accurately aware of our spiritual LOCATION. Because, whether we are out on a walk in the countryside or seeking to progress in our Christian life, knowing where we are right now is absolutely fundamental to going on to reach our desired destination.

Spiritually, we are, if you like in the midst of a journey, where there is right now for each one of us a “once for all”, and never to be repeated, OPPORTUNITY for us as an individual to “raise our game” and seize OUR chance to be the people that God really wants us to be.

This time, our time here and now during our earthly lifetime, is our ultimate opportunity to influence the nature of our eternal future. And, it is our unique chance to express through our faith and obedience the extent of our love for our precious Saviour.

In glory, in the presence of the angels and of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we will not be able to stop ourselves from worshipping, but right now we have an opportunity to do something that we can’t do then. We can worship by faith; we can act and obey by faith and we can glorify God by faith. And we know that IT IS OUR FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD for the Word tells us in Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) “ . . . without faith it is impossible to please him,” so when we use our faith we are a blessing to God. But also since we are looking at that verse and because of where we are going with this message today, just notice how the verse continues, it goes on to say: “for whoever would draw near to God must believe (have faith!) ”that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Are we really appreciating that right now? We have a God given opportunity right now to please God by the exercise of our FAITH, and, as we do that, WE WILL DRAW NEAR TO GOD!

So, since we know that the great day of glorification IS inexorably on its way, what sort of people should we be? What should be our focus? What should be our personal agenda and our goals in life? How should we respond to the challenges we face?

Surely this is NOT the time for anyone of us, wherever we are in our Christian walk, whatever our level of spiritual maturity or immaturity, to allow ourselves to be permanently derailed by either our own failures or by our hang-ups over the shortcomings of others. Instead, we must refuse to settle for anything less than ALL that God has for us. “Carpe diem” should be our watchword. This is a time to “seize the day”, whatever our story, and whatever challenges and disappointments confront us.

Since we know for a fact that the day of salvation lies ahead of us and that it is nearer now than it ever has been, we must not let ourselves slip into the mind-set that things can never change. That is a lie that if we believe it, will rob us of serving God’s best purpose for our lives. Nor must we allow what we see as the weaknesses and faults of others, to divert or shake us from God’s call on our lives.

We MUST heed Paul’s challenging advice in 2 Corinthians 5:9–10 where he writes: “So we make it our goal TO PLEASE HIM . . . (and remember, we please Him by exercising our FAITH!) and it goes on: 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” And as disciples we need to remember that Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:24 (ESV) : “If anyone would come after me, let him DENY HIMSELF and take up his cross and follow me.”And our cross includes ALL THOSE THINGS that challenge our walk as Christians whether they arise within ourselves from our circumstances or from those who we meet along the way.

But then I have also been struck by a further thought that sprang from 2 Corinthians 3:18 which in the New King James version reads: “18 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.”

This verse tantalisingly advertises a great spiritual blessing for every one of us. A blessing that promises us the means to travel along that road between RECONCILIATION and GLORIFICATION with the confidence that we, whatever our experience so far, really can come into a personal transformation that will render us more and more like Jesus.

And the critical thing to notice here is just HOW that transformation actually comes about. This, I think, is one for the personal notebook. This is a life-critical revelation. One that we cannot afford NOT to consider, explore and attempt to act upon with serious intent and sustained commitment.

So HOW does this transformation occur? Well it occurs, as this verse tells us, as we are personally “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.”

Here then is the route to becoming the people God is calling us to be, and this is the means of transport that will carry us along the road of personal transformation.

Notice that it is NOT our striving with every ounce of determination and self-discipline that we can muster to make ourselves better than we are, that does the job. And whilst not denigrating or dismissing the importance of effort and determination, most of us here this morning I suspect, have already assembled a cart load of evidence that on its own, determination just does NOT work.

NO, the secret is to CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF OUR GAZE. We need to stop looking at or into ourselves, and start looking intently AT Christ.

Beholding the Lord, beholding Jesus, is THE road to personal transformation. It’s the key to the change in us that will allow us to fulfil God’s call on our lives. 

Remember, this is not a personal opinion of mine, not an interesting possibility based on guesswork; it is what God’s Word tells us. “we ALL, . . . beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, ARE being transformed . . . from glory to glory,” So, if we will take this to heart, and accept it as the truth, it really is going to bring real and eternally significant change for the better in all our lives!

Now we need to recognise of course, that this is a gradual process. As our verse tells us it is a transformation that is “from glory to glory”. But it is a process that will inevitably change and transform us. It is NOT that we transform ourselves. Transformation happens to us inevitably, and irrevocably, as we change the direction of our gaze away from ourselves and intentionally engage with the face of Christ.

I remember how I glimpsed this idea as a very young Christian when I discovered the incredible importance of focusing on God when in prayer. Not just talking, but seeking to maintain what I call “eye-contact” with God when in prayer. Now God hears us anyway of course, but somehow praying with an intentional “one to one” focus on Jesus, or the Father or the Holy Spirit, opens us up to their prompting, and their direction and it somehow empowers and liberates our praying.

But while praying with a focus on God is brilliant, learning more and more to make “beholding” Jesus a major part of our whole Christian lives, is a much bigger and a more profound component of personal transformation.

Now I have to say I was genuinely excited when these two words from the Bible began to catch my attention. The thought that we are in the midst of a salvation trajectory that means that what we do here and now will significantly affect not just our lives right now but also our whole eternal future, is amazing.

But then, the realization that the Word tells us clearly that the way to dramatic personal transformation is NOT through our effort or self-discipline energized from within ourselves, but instead is sparked and sustained as we “BEHOLD the Lord”. Now that would be game changing, if life were just a game.   But of course life is not a game at all; life, as we know as Christians, has eternal consequences. So learning to “BEHOLD the Lord” offers us a route to a breakthrough experience that can lead us into everything that God wants us to be both here and now AND in the age to come.

Now before going any further let me say that all of us here, if we have come to Christ and set off on the road of salvation, have ALREADY experienced this life-changing power that comes as we to “BEHOLD the Lord” because salvation involves beholding the Lord. But many too will also be able to look back on other stand-out experiences of the presence and power of the Living God. We have felt the touch of the power of God when baptised in water, when filled with the Holy Spirit, when receiving a touch of healing and when in the grace of God we have felt a sovereign touch from God’s hand. We know what it is like.

And the exciting thing that this scripture tells us is that it is when like this, we “BEHOLD the Lord” that we “ARE being transformed . . . from glory to glory,”

Sadly though, many of us have NOT learned the lesson of our experiences along the road of salvation and we try to substitute personal effort or the acquisition of spiritual and Biblical “head knowledge” for the real thing, the real source of personal spiritual growth which is simply to “BEHOLD the Lord”

So, how do we actually go about beholding the Lord? Well, while not claiming to have nailed it, I do think that God has given me at least a glimpse or a glimmer of insight into it and I’d like to share a little about that now and then perhaps develop it more specifically next week.

Consider this question. “If our Heavenly Father interjects “out of the blue” into ministry of Jesus while he was here on earth as a man, wouldn’t that suggest that the Father had something very significant to say?” I don’t think you’ll disagree with me when I say that the answer to that question is an emphatic “Yes”.

If the Father speaks out audibly from Heaven in the midst of the earthly ministry of His Son, it must be significant, very significant. Not least because it is an event that the scriptures actually record on only three occasions.

The FIRST such occasion occurred at Jesus’ baptism by John and we read in Luke 3:21–22 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The THIRD occasion happened prior to the Passover leading up to the crucifixion and John 12:27–28 records Jesus saying: 27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” But then the account goes on to record: “Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Now on both of these occasions, chronologically the first and the third occasions, the Father is essentially addressing the Son. But the second occasion is significantly different. We find it in the account of Jesus’ transfiguration, where Matthew 17:5 notes: 5 While he (that’s Peter) was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. LISTEN TO HIM!”

This is the only time we have a record in Jesus’ earthly ministry of the Father’s voice directly addressing THE DISCIPLES rather than His Son. Now that has to be significant, don’t you think? Especially significant since it is a message that came in the form of a COMMAND.

And what was that command? It was: “LISTEN TO HIM!” The Father breached the silence of Heaven to give US an urgent and transcending message. We MUST LISTEN TO JESUS.

Now let’s unpack that a little. There is no suggestion here that either the disciples or most others who met Jesus during His earthly ministry could not physically hear what Jesus was saying. They were not physically deaf. It was their spiritual hearing that was defective. They heard but they didn’t perceive the spiritual intent behind the words they heard.

Interestingly, Jesus Himself was obviously acutely aware of this problem of ours - hearing the words, but missing the point completely. You can sense a sort of exasperation from Jesus when He is trying, apparently in vain to get His disciples to understand that He was headed for the Cross when in Luke 9:44 (NKJV) we hear Him say:44 “Let these words SINK DOWN INTO YOUR EARS, for the Son of Man IS about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

Now it didn’t happen this way, of course, but the force of those words could make you picture Jesus gripping a clueless disciple by the neck, and nose to nose, bellowing into their face, “Get this into your head, bird brain, I AM, going to the Cross!”

Repeatedly, when sharing parables and when teaching about the cost of discipleship Jesus uses that phrase: “He who has ears to hear, LET HIM HEAR.” So, it’s clear that both the Father and the Son want us to really get the message that we must LISTEN with spiritual perception, to the words of Jesus.

Now if I’m frank I think, if anything, really hearing the way Jesus means, - getting the point, grasping the true significance, having a personal life-transforming understanding, of what God’s words mean, is a BIGGER problem for us today, for all our education and our comparative sophistication, compared to the disciples of Jesus’ day.

I think we tend to be so swamped by information, delivered largely electronically direct from screen to brain and coming at us incessantly from all directions, that our ability to competently assess, discern, and then filter that information, is becoming increasingly impaired.

And yet, the Father’s’ command to us about Jesus’ words REMAINS THE SAME. He wants us to use our ears to hear him. He is still commanding US to: “LISTEN TO HIM!”

Two things then seem to be fundamental to personal transformation. One is that we “Behold the Lord” and the other is that we “Listen to Him”. These are two things that each of us here have already experienced for ourselves in our Christian walk. We know what they are.

Interestingly these are very much the same things that David understood were absolutely central to a walk with God and in Psalm 27:4 (NASB95) he declares: 4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple. And notice that he calls this the “one thing” that he asks from the Lord. These things are his declared priority. And I am suggesting today, that if we want to progress along the road of salvation, with the footsteps faith, we need to make these very things our priority too – BECAUSE OF WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR US!

God willing, when I speak next time, I will be able to take you with me on two consecutive visits to the home of a very special person. This person is the epitome, the perfect example, of what God wants us to be like in terms of our beholding the Lord and our listening to Jesus. And these visits will show us WHY beholding Jesus and listening to Him is such a blessing and so crucial to us fulfilling God’s purposes.