Behold: an old-fashioned or literary verb that means to see, look at, or observe something with close attention. This is the encouragement Apostle Paul gives the church of Corinth as he writes about The Greater Glory of the New Covenant. Fixate! Gaze upon! Look at Jesus with deep awe and resultantly be drawn into a greater reality.
Word of the Day:
“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 [b]by the Spirit of the Lord.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV
In this portion of 2 Corinthians 3, Paul explains that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has allowed us to experience an everlasting glory that transforms us by the Spirit of the Lord. The glory of this Spirit no longer condemns, but it calls to righteousness and transforms our inner being so we may be like Christ. Now what about the covenant of the believer has made this possible? And what does this mean to us as believers? Let’s take a look!
The Bible Says
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 ESV
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
— Genesis 1:26-27 ESV
The Pre-Covenantal Man
Before we closely examine the questions surrounding the effect and impact of sin on humanity, we must first identify what the fall did to man. The fall placed mankind under a curse. This curse was a state of spiritual blindness, a death (Romans 6:23) to their perception of the Lord and themselves.
Due to this curse we were in a state that could not behold, or let alone withstand the glory of the Lord (Exodus 34:29-35). This was the consequence of a severed relationship between God and man. A relationship that left man condemned for their sin and permanently sentenced to the wages of their unrighteousness.
Why did/does sin have such a grave effect?
The gravity of sin’s effect is something that humanity has grappled with since the beginning, and many still don’t fully grasp it. Genesis chapters 1-3 describes the introduction of God to creation, the account of creation itself, and the fall of man. In the first two chapters, God shared a beautiful relationship with Adam and Eve. It was so personal and real that they heard the sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). Beyond that, they received instructions directly from him and walked in ongoing conversation with Him. When the serpent deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God’s instructions, everything changed. The damage was immediate and unmistakable: they were exposed, they hid, they blamed one another, and they were banished from the Garden. The deeper repercussion was a great disconnect in our oneness with God. This rupture forever altered the course of life for mankind. Instead of walking in dominion and authority we were given, sin made us slaves to itself. It distorted our view of life and of God. This wasn’t a private tragedy between two people; it was communal and cosmic, touching every generation and all creation after them. But thank God for sending His son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Redeems
Romans 5:6-8 reads “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’”
When God decided to create us in His image, He was not willing to let His good plan for us fail because of sin. God so loved humanity that He gave us the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the annuller of sin, the redeemed image of man, the One we may now become like by beholding Him. Because of His sacrifice, those who believe carry an invaluable treasure in Christ Jesus. Most importantly, we are restored to the Father, because his Holy Spirit now lives in every believer.
We are not bound to a covenant where works redeem our relationship with God. Through the restored covenant in Jesus Christ, we’re granted access to the sovereign, merciful, and loving God of the universe. No sacrificial animal, law, or priest (Leviticus 16), besides Jesus (Isaiah 53), is capable of doing this. Only Jesus, the Son of God, can restore the image of God in man, and the grace is that He now lives in us through His Spirit. Christ in us the hope of glory– the fulfillment of God’s Word.
What does this mean to us?
We are free in Christ indeed. We are no longer bound to the sinful nature of man. Through Christ we are graced to conquer sin. We no longer live life by the stones of the law, we thrive by life by the Spirit. And this Holy Spirit brings us from glory to glory. To behold Jesus is to fixate our eyes, minds, ears to His Word. We are transformed and sanctified as we behold Him.
Behold His Love
Behold His Righteousness
Behold His Obedience
Behold His Humility
Behold His Finished Work
We behold Him because nothing else in this life compares to who He is, or what He’s done. Selah.
Originally published on the Bethel Campus Fellowship Substack.