What You Behold, You Become Like
Adrian Thornton

The word behold means to draw someone’s gaze toward something. It’s not a polite request or suggestion either. It commands people to look in awe! In 2 Corinthians, Paul is teaching the church about the new covenant relationship they (and us) now have with the Lord and says,

Paul is referring to Moses when he says, “unveiled face”. When Moses would go into the Tabernacle to minister before the Lord, he would come out with his face shining, literally! It was startling for the Israelites, and so Moses would put a veil around his face to cover it.

Moses was reflecting the glory of God through his physical appearance. Paul is saying that a similar thing happens to us when we behold the glory of the Lord. Instead of our physical appearance shining, we are being transformed to reflect the image of the Lord.

The Bible teaches us that God created male and female in His image. Sadly, sin entered the world and brought brokenness to all of humanity. As a result, the image of God in humanity was distorted and could not be expressed in all its beauty.

Now, because of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has entered our lives and is transforming us back into the amazing image of God. How does this happen? It happens through our relationship with the Lord and spending time with Him, like Moses would in the Tabernacle.

One way to summarise this scripture is to say, What we behold, we become like. That’s the power of living a life in relationship with God. As we behold Him, we become more like Him. And that is what God intended from the very beginning when He created us in His image.

Think of it this way. When Peter hopped out of the boat and fixed his gaze on Jesus, he began to walk on water. Peter was reflecting the power of Jesus to walk on water. However, when he turned his gaze towards the crashing waves around him, he began to sink. Now, he was beginning to look like the storm as he sank into it!

What storms are you facing or going through? Can I encourage you to keep redirecting your gaze to Jesus? Keep beholding Him. As you do, the Spirit will heal and put back together what sin has broken. You will reflect the glory of God and not the brokenness of the world.

Behold Jesus, and you too can walk on top of the stormy seas of life. Or, behold the storms of life and be caught up in the chaos and confusion. Look like Jesus or look like the storm? What you behold is what you become like.

Below is Sunday’s message on YouTube.