Monday, December 9, 2019

The Glory of God in the Heart of a Man


Have you ever stopped to meditate upon the truth that God Himself entered into our world and lived as a man? This is the most fantastic thing to happen in the history of the world. God became tangible, a Person, one whom you could touch, hug, and speak with directly. Have you ever had trouble holding someone's eye contact? How about eye contact with the Son of God? To know with certainty the One you're looking at knows every little thing about you?

This makes me swoon. It is overwhelming. Christ would have been so magnetic, and yet, I think I might have avoided Him a little bit if I had lived then. His eyes would have skewered you where you stood. I can't even imagine the weight of that look He gave Peter when Peter denied Him.

O, a heart shattered to pieces by a mere glance!

And yet, gazing into the eyes of Christ is what I'm most looking forward to in Glory. There is no wrath in them for me. Even so, the weight of such stunning love could not be withstood by my tissue-paper heart until His work was finished in me, until Heaven. If those eyes gazed at me now, I think I might fall over dead.

The more I come to know who Jesus was as a man through reading His Word, the more I can relate to the women who ministered to Him, who anointed Him, who collapsed at His feet weeping. He is the most magnificent man who has ever lived. As a woman myself, I cannot help but be overcome by His glory, even veiled in flesh. I often wonder how many women were secretly in love with Him? He had to have had some hearts following along behind Him in this way. I think it's impossible to be faced with literal perfection and not want to possess it as your own. There certainly was a level of devotion given to Christ these women didn't seem to give their own men.

Even now, two thousand years removed, Christ remains the most magnetic man to ever live. He stands head and shoulders above the best of men, the greatest of kings, the wisest of the wise. Of course, the lion's share of our adoration for Jesus comes from His indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the Witness of His majesty. How amazing, Christ lived for us so that by His Spirit, He could live in us and through us. Christ, through His Spirit, is still on this earth, through the hearts, and the eyes, of His children, the Body of Christ.

Christ became a man, to indwell men. Here I am, swooning again. Every son, every daughter, to a certain degree, have the eyes of Christ. I do not think there is a greater truth than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not think there is a higher honor than to have Christ alive in me.

This magnificent God, alive in me! That someone can look at me and see Him; that I can look at my brethren and see Him... O, how this overwhelms me!

"Do not look upon me, for I am black!"

And yet He replies:

"There is no flaw in you."

There is no flaw in HIM, therefore, in Him, there is no flaw in me. He is not apart from me, He is a part of me. He is all of me. He is in me. This is glory. The Son of God has united Himself to me, He lives through me, He looks out through my eyes. This is Glory!

God in a man... God in Christ... Christ in me...

Glory of glories, the most magnificent man is alive in me! I cannot fathom the depths of this bountiful treasure. It lays me out on the floor. And to see Christ in my brethren takes my literal breath away. It is often hard to look upon even them. He is so good to all of us, to shine His light through these jars of wretched clay.

Delight upon Christ this Christmas season and ponder these weighty things. What great and mighty majesty has He clothed us with by clothing us with Himself? What fear can conquer? What enemy can overcome? What evil can destroy? Nothing, and no one, can ever overcome Him. Take heart, dear one, He has overcome the world. And in Him, so shall you.

Lord Jesus, I ask that You shine the light of Your countenance upon us all. Ravish our hearts by one glance from Your eye. Give us this perspective, that You are absolutely glorious, the fairest among the sons of men. Lift our souls to You, soar us to the heights of Your fierce, yet sweet devotion. And by Your Spirit, let us come to know the fullness of You, to know the wonder of Your love, and the great lengths that God went to show Himself to us, to live in us, to save us, and to be with us.

Dear one, come to Jesus, look into His eyes, and find no condemnation there, only acceptance in the Beloved. 

O, a heart in pieces made whole by a mere glance!

Praise the Lord!