Pastor Rick Duncan
God’s aim for our salvation is that we actually become like Jesus (Romans 8:29). C.S Lewis wrote, “The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that. all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself are simply a waste of time.”
Every Christian is to become a little Christ! We are to be conformed to the image of the Son of God. We should long to be like Christ all the time and everywhere. To be a Christian is to learn to live like Jesus!
An honest evaluation of our lives, though, will reveal that we are not yet enough like Jesus. We fall short!
So, how can we be transformed? Simply put, we behold to become.
II Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
If we want to be transformed into the image of Christ, we must look at Him more and more deeply. We must gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
What you look at, you will (eventually) look like. The Scottish pastor, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, said, “Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief. Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in His beams. Feel His all-seeing eye settled on you in love, and repose in His mighty arms… Let your soul be filled with a heart-ravishing sense of the sweetness and excellency of Christ and all that is in Him.”
John the Baptist told the first disciples to “behold the Lamb of God!” So, what will you do behold Him – to look at Jesus, to see Him in all His glory? How will you increase your capacity to ponder Him, to consider Him, to be increasingly captivated by Him?
You need a plan! What will you read, watch, listen to behold Jesus better?
Below are resources that have been curated to help you behold Jesus more deeply, more consistently, more richly. Use these resources or find others. Pick just one tool that you will add to your life over the next month or so and watch how the Lord transforms you.
Create your personalized plan to behold Jesus better so you can become more like Him.
The Gospels
The Gospels (A chronological reading plan for 12 weeks)
Harmonies of the Gospels
A Blended Harmony of the Gospels (Read through the life of Jesus in 40 days)
Jesus, His Story by Robert Shank
Devotionals about the Life of Christ
Moments with the Savior by Ken Gire
Life of Jesus in 30 Days by Trevin Wax
Books on Christology
The Glory of Christ by John Owen
The Life of Jesus by Henrietta Mears
Rejoicing in Christ by Michael Reeves
The Incomparable Christ by John Stott
The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
Books on the historical context of the life of Jesus
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim
Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler
Films about the Life of Jesus
The Gospel of Matthew (The Lumo Project)
The Gospel of Mark (The Lumo Project)
The Gospel of Luke (The Lumo Project)
The Gospel of John (The Lumo Project)
Fictionalized Accounts of the Life of Christ
The Man Born to be King by Dorothy Sayers (BBC Radio Broadcast on You Tube)
