The Beauty of Christ

I have been catching up from a week at Sovereign Grace Leadership Conference.  The week was a gift of grace to my own life as I was desperate for a new vision of God's glory and God gave it.  I would encourage you to listen to all the messages, but the one by David Powlison and the conclusion by CJ Mahaney seemed to tie them all together.  I would summarize the question of the week this way: If I have been clothed in the prefect beauty of Christ's righteousness, why is my mind drawn to study "me" -- my sins, my corrupt motives, my idols, my hurts? If he is ultimately lovely, why am I not looking at Him?

This has been a personal battle for years.  A downside of Reformed theology is that a doctrine of complete corruption can tempt one to an endless study of one's own sin.  Combine the doctrine with the natural disposition of the corrupt heart to be most fascinated with "me" and the therapeutic culture which is all about "me" and there is a toxic brew. 

As Powlison put it, I end up on an "idol hunt" and its therapeutic counterpart, a "hurt hunt."  I am always seeking to get at my core idols so I can change, or to grasp the depths of the wounds in my life and be reconciled to them, so I can be free.  As Sproul spoke to us, and God's Spirit worked, we saw the beauty of God's holiness and of Christ's holiness.  Then Powlison called us to look at Him, not at our hearts. 

One of the most amazing statements David made was this, in answer to the question of how much time a typical Christian should spend in introspection.  "About 10-20 seconds a day," he said. (Correction: he said, about 10-20 seconds per situation, that it does not take that long to see our cravings.) Now he said that was an exaggeration, but his point was to look inward just long enough to see the motives of the heart and then quickly look back to the Savior, crucified and risen.  From there, move to repentance. 

This was like a bolt of lightening to me -- I do 10-20 seconds of introspection every five minutes!  I am always studying my heart and my motives -- and being very careful not to do anything without a careful evaluation of my motives.  That usually means layer upon layer of motives, in my case.  David said, we can study our hearts endlessly, and 1. we will never reach the bottom, 2. we will not change.  The Savior changes us, not insight into our hearts.

Here is what I concluded, reflecting on Philippians 3:6-11:

1. The Gospel is a call to look at Christ, not myself.  I am to look at his perfect beauty.
2. The Gospel is a call to repudiate all efforts to beautify myself before God or to improve on Jesus work for me.  If the Mona Lisa hung in my home, I would not try to improve on it.
3. The Gospel offers me the prospect of applying the specific beauty of Christ to my life in specific areas of sin.  When I am angry in impatience I can confess his perfect patience and glory in the fact that I have been clothed in it. When I am proud and defensive, I can glory in his perfect humility.
4. The Gospel is the basis for humility -- why would I want others to be impressed with me?  I have no beauty to commend me!  I want others to see Jesus, which means they need to know I am a sinner covered by his righteousness.

How does all this fit with the NT?  2 Cor 3:18 -- beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory . . . Heb 12:2 -- looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

I think there is more transforming power in a look at the Savior than in all the self-help efforts I could muster for a thousand years.  I do not need to figure myself out -- I need to flee to Jesus.

Comments

[Nate Collins]

I'm not sure I could adequately "introspect" in 10-20 seconds, exaggeration or not. This seems like a principle that sounds good, but might be based on a false dichotomy... there need not be a competition between self-reflection and reflection on the glory and beauty of Christ. Aren't we supposed to look at Christ as He is formed in us, transforming us from one degree of glory to another? We see both ultimate, beautiful perfection and ultimate, wretched sinfulness all at once, and should resist both spiritual pride and despair all at once.

GDL: Hmmm, I am not sure I am ever supposed to look at Christ being formed in me . . . I think I am to look at Christ and be encouraged as he works in me. My further posts next week will address some of this.

[rob tombrella]

A thousand times "YES!"

Mark, it was great meeting you at LC07. But better than that was reading this post. Great summary of a surprising and joyous focus. Props to my friend Aaron for alerting me to this.

Oh for my heart to see that casting off sin comes by the expulsive power of fixing my eyes on Christ.

[Nathan Rutman]

Great post! This is an issue/theme I've been wrestling through for years, and it has become near and dear to my own Christianity.

I think John Piper gets this the best out of any of the contemporary voices I've heard/read. His "The Pleasures of God" and "Future Grace" are both fantastic works resulting from time spent reflecting on the glories of Christ. I highly recommend them to everyone who gives me the opportunity. :-)

[Rick]

Mark, I had the opportunity to listen to these messages and I agree whole-heartedly. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about this issue (I started thinking about it several months ago after listening to a series of messages by Kris Lundgaard that he gave at Omaha Bible church(?) - in these messages he discusses why he wrote Through the Looking Glass - which is based on Owen's The Glory of Christ to complement The Enemy Within based on Owen's Sin and Tempation - it's worth the listen and is a free download).
I also have been thinking about the idea of learning to live out of our new nature in Christ as opposed to the concept of 'changing'. The CCEF discussion around the topic of 'fruit stapling' is helpful here - the 3 trees model seems to suggest (rightly so) that we either are living as a thorn tree or as a fruit bearing tree. As I understand the process of transformation, it is learning to live out of our new nature in Christ ('new creatures in Christ Jesus', 'walk by the Spirit','led by the Spirit','live by the Spirit', living as a fruit bearing tree, etc.) and the only remedy for the flesh or 'old man' or thorn tree is mortification. In the past I saw sanctification as 'changing' and now I think it is more accurate to see it as mortification of the old nature and living out of my new nature in Christ Jesus (I'd be interested in your thoughts here). Another helpful resource related to this topic is a message by Mike Bullmore on "Putting Sin to Death" where he discusses the idea of how to deal with the prevention of sin. Here he discusses mortifaction of sin through either starving sin out or crowding sin out (he references Thomas Chalmers The Expulsive Power of a New Affection when discussing crowding sin out - again well worth the read as Powlison mentioned in his message). Lastly, another highly recommended resource is Tim Keller's message on How to Change, especially when he discusses Edwards Lecture 13 from Charity and It's Fruits (well worth reading) on the concatenation of the fruit (note singular not plural) of the Spirit. By the way I really enjoy reading your blog and your recommendation of Romaine's book on Faith provided another critical piece of the puzzle in my personal growth in the grace and knowledge of Our gracious Lord (it is in my top 5 of recommended books). Thanks again, Rick

[Dave Willis]

Mark,
Thanks for giving such a helpful summary of the message, I hadn't really decided whether or not to get it, but you have convinced me. I need to be looking far more at the Glorious One and far less at my self!

[Cap Stewart]

Wow, excellent post (and very convicting)! I'll have to check out some of those messages. Thanks!

[Mike P.]

From Colossians 2 and 3 along with Galatians 2. The Lord has graciously been leading me through renewed emphasis on identification with Christ's death and resurrection. What wonderful freedom - to be dead and buried in Christ, but also resurrected and alive! My life is hidden with Christ! Who is my life! Why have I so often messed up that glorious truth and reality with the prideful introspection I am so prone to? Lord help me!

[Peter Day]

A very inspiring and challenging post. Thank you. I think someone once said, paraphrasing 2 Cor 3v18, that we become what we behold.