"Father, I desire that they also whom
You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory
which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the
world."
"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 by the Spirit of the Lord."
II Corinthians 3:18
Beholding
Another one of the elements involved
in the fellowship of the Godhead is beholding. The word "beholding" in
the original language is a very rich word. Beholding is an intense gazing
at something or someone. It actually means to be-hold; to take the vision
of something and then hold that vision within your being.
It is a continuous action verb. The beholding is constant, deep, and enduring.
It involves deep personal feeling.
With these things in mind let me share
with you that the Father is always beholding the Son. The Son is always
beholding the Father. In fact, the Son receives the beholding of the Father
and then beholds the Father beholding Him! How can I explain that? I really
can't! It must suffice for me to say that there is a constant flow of beholding
that is happening within the Godhead. That beholding is intense. It is
constant, and it is very deep. You could say that the Father only has eyes
for the Son and the Son only has eyes for the Father! The Father has "tunnel"
vision! All He sees is the Son. Reverently speaking, the Father is obsessed
with the Son. His whole delight is found within the Son. The Father does
not delight Himself with Himself. He delights Himself in the Son!
His delight is found in another. This, saints, is tremendous! The only
comparison in this realm that I can think of is two starry eyed lovers
who just can't take their eyes off of one another. Of course, this illustration
really pales in the light of the beholding within the Godhead!
Our Beholding
In John 17 Jesus prayed that we would
be able to behold His glory which the Father had given Him. Then Paul tells
us that by beholding the Lord we can be transformed from glory to glory.
In Ephesians he prayed that the "eyes" of their understanding would be
opened so that they would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation (seeing)
in the (experiential) knowledge of Him. Seeing is everything. We need to
be able to see the Lord. We can only see Him if we look at Him! You can
only see these things which you look at. We need to learn to see the Lord
within our spirits. Christ lives in us. We can use the eyes of our spirits
to see (or behold) Him. Why don't you stop reading this article right now
to see your Lord? Close your eyes and turn the "eyes" of your spirit to
Him Who lives within. Don't try and conjure up a mental image of Him in
your mind. Just turn your eyes to Him by a simple act of faith. Try it
right now and then continue reading.
Did you try it? No? Shame on you! Go
try it! What happened? Did you see Him? Most of you probably didn't see
a thing and you think I'm nuts! I'm not speaking of visualization
or some occultic vision. I'm speaking here of beholding the Lord. The reason
you probably didn't see Him is because beholding is a different kind of
"seeing" then you are used to. You cannot see Him like you see physical
things with your physical eyes. With those eyes you simply open up you
eyelids and start seeing things. Not so in your spirit! There you must
look for Him or "seek" Him in order to see Him. Perhaps many of you have
seen those 3D posters that were out in the stores a few years ago. At first
glance, all that you see is a bunch of weird looking colors. As you begin
to stare inside of the picture (instead of at it) you see a form
take place in 3D. This is like beholding Him. It is a different kind of
seeing. If you will press in and continue to turn your spiritual eyes to
Him, you will learn to behold Him!
Corporate Beholding
In II Cor. 3:18 Paul said, "But we
all …" All the saints behold Him together! This is something we not
only do individually, but also corporately as the Church. Let me tell you
something brothers and sisters; the only way that you will ever truly love
the brethren is by beholding the Lord in them! If you look at the
flesh, it you look at them in the natural, you will never be able to love
them. Paul said that he knew no man after the flesh. We desperately need
to see Christ in our brothers and sisters. Christ lives in your spouse,
can you see Him in there? When you look into the eyes of your wife can
you see the Lord? This is crucial to church life. There is a mirror within
your spirit. That mirror doesn't reflect you, it reflects Christ! Look
into your mirror to see your Lord. Look into your brother's mirror to see
the Lord! | 
