A Face That Transforms

The face of Christ has transforming power. Those who look upon it with steadfast love are changed by it into its own beauty. This teaching is brought out very clearly in the New Testament. The apostle Paul describes in wonderful way the transforming power of the face of Christ as we look upon it: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory.”* (2 Corinthians 3:18) The glory of the Lord is the glory which shines in the face of Jesus Christ. We cannot see that glory with our eyes, for Christ is in heaven. But it is reflected for us on the pages of the gospel. As we ponder Him in these pages intently, we look upon His glory.

The effect of this continued beholding, is the transformation of our lives into Christ’s image. That is, as we consider Christ, as we

read the story of His life,
think of Him,
meditate on the beauty of His character,
look into His face with love and adoration—

the brightness of that face prints itself upon our faces, and we are transformed into His image.

This transformation is not wrought suddenly, instantaneously, but gradually—“from glory to glory.” A young Christian wrote to a friend asking a question. Someone had been saying that true Christians never lose self-control—that if we do so, we are not true Christians. This was somewhat discouraging to the young learner who had not yet attained this complete self-mastery, who sometimes gave way to excited feelings and spoke impatiently, though striving always to live sweetly, and grieving over failures.

If this were one of the tests of discipleship, some of us, even some who are much older Christians than this young friend, would find ourselves weighed and found wanting. How many Christians have achieved perfect self-control? How many, even of the most earnest of us, never speak unadvisedly, nor behave ourselves unseemly? We ought to live lives of entire self-mastery, never losing our temper, never growing impatient, never letting ourselves become provoked or irritated, never giving the rein to any desire, appetite, or passion, doing nothing rash. That is the ideal Christian life. Toward this ideal all of us are sincerely, earnestly, and prayerfully striving, if we are Christians at all. But we do not attain this or any other Christian grace at one step—it is the work of long days and years.

Life is a school. The qualities of Christian character are studies set for us. No one learns a musical instrument in one lesson. No one can become an accomplished artist in a day. No one can get the full beauty of Christ into his life in one brief year. We have it here in Paul’s words—“changed into the same image from glory to glory”; that is, line by line, little by little.