The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"He Sees"
"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13).
God sees the outward and the inward of all things. He sees attitudes and actions, beliefs and behaviors, thoughts and steps. Were He anyone other than who He is, this would be the most terrifying of truths about our Lord, even to those who know, love, and trust Him. Because of who He is, however, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ can be glad that "Thou God, seest me" (Genesis 16:13).
We need someone to see us both within and without. Certainly, we don't begin to fully comprehend our own internals and externals. Indeed, the only mystery that begins to compare with the mystery of God is the mystery of ourselves. We cannot know who and what we are apart from divine revelation, as provided in the Scriptures and directed by the Holy Spirit. This raises the question, what does our Heavenly Father see when He looks into us and upon us?
"Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (I Corinthians 1:30).
First, God sees the spirits of believers united to the Spirit of His Son. It cannot be otherwise. Too much was sacrificed by the Lord Jesus to make possible His presence within us for this to not be our Father's primary view of us. On the cross, our Father saw His Son as sin, that He might see us as sons and daughters. Yes, Christ died that we might live in a life defined by His presence within us. "Christ is our life… to live is Christ" (II Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:4; Philippians 1:21). The God who "looketh on the heart" sees the Spirit of Christ in the heart of every believer as His first gaze into and upon us. "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (I Samuel 16:7; Galatians 4:6). This constitutes a grace of the highest and most holy magnitude, especially in a present lifetime wherein believers do not always live in a matter that honors and reflects the wonder of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
Of course, God sees everything else about us, including the internals of our souls and the actions of our bodies. What we think, believe, feel, speak, and do may or may not reflect the presence of Christ in our spirits. Our Heavenly Father relates to us accordingly, ever seeking to affirm and bless our walk in the Spirit, and in love working to make the way of transgressions hard (Proverbs 13:15; Hebrews 12:6). He acts perfectly toward us in the light of His complete seeing of everything about us, and His infinite knowledge means that nothing He ever beholds about us surprises Him. He primarily sees us through the lens of Christ's person and work on our behalf in the confidence that "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
"Thou God seest me." He does, a properly sobering thought upon first consideration. Further contemplation, however, should thrill us that Someone does in fact know us, especially since His knowledge flows with the current of His grace and truth in Christ. Yes, God knows us completely and can do something about what He sees. Any disturbance upon first realization of such reality should give way to the peace of remembering our Father's gracious determination to conform us to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:28-29). He sees Christ in the spirits of His trusting children now, and He continually works toward the day when He will see Christ in the totality of our being and our ways.
"The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous."
(Psalm 34:15)
Weekly Memory Verse
What hast thou that thou didst not receive?
(I Corinthians 4:7)
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