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. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
– 2 Corinthians 3:18
There’s so much we could talk about in 2 Corinthians 3 that leads to this conclusion in 2 Corinthians 3:18. But there are two things I want to focus on. Two things that I want to encourage you with today and then lead us to pray according to.
2 Corinthians 3:18 Encourages Us to Look to Jesus
First, the more we look to Jesus, the more we will look like Jesus. So let me say that again. The more we look to Jesus, the more we will look like Jesus. That’s the picture here in 2 Corinthians 3:18. God, by his Spirit, has opened our eyes to see the glory of Jesus, the beauty, the wonder, the love, the truth, the majesty of Jesus.
We have unveiled faces. There’s a ton we could talk about there, but our eyes are opened to behold the glory of the Lord. And as we behold him, we are being transformed into his image. So the more we behold Jesus, the more we become like Jesus. And so the key to looking more like Jesus is looking to Jesus, fixing your eyes on him. And the Bible talks about this in so many different ways. The whole Bible’s purpose, in many ways, is to show us Jesus. This is Jesus telling those men on the Emmaus road, “All the Scriptures point to me.”
So as you meditate on the Word daily, let the Word lead you to see Jesus as you pray. Focus on who Jesus is and the more you look to Jesus, the more you will become like Jesus. Fix your mind and your attention and your affections on Jesus.
2 Corinthians 3:18 Reminds Us We are Being Transformed
This leads to the second thing, we are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another.
What a phrase, transformed into glory, from one degree of glory to another, and let this phrase captivate your heart today and every day, that you and I might become more like Jesus today than we look like Jesus yesterday and more like Jesus tomorrow than we look like Jesus today. And in the process find ourselves being transformed by God through His Spirit, from one degree of glory to another, until one day, in the words of 1 John 3, we shall see him and become like him. We will be fully transformed into glory, Romans 8:30, glorified with Jesus, fully conformed into his image.
Oh God, we pray this over our lives today. We want to become more like Jesus. Jesus, you are our hope, you are our joy, you are our life. You’re our Savior. You’re our King. You are our Lord. We want to become more and more like you. God, we want to think like you. We want to desire what you desire. Lord, we want to speak in ways that reflect your Word. We want to love what you love. We want to serve as you serve.
God, help us today by your Spirit to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus in a Hebrews 12 kind of way, and in the process to become more like Jesus. Make us more like you today, God. We don’t want to settle for anything less than becoming more like Jesus today, which we know is your purpose for us. That you’re working all things together in our lives, Romans 8:28, for this purpose to be conformed into the image of Jesus. And we can’t wait for the day when that transformation will be complete and we will be glorified, resurrected bodies with you, Jesus. Oh, hasten the coming of that day. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and we pray that every day we live would be a step toward that goal.
Prayer for the Kapali People
God, make us more like Jesus at the end of today than we look like Jesus at the beginning of today. And God, we pray for people who have never seen Jesus, for unreached people in the world like the Kapali people of India and Bangladesh, half a million strong, hardly any known followers of Jesus. God, we pray, especially among the Kapali people in Bangladesh where there are no known followers of Jesus. God, we pray that they would see Jesus raise up laborers to go and spread the gospel of Jesus to them and open their eyes by your Spirit. Oh, God, we are interceding for the Kapali people, open their eyes to see Jesus and become like Jesus and be glorified with Jesus on that day in Revelation 7:9–10. We pray this all in Jesus’ name, according to 2 Corinthians 3:18. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
