You Can’t Become What You Can’t See

A while back, I noticed something strange about my phone.

I was trying to take a picture in low light — nothing dramatic, just an ordinary moment — and what appeared on the screen didn’t quite match what I was seeing with my eyes.

The image was flat.

Grainy.

Faces lost their depth. Colors were muted.

The phone wasn’t broken.

It was doing exactly what it was designed to do.

It was seeing —

just with limited light and limited resolution.

And it struck me that Scripture says something very similar about the Christian life.

The apostle Paul says, “Now we see in a mirror dimly.”

Not blindly.

Not falsely.

But not yet clearly.

We really do see Christ now.

We truly know Him.

We genuinely love Him.

But we do not yet see Him as He is.

And that creates a quiet tension many believers live with — often without ever saying it out loud.

They are forgiven.

They are faithful.

They are fatigued.

And they wonder — quietly, privately —

“Is this all there is?”

Not because they don’t love Christ.

Not because they’ve lost their faith.

But because forgiveness alone was never meant to carry the full weight of the Christian life.

The Bible never says salvation ends with forgiveness.

Forgiveness is essential — but it is preparatory.

Salvation is moving us toward something greater.

Toward vision.

Toward glory.

On the night before He went to the cross — when everything else fell away — Jesus prayed out loud so His disciples could hear Him.

And what He asked for was not first strength, not endurance, not even perseverance.

He said,

“Father, I desire that they may be with Me where I am — to see My glory.”

That prayer tells us something essential.

Seeing the glory of Christ is not the reward at the end of salvation.

It is the reason for it.

And today, I want us to sit with that truth —

because change does not come before vision.

Change comes after vision.

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Part One — Saved to See

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If that’s true — if change comes after vision — then we need to ask a more basic question:

What is salvation actually for?

Most of us learned to answer that question early on.

Salvation is about forgiveness.

Salvation is about being spared judgment.

Salvation is about going to heaven instead of being lost.

And all of that is true.

Gloriously true.

But it’s not complete.

Because when Jesus speaks about salvation — when He opens His heart the night before the cross — He doesn’t describe it merely as rescue from something.

He describes it as movement toward Someone.

Listen again to His words:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am — to see My glory.”

That sentence quietly reorders everything.

Jesus does not say,

“Father, I want them safe.”

Though they will be.

He does not say,

“Father, I want them obedient.”

Though they will be transformed.

He says,

“I want them with Me — so they can see.”

Which means salvation is not merely about being forgiven and left where we are.

It is about being brought into proximity.

Into presence.

Into sight.

We are saved to see.

That helps explain something many believers experience but struggle to name.

You can be forgiven — truly forgiven —

and still feel unsatisfied.

Not because forgiveness failed.

But because forgiveness is the doorway, not the destination.

Forgiveness clears the way.

Vision fills the soul.

That’s why Jesus places this prayer where He does.

This is not a casual request.

This is not a passing thought.

This is His final prayer before the cross.

When everything else falls away — when there is no time for filler — this is what remains on His heart:

“I want them with Me.”

“I want them to see.”

And He knows what it will cost.

He knows that for us to see His glory,

He must first walk into darkness.

For us to stand in the light,

He must bear judgment.

For us to be fit for glory,

He must take upon Himself everything that makes glory unbearable for sinners.

So when Jesus says, “Father, I desire…”

this desire is not sentimental.

It is costly.

The cross is not simply how our sins are forgiven.

It is how our eyes are prepared.

Without the cross, the glory of God would destroy us.

Because of the cross, it will one day delight us.

That means salvation is not only pardon.

It is preparation.

God is not only forgiving you —

He is getting you ready.

Ready to see what you were always created to see.

And that helps us understand why joy can thin when vision fades.