Jesus Revealed Pt. 5 - Reflecting the Glory of GodSample

Reflecting the Glory of God  

Thoughts on the Passage

Two big concepts here – God’s love and the Father’s glory.

God’s love.

To really understand why Jesus came, we must have a concept of how much God loves us. We understand that Jesus loves us because He died for our sins. That is the supreme sacrifice – His willingness to die so we could be restored to relationship with the Father. However, it also reflects the love of the Father. To reject Jesus is to reject the love God has for us.

God’s glory.

This concept is harder to understand. The expression of the character of God – His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, His holiness, His power, His grace toward us… all His characteristics – is awesome. Every revelation of God’s character comes with a measure of brilliant light, or glory. When we seek the heart of God, there is a measure of His glory that shines on us – and is reflected from us to our world. People will be drawn to us when we reflect the love of God, the grace of God or the holiness of God. However, it is not us, it is the glory of God that draws them – or repels them.

Some people seek their own glory – they want their achievements to shine a light that reveals what they do. First, this is still a reflected glory from God, because He created us with the ability to do these things. Second, it is a glory that cannot be sustained – we are just a small flame that dies out.
God wants our glory to reflect and shine forth His glory – a glory that is eternal, pure, and full of His power. Jesus chose to draw on this glory and to reflect the glory of the Father in everything He did. Moses reflected the glory of God after being in His presence. 

Now it is our turn. 

Application

Evaluate your own life today. Is your focus on things that you do, your accomplishments or is it your desire to let the glory of God shine through you? Do you want God’s love to shine through? Do you want God’s mercy and grace to shine through? Do you want God’s power in our lives to draw attention to His heart or draw attention to us – the vessel holding the treasure?

Listen to what people say about us. If they are upset at the glory of God – His revealed love, grace, forgiveness, holiness – be content. If they focus on things we do, then let’s change what we do so that it draws attention to Jesus and our Father.

Time to Pray

Father show me where I distract people’s attention away from Your glory. Let them see Your love, Your patience, Your mercy in everything I say and do. May I not be lazy – because people will be distracted by that. Let me not be harsh or judgmental – that will hide Your love and mercy. I want to reflect Your glory in everything I do. I do not want any attention on me – except that Your glory can be held in a simple body. That is my prayer today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.