Reflecting God's Glory

By Jason Trupp - 1/10/2012

And God saith, `Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...

Genesis 1:26

Jesus saith unto him... he that hath seen me hath seen the Father...

John 14:9
 

     We need to be aware of an attack that is occurring right now in our culture that affects every person every where. It is an all-out attack against any reflection of God's glory manifested in humanity.  Now if that seems a little tough or maybe difficult to swallow, let's look at some realities that confront us daily.

     One doesn't have to watch HGTV too long before one realizes how the godly attribute of creativity has been squandered in the fires of homosexuality. The relentless pursuit of fame and glory has destroyed countless artists and musicians who at one point possessed the godly ability of producing sounds and scenes of heaven on earth. Sadly, we have multiple cable networks documenting their destruction. "Well those are two instances," you might say. "I would hardly call that an all-out attack." But that's just two of the most obvious examples. One of the most prevalent and widely ignored assaults involves the godly characteristic of a child's imagination. There is nothing more wonderful to behold than the imaginative mind of a child. And it is under attack from multiple directions. From mind-numbing cartoons to video games that leave nothing to the imagination to an education system that kills the curiosity necessary to be a life-long learner, our children's most precious godly attribute, their imagination, is under open attack. To make it worse, most parents are either unknowingly or uncaringly permitting it to happen. They would be outraged if a predator kidnapped and sexually assaulted their child. The devil is assaulting children in their homes and at school, and all-to-often right in front of their parents, even convincing the parents to purchase the "toys" which in reality are his weapons of destruction. Does that thought make you sick? If not, why not?

     Meanwhile, the attack advances against adults as well. How many people who profess to be Christians, but have never taken a stand for Christ, are now standing for "values" and "morals" they deem to be American under the guise of "Conservatism"? See, the ability to stand firm when the attack is raging is a Godly attribute (see Ephesians 6:13), but instead of using that God-given ability to stand for the things of God, people waste it by standing for worldly things or political issues. And that's just one area. What about the godly attribute of provision? Men, reflecting the nature of God, have the desire to provide for their family, but our culture has made that so difficult that now both husbands and wives have to work just to pay a mortgage they probably didn't need in the first place. Divorce has so ravaged the family landscape even if husbands have good-paying jobs (and that's a big IF in today's economy), they are still left with nothing as alimony and child-support siphon it away. And what about the generation of child-men? Men who still act like children and never want to grow-up. I call them the lost-boys generation. The desire for fun, entertainment and toys has completely destroyed any godly attributes that should be present in men, strength, honor, integrity, self-less protection, the desire to provide, care for or even have a family. And from that comes the whole "friends-with-benefits" concept of sex without entanglements. The idea of marriage as an "entanglement" or a death-trap is a lie straight from the pit of hell and yet many men believe it and avoid marriage because of it. The attack against women is just as stiff. At first it seemed like a joke - women and shopping and all. Women possess God's eye for beauty, order, care and compassion. However, unless well-protected and cared for by their husband, they can easily fall into jealousy, covetousness and bitterness (Take a look at the competitiveness of many of the women in the Old Testament). The devil knows these weaknesses and that most men are ignorant of the pitfalls women face, so he exploits them with an endless barrage of advertisements for the next best and newest thing, not to mention the sexually explicit ads that force women to compete with commercials for the attention and affections of their husbands. Like the lost-boys generation in men, feminism seeks to destroy all the godly attributes normally found in women. If the lost-boys generation and homosexuality is making women out of men, feminism and lesbianism seeks to make men out of women. Either way, it is an attack on the beautiful image of God that is reflected in mankind.

     And day-by-day, attribute-by-attribute, our created purpose of reflecting God's glory fades away. In our hearts we know it's happening, but the pace of life and endless waves of attacks make us believe there is nothing we can do about it. So the enemy is sweeping away any vestige of "Godliness" from our culture. Oh dear friend, can you hear the cry coming from within your heart that says, "I was made for more than this"? And indeed you were. You were made in the image of the Almighty Godhead. My message isn't supposed to depress you, because like any attack from the enemy, we can overcome this with the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Here's how. At some point we must decide to be what God has made us to be, rather than exhausting ourselves trying to be what the world wants us to be. He has shown us how to reflect His glory through the life of Christ. You know, when you think about it, Jesus didn't live an extravagant life. He lived the life He was given, but He lived it for the glory of God. One of the things He said that speaks so much to me is found in John 14:13. He said, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Oh, imagine if we had that attitude! What would we do if our heart's sole desire was to see the Father glorified in us? Today is the day to reflect God's glory. Jesus showed us how, simple obedience to God's word backed up by the power of the Holy Spirit is all it takes to live a God-glorifying life. He has promised the Holy Spirit's help. We are not to be a faucet that controls the flow of the Holy Spirit. We are to be the conduit through which His power flows, submitting ourselves to God for our placement, purpose and destiny. The world desperately needs saints who reflect the light of God into their dark lives. Will you be the one who says, "Today, Jesus, shine through me"?

      Let's pray. Father, I come to You humbly and confess that I have allowed the enemy's attacks to keep me from reflecting Your glory. I believe Your word that says I was made in Your image, according to Your likeness. I know the devil hates that because the devil hates You. I submit myself, my life, my talents and abilities to You, Lord, and I resist the devil's attempts to prevent me from shining for You. Fill me once again with Your Holy Spirit and empower me to live a godly, God-glorifying, Christ-like life that will bring honor and glory to You. Thank You Father for always hearing me when I call on You in the name of Jesus. Amen.  Now, go reflect the light of God into your world today!