Reflections, Inc. April 17, 2014

Transcription

1 Women & More Reflections, Inc. April 17, 2014 The apostle John the one that Jesus loved, as he referred to himself was exiled to the island of Patmos as an old man and there he received the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 1, John saw Christ in his glory. He had seen the man Jesus as He lived and died; he d seen Him in his resurrected body on earth after he rose from the dead, but now John saw Christ in His human resurrected and glorified body, and that sight so overwhelmed him that he lost consciousness. The glorified body of Jesus took John s breath away! Then in Revelation 4 John described a door standing open through which he passed to see God on his throne. He saw a magnificent throne and an indescribable Person sitting on it! And from that point on, the description of the Person and the throne everyone and everything around the throne occupied the very center of the next 15 chapters of the Book of Revelation. Back to the beginning in Genesis 1:26a and 27 Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. The image of God included his mind (thinking processes), his will (choice), his spirit (life), and his emotions (especially that desire to love and be loved). What is conspicuously missing is his divine physical image. When Jesus came to earth he took upon himself the physical image of a man, but that is not the visible image of God. Scripture says that no one has seen God and lived. We cannot assume we are created in God s physical image it is indefinable in human terms but it is enough that he gave to the man and woman he created a physical image that He approved it in Genesis 1:31. God gave instructions to Moses about His face in Exodus 33:20 you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. 21Then the LORD said, There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen. God used words like face, hand and back, not to describe His Divine Person, but so Moses could understand the instructions anthropomorphism is to use human characteristics for something not human. We also can see why John the revelator was probably fairly near his own death when he saw the indescribable Person on the throne, as God had told Moses way back in Exodus that no one may see me and live. 1 Corinthians 15:39 stomach-punches the theory of evolution: All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.

2 2 The first of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses says to have no other gods before him to love God and serve him only. Then Deuteronomy 5:8 sets out the second command: You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. This command introduces the sin of image-making: we are not to make any likeness of any thing for use in worship, and points us to the principle that not only are we not to commit idolatry by the worship of false gods, but also we are not to worship the true God by images: real or imagined. We are not to imagine what God may look like and use that as an aid to worship Him. Since our worship should only go to God, and since his physical image is unknown to us, then anything we make or imagine to represent God Almighty would fall so very far short of his actual appearance and visage as to be an affront to His Majesty an insult to the Most High. So we are not to worship any other god, idol or image, nor are we to use pictures and statues that depict God make no graven image or likeness for use in worship. The second command bans it otherwise it would be a repeat of the first. Scripture reveals in Exodus 34:29-35 Moses receiving the Ten Commandments: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32Afterward all the Israelites came near him and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever he entered the LORD s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD. Moses was not aware that his face was radiant, but the Israelites noticed right away. Scripture says that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. After Moses finished speaking with the people, he veiled his face, not because the radiance was too much for the people to view, although they were indeed bedazzled by it, but because as he was out of the presence of the LORD, the radiance would begin to fade Moses did not want the Israelites to witness fading glory! And when Moses went back into the presence of the LORD, he would take the veil away so that the radiance would be renewed. Moses face took on God s reflective glory as he spent time in His presence, and the glory

3 3 would fade as he was out of it. This radiance and fading also symbolized the eventual fact that the Mosaic order would one day be eclipsed by Messiah and the New Covenant, as taught by Paul in the following New Testament passage. Referring back to Moses face reflecting God s glory after being in His presence, Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 tells us about the reflective glory of Christ that lasts: Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious. 9If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Paul says in verse 12 that since we have such a hope of the much greater, surpassing glory we are very bold. We are not like Moses who veiled his face because the reflecting glory would fade, but we have confidence that the Holy Spirit will reflect Christ through us to those we speak to about Him. When in Acts Peter and John appeared before the Sanhedrin, Scripture says in 4:13 and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. We can absolutely count on God s Spirit to reflect Christ in us, as we spend time with Him, and to establish the work of our hands! Psalm 90:17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us yes, establish the work of our hands. Instead of the Israelites perceiving the reason for the radiance Moses being in the presence of God and reflecting his glory the fading glory and the veil, they became veiled in their own understanding. Even in Paul s day whenever the Old Testament old covenant was read in the synagogue, the Jews did not perceive the impermanence of the Mosaic order that the new had come. So now we come to the new order of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Colossians 1:13-15 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and we the image of Christ!

4 4 Whereas justification has to do with the new birth, sanctification has to do with our growth. The more time we spend in the presence of the Lord like a flower in the sunshine reading and studying his word and communing with him, the more we will identify with him in every respect and be conformed to his image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We will want to be in his house, worshipping him and regularly hearing his word proclaimed. We will not neglect it! Henry van Dyke says, When a person can willingly forego even the outward services of religion, and stay away from the house of God, and let the seasons of devotion and communion pass by without a thought of regret, that person s faith and love must be at a low ebb, if indeed they have not altogether dried up and blown away. A living plant seeks water: a living soul longs for the refreshment of the sanctuary. The Holy Spirit will teach us to have no confidence in our old self and to have all of our faith in Christ. God accepts us not in ourselves, but in his Son, because self cannot be reconciled to God, nor can it be conformed to Christ s image. We must learn to expect less and less from ourselves, and more and more from Him the self-life must give way to the Christ-life. The Christian should take nothing short of Christ for his model, says Charles Spurgeon. Under no circumstances ought we to be content unless we reflect the grace which was in him. There was a question on the worksheet: When we look into the spiritual mirror, who do we see? Do we see the likeness and character of Christ? Why not? Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. We will not be aware of Christ s reflective glory on us, but the Holy Spirit will see to it that others are. And certainly not because of anything we do, but because of the Spirit s work of conforming us to the likeness of the Son. When we allow God s truth to eclipse every false positive and let our eyes spring open to the treasure we have there in His glorious reflection, we ll also see the treasure we are, says Beth Moore. Through faith in Christ we are: Without condemnation Romans 8:1 New creations in Christ 2 Corinthians 5:17 Given the ministry of reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:18 Made the righteousness of God 2 Corinthians 5:21 Accepted in the Beloved Ephesians 1:5-7 Living the life of Christ Himself Ephesians 2:5 Partakers of the divine nature 2 Peter 1:4

5 5 Sanctification equals separation: being sanctified means being set apart for God s possession and his use. For example, in Genesis 2:3 Scripture says that God set apart the seventh day the Sabbath: And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. And in John 17:17-19 Jesus, after asking the Father to sanctify believers, says a very interesting thing: that He willingly separated himself for the work of God. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. We will look and think like Christ: 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. We will smell like Christ: In 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 Paul says, But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 17Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men (women) sent from God. We will suffer like Christ: 2 Corinthians 4:5-10 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. 6For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. Mrs. Charles E. Cowman said, If we would be enlarged into human sympathy, we must be narrowed into limits of human suffering. Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects a face, so a man s heart reflects the man. And we will see Him face to face: 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. Charles Spurgeon It is a blessed thing to want to see Him; but oh! It is better far to gaze upon Him! As we spend time gazing upon Him we will reflect Him to others; we will join the ranks of the justified and sanctified: Reflections, Inc.