A body, a kingdom, a family, and a building
Body
Kingdom
Family
Building
What do these share in common?
Each one is composed of smaller units, coming together to make the whole, and through Christ, you’re invited into every one of them. His body. His kingdom. His family. His building.
At different seasons in our lives, we might resonate with the invitation to identify with one of these more than the others, or we might feel inadequate about involvement in one more than the others. I want to fully embrace what God has for me, but often, I need encouragement to respond with a yes in all four of these areas. Here’s mine to you:
His body. You’re an essential body part in Christ’s activity on earth. Christ lives through you, and often, your best contribution to His whole body is something you shrug off as “no big deal”.
His Kingdom. You share royal citizenship in His everlasting kingdom. If you feel out of place living out his culture here, let that be a signal that you truly belong somewhere else.
His family. You are loved as His favored child. Your Father delights in you like the finalizing of a long-awaited adoption.
His building. You were intentionally created to fit into the design and structure of his building. Your life was shaped from the very beginning for a specific place in God’s bigger construction project.
May King David’s wonder at God’s desire to include us, be ours today:
“But who am I and what are my people that we should be able to offer willingly? For all things come from You and of Your own hand have we given you. For we are strangers before You and sojourners as all our fathers were. Our days on earth are like a shadow and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building You a house for Your holy name comes from Your hand and is all Your own.”
1 Chronicles 29:14-16
Seeing God’s Glory, part 2
God is continually pulling back the curtain on His glory, but it’s difficult to notice it in our everyday life, unless we know what we’re looking for. We saw a few examples of God’s glory gradually being revealed in the Old Testament last week, but now we step behind the veil through the person of Jesus Christ.
God’s glory in person:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14.
Jesus’ identity and character flesh out God’s glory.
After Jesus turned water to wine, John wrote, “This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.”
John 2:11
In speaking of Lazarus’s sickness, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
John 11:4
Jesus’ miracles show God’s glory and point to Christ as Savior.
“And as [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold two men were talking with him, Moses, and Elijah, who appeared in glory…Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.”
Luke 9:29-32
Jesus’ transfiguration displays God’s glory.
God’s glory internalized:
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Romans 6:4
The glory of the Father raised Jesus and gives us new life in Him.
“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
The Holy Spirit reveals greater degrees of God’s glory in us as we become like Christ.
God’s glory in the future:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18
God’s glory outweighs suffering.
“And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.” Revelation 21:23,24
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14
God’s glory enlightens and consumes all other glories.
May we live today, not looking for our own glory, but rather with eyes of faith set on this guaranteed glorious future.
Seeing God’s Glory
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Habakkuk 2:14
This is the promised future, but it’s hard to see hope through all the darkness. Like a dimmer switch gradually flooding a room with light, so God’s glory - the weight of His presence - is on a trajectory of becoming increasingly visible over time. Our eyes haven’t adjusted fully, but He’s given us glimpses of glory from the very beginning, proof that there’s still more to come.
God’s glory in creation
“The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Psalm 19:1
Study and enjoy nature as a way to see His glory.
God’s glory in action
“Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory’...
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed,
‘the LORD, the LORD,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
but who will by no means clear the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation’.”
Exodus 33:18; 34;6,7
Look at God’s actions toward humanity to see His glory.
God’s glory in visions
Centuries after Moses lived, the prophet Ezekiel sees “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.”
Ezekiel 1:28.
He attempts to express this vision of glory, like…well,…kind of…
“A great cloud with brightness all around it…” 1:4
“The likeness of four living creatures…they had human likeness, but each had four faces,
and each of them had four wings…And the living creatures darted to and fro,
like the appearance of a flash of lightning.” 1:5-14
“I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them…
their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl…as it were, a wheel within a wheel…
and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around…
Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them,
for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.” 1:15-21
“Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse,
shining like awe-inspiring crystal…
above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne,
in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne
was a likeness with a human appearance…” 1:22-28
Let the inexplicable aspects of God’s glory move you to worship.
But it doesn’t end here. Thankfully, God kept pulling back the curtain on His glory, and we’ll step behind that veil next week.
Your workday matters
In the beginning, God, the Master Designer, created a physical world that He deemed good. He included humanity in His good creation, but he distinguished us above the rest of the created order by making us in His image. Our responsibility was to steward the abundant potential He’d woven into the earth for the sake of the world’s flourishing and to the glory of the Creator.
But mankind rejected this plan, wanting to define good ourselves, instead of living by how God had defined it. Now, instead of stewarding all that God made, humanity neglects, destroys, or worships God’s creation to the destruction of our own souls. Everything is out of alignment, physically and spiritually.
The promise we cling to for our future is that, through Christ, God will one day completely restore his creation that’s been misaligned by sin. He will turn chaos into order; He will make the broken whole; He will make what’s wasted, useful, what’s ruined, beautiful. Everything lost under the curse is finally reversed entirely.
Until that day, we participate in God’s restoration process every time we put our hands to work, bringing order, wholeness, or beauty to the world through our jobs. While we're on this earth, we’ve been entrusted to research, discover, and utilize the built-in laws and principles that uphold our world and lead to its beneficial use. We’re entrusted to apply our abilities, giftings, strengths, insights, and responsibilities for the good of those around us and in reflection of our Master until He returns. We take part in:
God’s orderliness if we’re accountants or secretaries
God’s creativity if we’re designers or chefs
God’s justice if we’re in law and government
God’s truth if we’re teachers or researchers
God’s care if we’re in the medical field or parenting a three year old
The list goes on. As we steward our Master’s entrustments, we also anticipate the completion of His work when His kingdom fully comes. Somehow, the way we steward our responsibilities on this earth, affects our future responsibilities in his kingdom. There is an inheritance awaiting us, where the little we’ve been faithful with, becomes much for our role in God’s kingdom. The little bits of joy we’ve experienced in our role on earth become full joy in the Master’s presence.
May you experience a glimmer of that joy in your workday, because it matters to Him.
For more, see Genesis 1-3; Matthew 25:14-29; Romans 1:20-23, 8:18-28; Colossians 3:23-24