Glory

Good afternoon to everyone. It's always a different geography with people spread all the way back in the room and a thinner view pattern, but everyone's smiling and healthy enough and sorry about the heat. It is on, but it's set at 70. It's not moving up from 60 much, so I don't know what we can do. Hot air. See if that helps a little bit. Glory is this word that we hear used in many different ways over the course of our lifetimes.

We have NCAA madness going on right now, right? So you hear about a winning sports team basking in the glory of their victory. Or a celebrity we know God is described as a God of glory, and His creation is said to reflect that glory. I guess we can vouch for that pretty easy, right? We've all seen the glory of a sunset along the way or a sunrise for those who like to wake up early. J.S. Bach said, all music and then the glory of God and the soul's refreshment.

Even Lady Gaga wrote a song called The Edge of Glory. Now, I didn't realize and I don't think the words actually connote that, but she wrote it when she was visiting her grandparents and her grandfather was at the point of death. The song doesn't describe what glory is in her. So what is glory? And for whose glory do we do what we do? Is it for our glory?

Is it for God's glory? If you will turn to 1 Timothy 6, verse 15 through 16. 1 Timothy 6, verse 15 through 16. I notice as finding things all the time, astrophysicists are constantly looking out in space farther and farther. But from what I could research, the brightest star that we're aware of is called Goliath. Goliath is not just twice as bright as the sun, which would be incredible in itself. It's not even ten times or a hundred times brighter.

It's not even a thousand times brighter. It's not even a million times brighter, which my brain already can't fathom, and I'm not supposed to look at that thing that's bright out there as it is. It's estimated to be 120 million times brighter than our sun.

So with that in mind, I want you to think about that star and then think of how much greater God's glorious presence is. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 15, which he, speaking of Christ at his return, will manifest in his own time, he who is the blessed and only Pontintate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. We can see Goliath.

To whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. So earthly or even heavenly glory is only this cheap imitation of the glory of God.

When we think of giving glory to God, I think we can easily fall into a trap, a trap of thinking where it's thought of as something mandatory, something that's demanded of us by God. And if you look in the Bible, that's the opposite of God's intent, because everything God does is for us. And everything he expects back from us is supposed to be voluntary.

It's all this relationship that's for our good, right? God is for us, not against us. So what is glory? What do we mean when we speak of the glory of God, when we speak of the glory of the sun and the moon? Well, providing a definition for glory is difficult. It's like the difference between defining what a basketball is and what beauty is. We can all define a basketball, right? Charades, y'all draw something, somebody gets it, that's a basketball. Beauty? Well, that's different, right? It's abstract. It's in the eye of the beholder. So since we're here at church, let's start by looking at the definitions of the key words that are used in the Bible for the word glory. In the Old Testament, glory is referenced over 200 times. If you ever do word searches, these numbers, this is in your more commonly used words than many, many words you think of in the Bible when you hear how many times glory is used. But over 200 times, and the Greek, I'm sorry, the Hebrew word used is kabbat, which is either K-A-B-O-D or K-A-B-O-W-D. You can ask Bill the difference.

But I've seen both used the, to explain that. It comes from the root word meaning heavy or weighty. And it refers to something that has substance and fullness and abundance.

It talks about something that's fully real, fully authentic. So the glory of God is His infinite greatness, His total perfection. And it's exhibited through all that He is and everything we see. An example that you know well is Psalm 19.1, which says, The heavens declare the glory, that infinite greatness of God, and the firmaments show His handiwork. Think of the star Goliath. Right? So, glory is this really big concept to understand. Turn next to Isaiah 42 in verse 8. Isaiah 42 in verse 8. So if glory is challenging by itself, when we apply this concept to God, well, we quickly realize there's nothing comparable.

Right? God is bigger than all of us, or anything that we can comprehend because of our limited humanity. Right? I mean, I can't wrap my head around a star 120 million times brighter than our son. God is, or I should say, glory refers to the embodiment of God. And then you can fill in the blanks, right? God is omnipotent. God is sovereign. He is the creator of everything. He is the ultimate judge.

We also know that God is also loving and good and compassionate in relationship to humans. He is our defender and our hoper and our creator and our abba. All of those reflect the glory of God. Isaiah 42 in verse 8. I am the one who is my God. Isaiah 42 in verse 8. I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory I will not give to another, meaning to yield, to franchise it out without his consent, nor my praise to carved images.

So when we talk about the glory of a person, the glory of man can only generate from the beauty of that person's spirit, right? Which is faulty and carnal and temporary. The glory of God is eternal. It purveys through everything about him and the spirit that flows from him. So the glory of God is not this aesthetic beauty we think of in amazing things, flowers, plants, animals, but it emanates from all that God is from his character. And so as you think about it, I find analogies always help me.

My brain thinks naturally in analogies. So if you want to think of what it means for us to glorify God, think of our role like the moon, right? Because the moon does not generate its own light. The moon reflects the sun. And so we are to reflect the radiance of God and reflect his light so that others see that light in us. So that helps as an analogy.

The New Testament word for glory is the word doxa, D-O-X-A, and that's used 170 times. So we have almost 400 uses, and that's not even looking at the times glorifying or glorify is used. An amazingly commonly used word. This word doxa means radiance or splendor. And at its core it relates to the attributes of the true nature of a thing. And it's usually connected to praise, to honor, to worship.

So any of you who might have heard the word of somebody doing a doxology, that's where that word comes from, from glory. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 40 through 44. 1 Corinthians 15, 40 through 44. What we're going to find in this example is this word used multiple times, and we're going to find it being used toward physical things and spiritual things. But you'll see a clearer contrast that they're not in any way equal. 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 40.

There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars.

For one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in corruption. It is sown in dishonor, its own unique glory. Secondly, all of creation—so plants, animals, birds, heavenly celestial bodies—were created to act or behave according to the nature God put into them.

All of them were created according to the nature God put into them. God's original design was that every creature, by becoming everything it was created to be, would manifest its own glory and by doing so, reveal God's glory. And the Bible says when that happens, he is very pleased. So glory to fly. Right? God created it with a flight nature, and God saw all that he made, and it was good. Finally, God created man as his ultimate expression of his glory.

And God's purpose in creating the human race was so that we could live in fellowship with him. Phenomenal glory, he put in lower parts of his creation. How much more should we, who represent the highest order of creation, wear his greatest masterpiece, his greatest artistry? Okay.

Third point. Key realization for us to understand is that every living thing God has created was designed to environment to display its God-given glory. God has created and designed everything he has made, every living thing, to thrive in its proper environment to display its God-given glory.

It's natural for a fish to swim. A fish doesn't struggle in water. I was watching a nature show. It's just phenomenal to see how they cut through and move and lighten dashes, and just phenomenal what they do in the water. But you take that fish out of the water, it's going to be struggling a lot. A bird needs the sky and the open air to fully express the glory of flight.

If you cage any animal, it's restricted by its environment from showing its full glory. So only in its proper environment can all parts of creation display their glory. Okay, now let's make it personal. Like birds, like fish, mankind was created to function in a prescribed environment. That environment is God's presence. We were designed to display the glory God intended of us by being in His presence.

So with that as a foundation to this topic, let me walk you through different times God's presence and glory has appeared to people over the history of humans. So the first time God's manifested His glory of mankind was the Garden of Eden, right? God created man and woman in His glorious image and He dwelt physically with them. Right? They were going through and there was this environment where they were surrounded by the presence of God.

You just get these visuals of this continual union, walking and talking together, having this interaction. What a phenomenal opportunity. God provided both the proper environment and the proper relationship in which humans He had created could thrive, could fully express their glory while living and working in harmony with Him. And as we know, God has this great objective in creating all of us, right? Which is to expand His family. But God also was very aware that humans have this issue with sin. We have this struggle along the way with sin. And so He warned Adam and Eve about sin. He warned you and I about sin. But they had to choose for themselves.

And yes, there was the deception of Satan that was involved. But remember, prior to that, God was directly with Adam and Eve, teaching them, bing to bing. All humans are responsible for our choices. And so, of course, the first glory was ended by sin and this carob was placed with the sword to block off the entry to the Garden of Eden, to the tree of life that symbolizes eternal life. Sin is what makes it impossible for us to accomplish our divine purpose because it separates us from God's presence. Sin marred both the environment and the relationship of humans with God. And since then, mankind has failed their glory and, from them forward, distorted the image of God because they didn't recognize what God put together and the whole plan that He has done.

And therefore, God is being minimized. No human can become what God created us to be without His presence. And you could say all we see since Adam and Eve, since they left the Garden anyway, is what God is willing to do to carry out His plan to restore us to our proper environment. If you'll turn to Exodus 13, verses 20 through 21.

Exodus 13, 20 through 21. So we next see God's glory being displayed in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, right, when Israel was leaving Egypt. Exodus 13, starting in verse 21. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

So you could say God clothed Himself in fire in the pillar so that human beings could have the ability to see Him. The pillar of cloud and fire helped mankind have something to hold onto related to God's glory. And by the way it was described, the Israelites had no excuse, right, to not recognize that God's presence and His glory was right there. And we'll talk about that more even in an upcoming verse. Because the presence, the manifestation of God was there always.

It was never withdrawn from their view. And this pillar is a little bit unusual, which I think speaks a lot to how humans see God. The Egyptians, when they looked at this, they saw that pillar as dark, as menacing, as something to be terrified about. And yet on the Israelite side, it was bright and brilliant. It gave them light, gave them security and comfort. Interesting how humans view God's presence. Why did God manifest Himself in this way? Again, remember Egypt represents sin, right?

God wanted them to stay out of sin. And so God showed the importance and the significance of His presence by constantly being needed for them to accomplish their journey. His presence is what separated them from Egypt. His presence is what guided where they went. And where are they going? They're going to the Promised Land. So much symbolism, and God was going to lead them and be with them along the way. Turn forward to Exodus 24, and we'll read verses 16 through 18. Exodus 24, 16 through 18.

We now find Israel at Mount Sinai. Exodus 24, starting at verse 16. Now, the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered in six days. And on the seventh day, He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountains in the eyes of the children of Israel.

So Moses went into the midst of the clouds and went up into the mountain. And Moses went on the mountains — I'm sorry — was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. So again, we see God's visible presence, the glory of God being exhibited in this visible, this powerful way. And this presence, this manifestation of God, became known as the Shekana, referencing the glorious presence of God dwelling on earth. Now, realize you're not going to find the word Shekana in the Bible.

The word connects to the Hebrew word that means to dwell or to reside. That word to dwell is shekan, and you can hear, or if you see it, shekan shekana. That's where the connection comes in, and you'll see it in this next verse. Turn to Exodus 29, verses 44 through 46. Exodus 29, verses 44 through 46. Now we're stepping into the tabernacle or the tent of meeting. That's the next place God's glory was manifest to Israel.

Exodus 29, starting in verse 44. So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting in the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to me as priests. I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go outward in all their journeys. But if the people, I'm sorry, but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up.

For cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. So this cloud was representative of God's very presence, of His glory right there with people. And it was always fully visible, guiding all their actions. If they ever had a doubt if God was real, look over your shoulder. Whoop! Okay, God's real. You know, it's a phenomenal display and effort that God did to show and guide people beyond our ability to have excuses. Because He was with them. He never forsook them, and was always visible.

And notice it says throughout all their journeys. So it was an all-encompassing, purely visible presence for forty years. Child was born. Where's God? Oh, there He is. Look over there. When do we need to move? It was a portable tent. So when do we move? Oh, the tent's going. The fire's going. The cloud's going. Just gotta move now. God was always visible.

And that's why it's so ironic that even constantly seeing the presence of God, the Israelites still rebelled so many times. They still didn't believe God could do what He promised to them. And there's a huge lesson in there for us. If we want God to do things for us to justify our obedience, it doesn't matter what God does for us. It will never be enough. Ever. It's ultimately about our convictions, about our faith, our relationship with God that's going to make the difference. It's never about how many times you're healed or how many times God intervenes or protects your life or your loved one's life.

Turn next to 1 Kings 8, and we'll start in verse 1. Now we move to Solomon's temple. They built a permanent home for God in Jerusalem, as you know. But I want you to catch the nuances of the difference in how this felt to the Israelites. 1 Kings 8, starting in verse 1. Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief priests of the children of Israel, took King Solomon in Jerusalem that they might bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. Let's go to verse 4. Then they brought up the Ark of the Lord, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle.

The priests and the Levites brought them up. Now go to verse 10. And it came to pass when the priests came out of the holy place that the cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Then Solomon spoke, the Lord said he would dwell in the dark cloud.

I have surely built you an exalted home and a place for you to dwell in forever. Again, you're going to see, here we see this glory of God residing, filling a house in this visible way. And the word dwell in verses 12 and 13 is Shekan, where Shekanah comes from.

But interestingly is what happens in the mind of Israel. From here forward, it's kind of this out of sight, out of mind thing going on. Because when wandering the desert, they couldn't miss the presence of God leading them. Right? They're not 40 years. There it is. Now God was not only concealed at the temple, but in the holy of holies where they couldn't go. And so God's presence in a way became limited. They began to look at God as this impersonal being. And I think some of this even extends to the Jews today, where they feel there is this need to have a temple again. Because this connection that exists with God connects to this presence of a temple where God's glory has been housed.

If you'll turn next, well, I can just let me finish the thought. I mean, you know the end on this one. God's glory didn't stay in the temple for long because of their carnality, right? Because of their evil. So that also was for a period of time. Turn now to John 1, and we'll read verses 10 through 14. John 1, 10 through 14. What we now find is God came in the flesh, and Jesus Christ in His glory tabernacled with humans.

So the next presentation is Jesus Christ in His glory tabernacling with humans. We know John 1 starts, right, by describing the Word as the creator of all things. And then He describes the greatest miracle that people had seen up to that point in history. And that was, Spirit became flesh. The invisible creator of all things became visible. But as so often happens, sadly, God's greatness is not always recognized or appreciated by humans. John 1, starting in verse 10. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.

So even when the divine glory was shining out of Jesus in person to person conversations and interactions, the world didn't see it. The world didn't understand it. It was only appreciated by very few, like we'll see in verse 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

So we next see what Jesus revealed to everyone he came in contact with if they were looking.

And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So Jesus displayed the glory of God. He reflected that fullness of grace and truth and excellence. And that Greek word dwelling means tabernacle. God casts his tent with mankind. Mankind was again faced with this decision of whether they were going to obey God or man. And as you know, Jesus was killed.

God's glory was not desired or appreciated. It was resisted.

So I hope what you're seeing and coming to realize is that God's glory is constant.

And as we journey through life, we will see it manifest itself in many ways.

If we simply look around and see his presence in creation or in our lives or in the lives of others, well, that leads to the final glory, which occurred 33 years after on Pentecost, when God sent some of his glory to dwell in humans through the Holy Spirit.

After baptism, after laying on of hands, a person receives a small portion of God's power of his spirit, his amazing glory in us. That means when we display—think of the fruits of the spirit, right? When we display love, joy, peace, patience, faith, goodness, meekness, self-control, we are reflecting his glory. A different way to think about that. And as we approach the Passover, we've been reflecting on all God enables through Christ's life, through his death, through his resurrection, right? The Passover is to help us never take for granted, to never overlook the topic of God's glory in us. That's what Jesus made possible. And by God giving us the Holy Spirit, we see that God will never demand anything of us that he will not equip us to accomplish.

But just because we have the Holy Spirit now doesn't mean it's permanent. We start with it at baptism as the first installment, but obviously we have to be led by it. We have to develop it. Again, analogies are fun to work with. They're always a little limited, but they're—you can make connections because we humanly can think that way. Think about when you buy a car and you put it down payment, and yes, you get to take the car and drive it off. But if you don't make any more payments, it will be impounded because you stopped making the payments on it. God wants us to work with what he blesses us with. Please turn to John 17, verses 20 through 22.

John 17, 20 through 22. I'd like to review a set of scriptures that we will read in a week—9 days, 6 days, or whatever—on the Passover. But if you think about God's plan—we always talk about God's plan as expanding his family, and that's true. But you can also look at God's plan and summarize it as us reflecting his glory, which is comparable. Transferred his glory to us so that we can be one with him and the Father. Have you ever thought about that? When you think of unity and its relationship to God's glory, we are now the temple of God. We have been granted the glory of God— presentations—fire on top of Mount Sinai, pillar of fire and cloud. However, we have taken on the glory of God, and Christ that he has given it to us in that glory is what unifies us with Christ and the Father. Are we exhibiting the glory of God in our lives?

It's 3 and verse 18. 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18. I'd like us to read one of what I think is the most powerful, the most insightful verses about God's glory and his expectations ensuring it with us.

What I want you to get, though, is from Eden to Egypt to the tabernacle—Tai's Christians.

We see the desire of God is to dwell in and with people. 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit. This is a really powerful verse as it relates to God, to glory, and to us. I'm going to unpack it a little bit for you so you can get the parts that are captured in just a few words. And we'll start with, we all with unveiled face. What is availed in? A veil hides or obscures something, right? So it does that in two ways. One is, of course, it covers something so you can't see it. Think of the unveiling of a statue. But the flip side is, many times, the veil can also block what's being veiled from seeing what's on the other side. And except for very few exceptions, humans, for 6,000 years since Eden, have had a veil blocking them from seeing the environment of glory God wanted for us. When I read this, what I picture in my head is Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with the second set of tablets, right? And he had just been in the presence, the glory of God. And the people of Israel had Moses place this veil over his face so they wouldn't have to look upon the radiance of God's glory. Now, we don't know exactly why, probably it's more than one thing. Was it fear? Was it brightness? Either way, the veil hid from them the glory of the Lord that was present on the face of Moses. Put that in context.

The law itself could never bring the glory of the Lord to the face of Moses or the face of the Israelites. Only the presence of the Lord could do that. That's the environment that God is wanting us to be in, right? Jesus Christ is the one who makes the unveiling of God's glory possible. He is the enabler of the perfect relationship between God and us which we most desire.

So by placing our faith in God, by obeying, Jesus removes the veil from our face.

Okay, now let's keep reading. Now we see what we should be seeing, right? Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. Okay, that's interesting. What do you see when you look in a mirror?

I see myself. Well, what this is telling us is we as Christians who have had the veil removed are to see the glory of the Lord when we look in this spiritual mirror. Can you imagine that? Looking in a mirror and seeing Christ looking right back at you. And obviously, that's really hard to comprehend because throughout the Bible, God does reveal the great expanse between what we are and what we should be, which is why we repent. It's this mind-boggling, impossible feeling.

And that's what our Passover self-reflection is. Our preparation is all about. We then read that by the help of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed into the same image as Christ from glory to glory. The NIV describes this as ever-increasing glory. Let me see if I can help explain this with an analogy. Let's imagine the life of one of the world's most famous engineers, Thomas Edison. When he was a child, when he looked at his first ABC books, no doubt at that stage he found them amazingly complex, right? But he had tutors, he had mentors there sounding out the letters, bah, bah, you know, all of which helped a child learn to read a book for the first time. Gradually learning. And little Tommy wasn't even an engineer, but as he looked in the mirror, he was taking his first steps from starter glory to ultimate glory of what he became.

As the years went by, little Thomas continued to look into books. The letters became increasingly complex. Sentences became more and more complex. Concepts more and more complex. All of the time, teachers were right there to guide, to explain, to correct him when necessary. He was still far from being this world-famous engineer that you and I know at the end of his life. The image we now see in the mirror, but step by step, young Thomas Edison was growing into the likeness of one, from glory to ever-increasing glory. Later on, he had to learn advanced mathematics and physics and manufacturing methods. And new teachers, new mentors, had to come along the way that he relied on. And he still wasn't the famous engineer he finished his life as, but he was growing more like it every day, journeying from starter glory to ultimate glory.

And that's what this verse is talking about. Before our calling and commitment to God, we had a Bible. It was probably more of a paperweight. We didn't fully understand it all.

We may have half-heartedly gone to church. It was either out of habit or out of because of our parents. And when we first looked into the mirror of the Bible and saw the reflection of Christ with our reflection superimposed, we were very, very, very, very, very, very different.

Then the Holy Spirit started to teach us. And over time, we would look at the Bible, we'd see a verse talking about what true faith is, what trust in Christ looks like.

And the Holy Spirit instructs us or teaches us how to move in that direction, and we obey.

When we then look again in the mirror at the reflection of Christ and the one of us superimposed, we're just tiny little bit more like each other. Next day, maybe, we look in the Bible and we see this verse telling us about forgiveness of others. The Holy Spirit instructs or teaches us how to move in that direction, and we obey. We look in the mirror. It's a long way to go. We're tiny little bit closer, right? The next day, we look in the Bible and we see this verse telling us about serving others. And the Holy Spirit instructs us or teaches us, and we look around and we suddenly see opportunities. Oh, someone needs something. And we obey.

When we look again in the mirror at the reflection of Christ and the one of us, we look a tiny bit more like each other. And on and on it goes day after day, looking into the mirror of God and His word, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us what it means, obeying what we're taught, and then examining ourselves in comparison to the perfect reflection of Christ, not each other. Rinse and rewind. Keep going for the whole journey of life.

Look, allow, obey, examine. That's what our journey is about. Turn to 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20. What do you see when you look into the mirror?

When you look into God's word, do you see the same reflection of yourself superimposed against the perfect image of Christ as you did last year? I hope not. We all know Romans 3, 23, very well-known verse. For all have sinned, but continue that verse and fall short of the glory of God. Do you catch the measuring stick? The measuring stick that's used to measure sin is how close we are to the glory of God. Sin is what separates us from the glory of God, so we repent so that we can come back into that presence. And God wants to know our inability to perfectly reflect Christ doesn't mean we can't get closer and closer each day from glory to glory, right? God wants to pull us out of just being halfway there, half-committed, and his glory.

Something to think about as we approach the Passover.

Humans made in God's image are supposed to display God's glory through their character.

Sin is what dims this glory. We thrive best in the environment for which we were designed, which is having a relation, and our glory is to be like God, where to live in fellowship and in harmony with God. Turn to Matthew 5, verse 14 through 16. Matthew 5, 14 through 16.

The only way that we can really learn to be like God is to live in an environment that is permeated with the presence. To be like God, we must know God, and to know God, that just means spending time with Him, right? Matthew 5 and verse 14.

You are the light of the world. The city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. For men that they may see your good works and then do what? Glorify your Father in heaven. The problem with us today is that we don't really know who we are.

We have either forgotten or we simply stop believing what the Bible says about where we came from and why we're here. Ignorance of our identity and our purpose pervades society.

The cultures around us in the world. People are to see the glory of God in us. Again, picture your favorite. Like Mount Sinai. It's pictured on fire.

Do we reflect on whether every one of our actions, every one of our thoughts, reflects the glory of God? So much room to grow. But that's what we're being shaped into.

Human beings are God's representatives on earth. He created us in His image, right?

We are not fake imitations, but we're genuine masterpieces.

We are hand-painted by the master artist. Sin is what distorts God's image, what hides it away under a lot of worldly junk. So sometimes we're hard, it's hard to identify God's masterpiece in us.

But submitting to God in His Spirit working through us has the power to dig down, to cut through the junk and expose God's glory. Turn to Colossians 1 in verse 27. Colossians 1 in verse 27. One thing that Satan has always tried to keep away from mankind is to understand our true identity.

When the Bible says, my people perish because of lack of knowledge, that's not a lack of knowledge of science or botany or biology. We're even memorizing the Bible. People perish because they lack the knowledge and the revelation of who they are and who is living inside of them. Colossians 1 in verse 27. To them, God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. My friends, we have no idea how great God is. We get a little taste, but it's so much greater than we can imagine. God wants us to imitate His Son, to reflect His glory, and the more we declare God's glory, the more we come to understand God's greatness. Think of Goliath the star. We have the chance to have so much greater glory, and as children of God, we are in training to help the world understand who to give glory to, why to give glory, how to give glory, when to give glory. That's part of what we should reflect.

The Bible and God's entire plan have always been about the journey to get us back to His glory.

Jesus Christ was the life of God manifest, and the life of God became the light of men.

The glory of God living inside us starts in baptism, where it's described as being born again, and that's a fascinating analogy because new life usually starts with what?

The cry, right? It starts with a cry. It comes with a sense of need.

Salvation is God saving me from me, saving us from the Adamic nature in all of us.

Let's finish by reading Romans 11 verses 33 through 36. Romans 11, 33 through 36.

As Christians, we are to exhibit glory in our character. We are to walk in a newness of life.

Don't allow God's glory to be hidden.

A different way to think of sin. Don't allow God's glory to be hidden.

We can be transformed into a holy people, into the image of Christ with God's help. That is the power of God's glory in us. So let's continue to put on the character of Jesus Christ more and more. Let's radiate His goodness, His character, His nature, His temperament, His love.

Romans 11, verse 33.

O the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding up. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become His counselor, or who has first given to Him, and it should be repaid to Him? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. To God be the glory.

The goal of our lives should be God's glory. So use these last few days leading up to the Passover to celebrate the glory of God made possible in you, and strive to reflect Him in the mirror of how you and I are seen, how you and I live. May it be reflected by all we do in an ever-increasing way day by day.