The Reflection
“It is the gospel accepted in faith which enables us to experience all of the reality in a new way and to find that all reality does indeed reflect the glory of God,” says Lesslie Newbigin in Proper Confidence. We’re all living in a new reality these days. My friend and co-laborer in The Bonhoeffer Project, Dr. Jim Thomas, calls this our “new normal.” Newbigin takes this idea of a new reality a bit further. He posits that our new reality reflects the glory of God. There are a number of innuendos in that statement. The first question that comes to my mind is this: Does my new reality, my faith walk, reflect the glory of God?
The part of reality I can control should reflect God’s glory, always. Scripture tells us, “So all of us who have had the veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord - who is the Spirit - makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT) Through faith in Christ, and my understanding of the Kingdom Gospel, I am able to see God’s glory manifested around me. As I remain firmly planted in the Kingdom Gospel, I become more and more like Christ, thus reflecting God’s glory to the lost and dying world around me.
This may seem like a very simple idea, especially to those of us who have walked with Christ for a long time. But if it is so simple, why do so many Christians have such a difficult time understanding and reflecting God’s glory? Why do so many (myself included some days) look more like the world around us than like we are made in the image of Christ?
Newbigin tells us that once we accept the Gospel, we are able to experience all of reality in a way that reflects God’s glory. So, if we are able, and we still have difficulty, then that inability to live in such a way as to really reflect God’s glory must be a choice. Ouch! Why would I, as a Christ follower, choose to take God’s glory for myself, or live in such a way that others do not see God in me? That kind of choice doesn’t compute in a rational thinking brain. Yet, in our human minds and hearts, we are still walking in rebellion against a Holy God, even knowing how very much He loves me and all that goes with that love.
So, if we, as Christians, have such a difficult time reflecting God’s glory, how much more difficult it must be for those who have never believed the Gospel, nor stepped into relationship with the Holy One, to see God’s hand operating around them. According to Newbigin, “all reality does indeed reflect the glory of God.” Everything we can touch, see , hear, feel, and smell all point back to God and His glory, His creative and redemptive power.
Take, for instance, a seed. Dried, small, seemingly worthless. Yet God takes that seed, buries it in the dirt, waters it, and through processes we have come to understand a bit about, the seed grows into a plant that produces more seeds, and the process begins again … all to the glory of God. And so it is with every living thing. Because of God’s creation and interaction, life moves forward, even with the difficulties that happen to us all, all to the glory of God.
As I ponder the comment that “all'' reality reflects the glory of God, I am somewhat troubled. Does that mean that even the current political upheavals in our country, and across the world, bring glory to God? Does COVID-19 bring glory to God? Do murders, rapes, and all the other evils of this world bring glory to God? How could that possibly be? God is love, mercy, and grace … all attributes that are the antithesis of the character of God. And yet…
In all the evils of the world, past present, and future, all the darkness that these evils emit, God’s greatness and goodness are revealed. We see God as the light in the darkness, dispelling the darkness. That stark contrast makes God’s glory shine brighter. God’s voice is the voice of reason in a world seemingly gone mad. God brings beauty from the ashes humankind leaves behind when he is bent on rebellion. God’s glory is revealed in everything that makes up our own reality.
Today, I have a choice. You have a choice. God or not God. Will I use my life to reflect the glory of God? Will you? Seems an obvious choice.
