In the winter of 2009, a snowstorm blanketed my hometown in a fresh white coat of snow. I opened the door and took in the cold stale air which felt like needles pricking my throat. I took a step and felt the crinkle and crackle of the ice on my heel. Everyone knows the feeling when you wake up in the morning to stand witness to a fresh blanket of snow untouched by the snow plows. It is the beauty of snow at its climax. I stood witness to this that morning in 2009. Yet as I was standing there, I had to squint at its beauty. You see, there is this crazy phenomenon that follows along with snow. Snow has an albedo of .8-.9 (with 1 meaning it is perfectly white) meaning when it is fresh and untouched, it reflects a lot of sunlight back into the atmosphere.
I instantly had the picture of God washing away our sin and making our crimson sin as white as snow (Is. 1:18). Maybe thats why God created snow. So that when we can look at it, we can be reminded of how He makes us white as snow.
But there is a deeper issue that I chose to focus on here, and it lies in the fact of the snow's albedo.
If God is the all powerful Being that we believe He is, then we must believe that whatever He does, He succeeds. There is no room for failing in Him. Whatever He pleases, He does and He succeeds (Ps. 135:6, Pr. 16:4). Well consider God's intention in creating us. He created us for His glory (Is. 43:7). If that was God's purpose and He willed it to be, then ultimately, we are all going to glorify the Lord whether its intentional or unintentional. Even the unbelieving will glorify the Lord through His justice in their condemnation (Ps. 76:10).
What if we took the illustration of snow to mean that His chosen people who have been washed cleaned of their sin intentionally choose to reflect back His glory? I'm not saying that those chosen reflect more of the Lord's glory, but I want to focus on the literal choosing and decision to glorify the Lord. I mean, lets face it, even those who are unbelievers glorify Him, but it is unintentional. Charcoal- one of the darkest substances- has an albedo. It still reflects light, though it is very little.
And lets face another fact, those who have been washed clean can also not glorify the Lord to the extent that He calls for. Heck, we all fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23). While snow has a high albedo, it is not a perfect 1. We are all imperfect.
Just as snow reflects light, we all reflect the Lord's glory (2 Cor. 3:18). We were created in His image (Gen. 1:27) and in Hebrews 1:3-5 it says that He, Jesus, is the radiance of God's glory. While we were not created to be equals with Him, we were created to be like Him. Jesus is the fulfillment of what we were suppose to be in God (constantly reflecting His glory). But we failed. In his essay "The Weight of Glory," C.S. Lewis says, "We are far too easily pleased." We were far too easily pleased by pleasures other than His glory and therefore, we held it in contempt (Ps. 4:2). We instead exchanged His glory, because we were "satisfied" or too easily pleased in other things (Romans 1:25). So Jesus came and restored the light in us so that we may become children of light (Eph. 5:8) and that we may have His light shine His glory in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6). Now we can be radiant just like Jesus by choosing to be transformed into His likeness through the reflection of His glory (2 Cor. 3:18). The only thing to highlight here is that we have to choose to be sanctified into His likeness. God will be glorified no matter what and He is not dependent on us choosing to glorify Him, but to be holy is to intentionally glorify Him, and being holy is what He deserves out of His creation.
We are all but instruments in the grand orchestration of reflecting the radiance of His glory. The only question is, are you choosing to glorify Him? Are you choosing to be transformed into His likeness through the reflection of His glory? Are you choosing to be radiant in Him?
If God is the all powerful Being that we believe He is, then we must believe that whatever He does, He succeeds. There is no room for failing in Him. Whatever He pleases, He does and He succeeds (Ps. 135:6, Pr. 16:4). Well consider God's intention in creating us. He created us for His glory (Is. 43:7). If that was God's purpose and He willed it to be, then ultimately, we are all going to glorify the Lord whether its intentional or unintentional. Even the unbelieving will glorify the Lord through His justice in their condemnation (Ps. 76:10).
What if we took the illustration of snow to mean that His chosen people who have been washed cleaned of their sin intentionally choose to reflect back His glory? I'm not saying that those chosen reflect more of the Lord's glory, but I want to focus on the literal choosing and decision to glorify the Lord. I mean, lets face it, even those who are unbelievers glorify Him, but it is unintentional. Charcoal- one of the darkest substances- has an albedo. It still reflects light, though it is very little.
And lets face another fact, those who have been washed clean can also not glorify the Lord to the extent that He calls for. Heck, we all fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23). While snow has a high albedo, it is not a perfect 1. We are all imperfect.
Just as snow reflects light, we all reflect the Lord's glory (2 Cor. 3:18). We were created in His image (Gen. 1:27) and in Hebrews 1:3-5 it says that He, Jesus, is the radiance of God's glory. While we were not created to be equals with Him, we were created to be like Him. Jesus is the fulfillment of what we were suppose to be in God (constantly reflecting His glory). But we failed. In his essay "The Weight of Glory," C.S. Lewis says, "We are far too easily pleased." We were far too easily pleased by pleasures other than His glory and therefore, we held it in contempt (Ps. 4:2). We instead exchanged His glory, because we were "satisfied" or too easily pleased in other things (Romans 1:25). So Jesus came and restored the light in us so that we may become children of light (Eph. 5:8) and that we may have His light shine His glory in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6). Now we can be radiant just like Jesus by choosing to be transformed into His likeness through the reflection of His glory (2 Cor. 3:18). The only thing to highlight here is that we have to choose to be sanctified into His likeness. God will be glorified no matter what and He is not dependent on us choosing to glorify Him, but to be holy is to intentionally glorify Him, and being holy is what He deserves out of His creation.
We are all but instruments in the grand orchestration of reflecting the radiance of His glory. The only question is, are you choosing to glorify Him? Are you choosing to be transformed into His likeness through the reflection of His glory? Are you choosing to be radiant in Him?
"Those who look to Him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame."
-Psalm 34:5
0 comments:
Post a Comment