Now we're coming to end on our Lost Words series.  We hope it has refreshed some of those ideas that continue to ring through the centuries as good news.  In the previous issue, we discussed glory with a verse that made me pay attention.

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:16

The light, in the verse, is our good deeds.  Jesus says something happens when we shine our light to others.  Good deeds communicate something.  When others see it, they glorify God. 

But does that mean whenever we do something good, people will always praise God? I remember as a teen that my neighbor asked who had broken some things on his property.  I knew Brian did it.  I didn't want to rag on Brian; he was my friend after all.  But after a long inner struggle, I told my neighbor.  I knew it was right to tell him, but I was also afraid. And for good reason.

The next time Brian saw me, he physically assaulted me to tears.  I did the right thing, I exhibited a good deed, but Brian did not praise God.

Some may detest your good deeds, laugh at them and spit on them.  Some may isolate you, no longer wanting to be your friend.  Your good deeds may trigger anger hidden deep within someone else.  Yet could this be, in a sense, a glorifying of our Father in heaven.  That sounds odd, doesn’t it? 

How can this glorify God?  Let’s look at a big clue in a popular verse.  Genesis 1:27 says it clearly:

So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

You and I are the only species actually made in the image of God.  Not ants, bears, alligators, or birds.  This is one of the most profound truths in the whole world.  We are image bearers of God, the Trinity, whose name is Jehovah!

If this sounds ordinary or tasteless, it is because we haven't yet grasped the Original.  Read Psalm 8 to get an idea.

He makes us in his image.  He chooses us to be little mirrors of Him.

Theologians debate what it means to be made in God's image.  A common view is that God has a mind, will and emotions.  And we do too.  His are divine and unlimited.  Ours are human and limited.  Our image is a mirror, reflecting what God is like:  good, beautiful, loving, intelligent, creative.

Remember, glory means to have a weighty opinion of someone.  As image bearers, both men and women are made to glorify God!  This means we are to show the world what God is like!  When we do what God does—tell the truth, help the needy, love our enemies—we are demonstrating what God is like. This is glorifying God.

This was Israel's job in the Bible: to tell the world about Jehovah.  All the nations were to know what God was like through Israel and what God had told them.  They were the conduit.  Israel glorified God when they showed the world what God was like, in their worship, families, sacrifice, law and love.

Since Jesus, God has invited the Gentiles (non-Jews) to share in the enterprise as well.  We are joining Israel to show the world what God is like.

When we do good deeds, Jesus says, it will glorify our Father in heaven.  Not because people will always praise.  But because they will see what God is like: one who does good, even when others don't.

Think about your life today.  Your school.  Your job.  Your career.  Your family.  In everything you do, in everything you say, you get to show the world what God is like. 

Do you mow lawns?  Show the world what it’s like to mow lawns as God’s image bearer.  Do you work on a computer?  Do your work accurately, refusing to cut corners where detailed precision is needed, do your work with excellence, the way God does it. 

Show the world what God is like in what you eat.  Show the world what God is like in how your dress and interact with the opposite sex. Show them what God is like when you say "no" to things that harm you and "yes" to thinks that give you life. Show them in your driving.  Show them in your suffering.  Show them in your celebration.  Show them in your friendship.  Show them in your love.

Look at the fruit of Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.  These are all virtues of what God is like.  He invites us to be like him.

Everything we do is an opportunity to show the world what God is like.  Nothing is too large.  Nothing is too small.  This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians  10:31:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  

Eating and drinking.  Working and playing.  Sharing and helping.  Speaking and listening.  All shows the world what God is like.  This is glory!

And there’s no getting out of it.  If you choose not to do what is good, beautiful, and true, then you are still saying to the world, "This is what God is like!" And they get a twisted picture of him.

Even though humans are fallen and frail, we are still made in God's image.  Only instead of a clean, clear mirror, we're a broken mirror.  As we grow in Jesus, those shattered pieces are re-forged.  We slowly grow to reflect better and better what God is like.  We better give him glory.

At Soulation, this is what "appropriately human" means.  Appropriate humans reflects God well because they bear the image of God well.  This is a deep part of our purpose.  It does us little good these days to say to utter words, "Glorify God!"  without knowing what it means.  That phrase needs meat and bones in a culture that is illiterate of the Scripture. But appropriate humans show the world, "This is what God looks like, as a student, as a teacher, as a boyfriend, as a girlfriend, as a mother, as a father." Being a healthy, full human person reflects what God is like.  Plain and simple.

So am I appropriately human?  I’m trying.  Are you?

Reflect again on Jesus words in Matthew 5:16 in a new way, "They will see your light shining, your good deeds, your life, your talk and have a weighty opinion of what your Father in heaven is like!"  Even if they spit on you, they’ll see more of what He is like.

He’s with you all the way, shaping you in this direction, lifting your burdens of shame, and putting your feet upon high places. 

He is yours.  You are His. 

Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill towards the human race.

[If you have any questions/comments, simply reply to this email. And don't forget "Ask! LIVE" for questions or puzzling life situations.]

© 2008 Dale & Jonalyn Fincher