When you open up the Bible and discover God for the first time, what do you find? Surprisingly, you won't immediately discover that He is loving, holy, just, kind or gentle. The very first thing you discover in the first sentence, Genesis 1:1, is that He is creative. He is the Creator. It's fascinating to me that God reveals that He is a creative person first.
Which brings me to another observation...if we are created in His image, then we should be creative people. We should be in the creative process. To be like God is to be holy, loving, joyous, and CREATIVE. We don't often hear this sermon. We don't emphasize this in the church. I have mulled this over in my mind for some time. If I am to glorify God by being like Him then I should be a creative person. I have the capacity for creativity because I am made in His image. I have, as a Christian, the dynamic in me in the person of the Holy Spirit. The church has the same characteristics.
My conclusion from this is that the church should be the most creative force in the world. This would glorify our Father in heaven.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Show Me Your Glory
I have been locked down in Exodus 33:12-23 for the last couple of weeks. It is an amazing section in the life of Moses. It is where Moses asks God to show him His glory. For some strange reason, I always have a mental picture of Cuba Gooding, Jr saying "Show me the money." I wonder if Moses was saying it like that. Anyway, I got to thinking about this and there is a lot of great stuff for life here. But the one thing that popped up on my radar screen was the thought of someone asking me to show them my glory.
The right answer as a Christian and as a Pastor is Jesus Christ. He is my Glory. But in a current reality check, the answer may be something else. It could be my wife, my children, my job, my coaching wins for my 6-8 year old flag football team or any other accomplishment. These things are to be enjoyed as measures of glory granted by God here on this earth. But the glory should go to Christ who gives all this blessing to me. This life has fading glory. The Unfading Glory of Glories is only in Christ. He never wears out or changes. His person and work have created the basis for me to have any form or measure of glory. I just know that I often glory in the benefits of Christ and not in Christ the Person.
The right answer as a Christian and as a Pastor is Jesus Christ. He is my Glory. But in a current reality check, the answer may be something else. It could be my wife, my children, my job, my coaching wins for my 6-8 year old flag football team or any other accomplishment. These things are to be enjoyed as measures of glory granted by God here on this earth. But the glory should go to Christ who gives all this blessing to me. This life has fading glory. The Unfading Glory of Glories is only in Christ. He never wears out or changes. His person and work have created the basis for me to have any form or measure of glory. I just know that I often glory in the benefits of Christ and not in Christ the Person.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Whatever He Did
I got to thinking about Jesus and whatever He did. Jesus kept the "glory principle" perfectly. Every time He ate He glorified God. Every time He drank He glorified God. Every time He spoke He glorified God. Every action was for the glory of God. That's incredible! There was simply not a moment in His life when He glorified Himself over the Father.
Jesus put it like this in John 8:28-29, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him."
WOW!!
The verse for Jesus would be written like this..."So whether He ate or drank or whatever He did, He did it all for the glory of God." No wonder God cracked the sky open on several occasions just to say "This is My Son in whom I am well pleased." Jesus was perfect in glorifying God. He never fell short in hitting the target. In whatever He did it was for the glory of His Father.
So, what did Jesus do? He glorified His Father. So, if I follow Him, what should I do?
Jesus put it like this in John 8:28-29, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him."
WOW!!
The verse for Jesus would be written like this..."So whether He ate or drank or whatever He did, He did it all for the glory of God." No wonder God cracked the sky open on several occasions just to say "This is My Son in whom I am well pleased." Jesus was perfect in glorifying God. He never fell short in hitting the target. In whatever He did it was for the glory of His Father.
So, what did Jesus do? He glorified His Father. So, if I follow Him, what should I do?
Whatever You Do
I have entitled this blog "The Glory Principle". It comes from the idea that everyone is in the pursuit of glory. There is no action or reaction that is not rooted in the promise and expectation of some measure of glory. Simply stated, the glory principle is the idea that everything I do, say and think is for glory of Christ.
The idea and vision for this principle is rooted in 1 Corinthians 10:31. This is my favorite verse in all of the Bible. Paul writes these words to the church at Corinth: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." I want to live this out daily. But often find myself living it out this way "so whether I eat or drink or whatever I do, I do it all for the glory of self." I know as the Pastor of a church I am not supposed to say that, but it is true and I hate it.
This blog is going to be about me living out the "The Glory Principle". Specifically, it is going to be about my journey in learning to glorify God in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am learning that to glorify God involves both the mundane and the special works of life. If I glorify Him in the mundane (eating/drinking), I will most likely glorify Him in the special. They both matter to God.
The idea and vision for this principle is rooted in 1 Corinthians 10:31. This is my favorite verse in all of the Bible. Paul writes these words to the church at Corinth: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." I want to live this out daily. But often find myself living it out this way "so whether I eat or drink or whatever I do, I do it all for the glory of self." I know as the Pastor of a church I am not supposed to say that, but it is true and I hate it.
This blog is going to be about me living out the "The Glory Principle". Specifically, it is going to be about my journey in learning to glorify God in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am learning that to glorify God involves both the mundane and the special works of life. If I glorify Him in the mundane (eating/drinking), I will most likely glorify Him in the special. They both matter to God.
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