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Have you ever cracked a lens on your glasses? They still work...kind of. But everything looks oddly similar – broken. Around the star of glass splinters you can somewhat make out the faces of loved ones. If the dog isn’t in the middle of the fame, his goofy smiles is still visible. And the edges of the landscape show up without spider legs in the frame. But all that doesn’t change the facts: Those glasses only display a fraction of the truth, a vague representation of what is. That damaged lens skews reality. That lens is our perspective. We see pretty well...at times. But our view of the world is incurably twisted. It’s damaged, not by a stray rock or clumsy moment, but by our sin, our selfish interests and inherent flaws. God’s lens is never cracked, never scratched. He sees everything the way it is. He reads every situation exactly the way it is. His evaluation of every heart is altogether true. His prescription for how to fix us, our neighbor, our country, and our sin problem is perfect. His perception, not our own, is the one we want to trust.   A picture is worth 1,000 words and yet it still cannot capture the splendor of the mountains, the beauty of a single desert blossom, or the wonder of a baby’s infectious laugh. If it could we wouldn’t take dozens of photos of the same things. We wouldn’t keep piles of albums and scores of digital files. One photo would do it. But it doesn’t because these things escape our cameras and our words.
How much more does the majesty of God defy our explanation? How much more does the glory of the Lord and the greatness of His works overwhelm our expressions? Our best efforts – though in and of themselves evidence of that glory – cannot come close to conveying to the reality of Christ, His kingdom, His heaven, His majesty. And when our tongues, our pens, our paints fall short when describing our Savior and King may we merely say, “All glory be to our God, who sits on the throne.” (Revelation 5:13) A supermodel's job is to make clothes look good and show them off to the fullest extent. So our job as Christians (or little Christs) is to display Christ. Comparatively our job should be easy -- have you seen some of the hideous creations supermodels wear? We get to put perfect clothes, Christ's righteousness. His sinlessness covers our sinfulness, and our rags are exchanged for His glory. With this in mind, it should become more important to take a deep breath and count to ten before we bawl out the service person who is doing anything but serving us. Knowing we are Christ's showcase should make it easier to accept being cut off in traffic or the line at the DMV. Remembering that God has chosen us to make His Son known to the world should prompt us to engage in our communities for His honor and glory. After all we are Jesus' supermodels -- supermodels in training.  Psst! Don't tell the supermodels, but... (whisper) they are there to make the clothes look good, not vice versa. Clothes are not designed for the model. The model is selected for the clothes. When we speak of clothes spiritually, we are talking about righteousness or unrighteous. And our clothes are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Our deeds are evil. Our thoughts are impure. Our attitudes are selfish. Those are the clothes that "match" us. The problem is rags can't get us in to see the King and they keep us from having a relationship with Him. This relationship is precisely what the King created us to have. Yet, we are not even worthy to enter His presence. So, His Son, Jesus Christ, whose robes are holy and pure, came to our wicked world and lived a flawless life. His clothes were never stained by sin, yet He died a sinner's death by execution on a cross. The Lord of Creation was buried in a tomb. Until three days later He rose again. Death had no authority over Him because death is the wage of sin. Having never sinned, Christ took our punishment on Himself and paid it in full. Having done everything His Father commanded Him, Christ was able to provide His righteous robes (Isiaah 61:10) to me and you and as many as would believe in Him so that we may live in relationship with God, forever. Next time you see a supermodel, maybe think about the Only Real Supermodel -- Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).  |
The AuthorCome with me as we grow in fellowship with each other and our Savior to whom belongs the Amazing Escape from sin and death and the Amazing Journey into glorious life. Archives
September 2023
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