The Missing Link

Kavodh-Hebrew for Glory translation-weight, honor, esteem

Doxa-Greek for glory coming from the root word dokeo meaning to think or suppose
“The true apprehension of God or things. The glory of God must mean His unchanging essence. Giving glory ro Go is ascribing to Him full recognition. . .The glory of God is essentially what He is. God’s glory is the way He makes Himself recognizable.” Beth Moore Breaking Free

In my simplistic understanding, the word glory can be translated “representing God or God’s representation of himself.” Suddenly a huge light bulb turned on in my head and I found myself reading several verses referring to God’s glory as if I had never seen them before.
Numbers 20:6 “Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.”
Glory= God’s physical manifestation, His essence
Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hand.”
Glory=God’s representation in creation

Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things all things by his powerful word.
Glory=God’s essence

John 1:14 “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Glory=God’s essence, representation.

Then I began to wonder how does the average person glorify God? Its something we hear over and over in the church, and until now I wonder if I fully understood it.

Think about it, on a daily basis who do you represent? When people look at you they associate you with your work, your family, your school, and because of this most of us act in a way that, at the very least, won’t bring shame to those institutions. For example, now that I am the wife of someone I am a little more aware of my actions especially under specific circumstances.
Now imagine that you receive a letter stating that the president of the United States has chosen you to be his (or her) ambassador/representative to the United Nations. An incredible feat in and of itself. But since you are just and average person, suddenly this announcement is all over the news, your face is on the cover of every magazine. Everyone knows who you are and (here’s the clincher) everyone knows that you represent the president of the United States. Suddenly how you handle yourself in EVERY situation seems to matter the stakes seem so much higher.
How would you ensure that you acted in a way that was pleasing and appropriate to the President? Well first and foremost you would have to know what was important to the President. What he valued and what he wanted to accomplish through you. Right? Not only is it an incredible honor, but also behind this life is an incredible purpose, the type of fulfillment that makes life worth living.

According to Beth Moore God’s glory means two incredible truths:
God wants to make Himself recognizable to us
God wants to make Himself recognizable through us

By being recognizable to us, we begin to understand who He is, and who we are to Him. The more we understand of him the more we see how we fit into the picture, and possibly what parts of ourselves don’t fit (sin.) And why it is so vital for us to form ourselves to the image of our President.
The best part is the that God doesn’t expect us to be perfect or even ashamed of our imperfections, but we need to be willing to let him create the changes in us, freeing us to be His ambassadors. In this way we are free to use all the unique talents, personalities and even weaknesses to do our work, but He has worked in such a way as to get rid of the things that would distract us from doing our job, so that we can better represent Him.

2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

I think often times many of us get through the first part, we want to recognize God, we want to see how important we are to him, we also really like the power at his disposal that works in our lives. Answering prayer to solve problems and create peace or prosperity. That isn’t really the hard part, the hard part comes when we need internal change in order or represent him better. Why is this so scary?
Well for a minute think of some of God’s most powerful representatives
Mother Theresa, Corrie Ten Boom, Martin Luther King, Nate Saint and Jim Elliot.
Amazing representatives for God right, but the second thing they have in common is that they have suffered, groaned and been totally transformed. So much so that they have been painfully and powerfully remade to such an extent that they seem to stand out like sore thumbs in our world.
Sidenote--I don’t believe that God allows suffering simply to make us better Christians, but he has redeemed the brokenness of our world by using the suffering that breaks. To become something that makes us beautiful.

So I ask you, how do you represent God? Do we realize that daily we’re being groomed to represent the King of Kings? Seems like a full-time job doesn’t it? But how often am I ever that committed to daily bringing God glory?

Recently I have been asking myself what does it mean to live moment by moment as God’s representative? So often I worry first about representing my company, or my husband or church that God seems to fit into the cracks. Is this possible in real life? Good question--I don’t think trying to represent God every minute of every day means that I sit on a mountaintop separated from reality. No, God created me to work with my mind and my hands, to carry responsibility and live with integrity right were he planted me. But now when I set about my day’s priorities I remind myself, I represent God all day every day and its amazing how much more I find myself being aware of the decisions I make, I even feel like I stand up straighter.

2 Corinthians 3:17&18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit.”