By Doug Creamer

His Glory

            My pastor loves to do series of messages, especially at Christmas. He is very creative and comes up with catchy names for his series. I love to tease him about his made up words for some series and the length of other series. It’s all good natured teasing. For this Christmas he created a four week series called the Portrait of the Messiah. While he is teaching, his wife, who is a talented artist, is painting something beautiful. It’s all creatively connected.

            My pastor asked me if I would like to deliver the first message in the series. I love the opportunity to speak and was very excited to be a part of the Christmas series. When I asked what he wanted me to do I expected a basic outline. Instead he gave me one word and trusted me to seek the Lord to develop the message. While that was a bit scary, it was extremely rewarding. I spent time digging, researching, and preparing the message. It was sweet time.

            My word was “glory.” Biblical glory is the visible manifestation of God’s infinite worth, power, and presence. When God’s glory filled the temple Solomon built no one could stand in His presence. God’s glory is so awesome, holy, and pure that our flesh cannot abide in the power of His presence. Yet the Bible tells us that His presence is with us all the time.

            When Isaiah had the vision of the Lord seated on His throne he was stricken by his own sinful nature. When the children of Israel saw His glory on the mountaintop and heard His voice, they were terrified. When the glory of the Lord appeared in the field where shepherds were keeping watch over their sheep, they were shaking in their sandals. Shepherds weren’t afraid of anything. They fought lions, wolves, and bears to protect their sheep. But the glory that shown around the angel proclaiming Jesus’ birth terrified them.

            God knows and understands that His glory is beyond our human nature. The trouble was God wanted a personal and intimate relationship with mankind. He created us to have fellowship. He needed a solution, a way to relate to us that was approachable for all…even the worst of sinners.

            If the glory of God is the presence of God, how could God’s presence to be with us? The only way to make it work was for Jesus to come to earth, live among us, teach us about the love of God, demonstrate how we can live for God, and then He had to die as a sacrifice to cleanse us from our sin. God wanted to permanently erase all of our sin and it required the sacrifice of the lamb of God, Jesus.

            Jesus was human, yet God. It’s because of the price that He paid that we can have a personal relationship with our Father. We can intimately know the creator of the universe, experience the depth of love that would cause Jesus to die for us, and be free from our past so we can live a new and better life abiding in His presence.

            Here is the exciting part: we now get to be carriers of the glory of God. He lives in us and shines through us. In many ways it’s like we get to be mirrors reflecting God’s glory to those around us. He shines His light on us and we get to shine that light on those around us telling them of His great love, mercy, and forgiveness. Imagine if everyone in the world could be free of all their sin, guilt, and shame. What a different world it would be!

            We, like the angel from the Christmas story, have Good News to share with the world around us. Don’t think that you are too broken to share anything good. All the areas of your life that God has restored and even those areas where He is still working all provide a wonderful testimony to how God works miraculous wonders in our lives. If God can fix you and me then He can help fix any lost sinner.

            I want to encourage you to let the glory of God reflect off your life. Let Him get the glory for all that He has done in your life. Let the good changes in your life be a testimony to His love and faithfulness. Jesus came to show us the way to the Father. He came to demonstrate God’s love, goodness, and favor. All are welcome. Let the glory of God shine in and off of you as you point the way to Jesus.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com