FAQ

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

God made us in His image, unlike the earth, plants, and animals. We were images of God. Not physically, since God is spirit and we are flesh. But as humans, we got to reflect who He was. Who He was became visible in us. He basically stamped His image on our lives. The whole earth was supposed to be filled with mirrors that would reflect God's love, holiness, and glory. He the sun, we the moon.

We miss our purpose

But when you look around, there's not much left of that. It's gotten dark. The light of God's glory has disappeared. We deliberately turned away from God. We're focused inward and want to show off ourselves. Everyone must see Us, who We are, what We do.

So at best, we've become funhouse mirrors that distort God's image. That's how we miss God's glory. Paul puts it this way: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin is missing God's purpose, which is for us to enjoy His glory and reflect it around us. “Want allen hebben gezondigd en missen de heerlijkheid van God.” Zonde is het missen van Gods doel, namelijk dat we van Zijn heerlijkheid genieten en die om ons heen weerspiegelen.

The Bible also says about these broken mirrors that they walk, “in the futility of their minds. They gare darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” Ephesians 4:17-19)

That's the result of our selfishness. Turning away from God brings darkness, loneliness, and numbness.

Forget yourself, focus on Jesus

But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20-23) (Efeze 4:20-24)

Jesus' work—with its climax at the cross where He takes our brokenness: sin, upon Himself and erases the record that testified against us—compels us to turn away from our old self-centered way of living that pushes us toward destruction, to change our thinking and clothe ourselves with that new God-centered way of life. As mirrors reflecting God's image in love and holiness.

Reflect Him

The darker and more selfish the world becomes, the brighter the light of God's love, holiness, and glory must be reflected through us. This becomes visible when we don't focus attention on ourselves but on Jesus, when we show that we prefer Jesus over the empty pleasures of the world, when we don't live to survive but give our lives to serve others without expecting anything in return.

Are you still focused on yourself or have you wandered away? Come, turn back. Turn away from your sin and yourself. Take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow Jesus. (Matthew 16:24) He will shape you, through His Spirit, again into God's image. And illuminated by His Spirit, you'll enjoy God's love, holiness, and glory and receive power to reflect that around you. This is how holiness and witnessing about Him are God's purpose for us here on earth. That's what glorifies Him most and what makes us happiest.

He the Sun, we the moon