Reflected ImageThe Transforming Power of Reverent Wonder2 Peter Series: Make Every Effort A Sermon By Jim Hammond from 2 Peter 1:6-9
Is there something about yourself you wish you could change? If you could change it, would you? Did you know that according to one study 99 percent of the women surveyed would change something about their looks if they could, and 94 percent of the men?[1] One department store understood this and put up a sign on their dressing room mirror: "Objects in mirror may appear bigger than they actually are."[2]
Today we are going to learn about the transforming power of a reflected image. By the way Did you know that the youth praise and worship band has a name and that is their name--“Reflected Image”. That’s a great name. Would you look at the focus for today with me.
Focus: Godliness is the reflected image of Christ in our lives when we whole heartedly bring ourselves before God in reverent wonder.
Summary from 2 Peter 1, so far. We have learned from Peter that spiritual growth requires faith and effort. God gives us everything we need, (2 Peter 1:3) but we must follow his directions and that means “Making every effort” (2 Peter 1:5)
We spent a couple of Sundays working on the Recipe for Life and Godliness, looking at the 7 ingredients we must “make every effort to add to … faith”.
These were…
Today I want us to key in on “Reverent Wonder”
I. Make Every Effort to Add Reverent Wonder (Godliness)It was while I was reading Eugene Petersen’s Translation called “The Message” that this translation of the word “Godliness” struck me. He was the one translating it “reverent wonder”. Now, I know Eugene Petersen is a Greek scholar, so I had to look up why he translated it this way. You see, I’ve always thought of Godliness in kind of generic terms. I’ve always thought Godliness simply meant, that generically speaking, we display God’s moral characteristics. When you act like a man, you are manly. When you act like God you are Godly. I thought that was the point when Peter said, “make every effort to add to your Faith…godliness”. But as I discover there is a bit more to the word than this. The term "godliness" is another characteristically Hellenistic term eusebeia . In Hellenistic literature it denotes piety towards the gods, to worship. It comes from two root words, “good” and “worship”, so it has the idea of good worship. It does not primarily mean to act like the gods but to have a reverent wonder towards the gods. That reverent wonder makes you want to please the gods. Jews and Christians began to use this term also. A reverent wonder toward God included a reverent wonder of his moral character, a reverent wonder that included a desire to obey. As a result, to me this term seems to be an action that determines an attitude. Or maybe an attitude that determines our position toward God. That position then places us in such a way that we can fully reflect Gods image. make every effort to add…to perseverance, godliness; · Make Every Effort to spend time in reverent wonder. When you do this, you will reflect the image of God. A. Reverent Wonder is Positioning Yourself Toward GodMY CONCLUSION: eusebeia, “good worship” , “reverent wonder”, “godliness” is a word that denotes an action WE DO that determines an attitude OR stance toward God. The behaviors flow out of that stance. To attempt to try harder at those behaviors without first changing your disposition toward God himself would be counterproductive. I want you to picture two objects—a mirror and a prism. Both have to be positioned toward an image to reflect that image. One reflects the image, the other refracts the light into beautiful colors. I grew up as a missionary’s child in Japan. I used to watch a Japanese TV super hero called “Ultra Man.” Though I don’t remember the details about the show, I do remember the toy Ultra Man medallion I played with. I could pretend to be ultra man and use his superhuman powers by using the medallion that hung over my neck over my heart. The medallion had a mirror on the back side. I could position the mirror just so and just like Ultra Man send out a beam of light reflected off the sun and get all the bad guys, much to the dismay of whoever I shined the reflected light in their faces. The MIRROR or PRISM illustrates eusebeia, Reverent Wonder, godliness. IT IS A POSITIONING ACTION turning us in such a way that we can fully reflect Gods image. B. The Result is the Radiance of the Reflected Image in our lives (PSALM 34:5)Psalm 34:5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. EXAMPLES:MOSESI have a Bible trivia Question for you: Do you remember the time when Moses saw God face to face in his glory and Moses’ face was radiant with that glory and it actually frightened the people? Do you remember when that was? Was it A) when Moses saw God at the burning bush? Or B) when he went up to get the 10 commandments? Or C) after he went up to get the 10 commandments the second time? Here’s a media question for you. When was Moses face radiant in the Cecil B Demills movie The 10 Commandments: A), B) or C)? In that movie it was A, and wrong, after the burning bush scene. Here is what really happened… Exodus 34:29-30 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.
There has been a change in Moses by this time. There is a Christlikeness in him, he pleads on behalf of the people (much like Christ without a concern for himself) and he pleads on behalf of God’s reputation. Read Exodus. Moses has changed with these continued encounters with God. At the bush he was reluctant. At Sinai he was passionately pursuing God’s glory and presence. He has changed his focus and stance positionally.
Maybe your face won’t literally glow with light like Moses, but your countenance will reflect his glory. There is a settled peace and radiant joy coming from the faces of those who spend time in reverent wonder. There is a Godliness radiating from them. STEPHENActs 6:15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
CAIN (NEGATIVE EXAMPLE)Genesis 4:5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. PETER· This is what happened to Peter. Peter was a full moon, fully reflecting the glory of Christ, and in Acts 4:13, we read how people recognized the source of his light.
Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Full MoonThe best full moon verse is when the apostle John described John the Baptist in John 1:8. John 1:8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The reason John wrote that is in the darkness, people mistook the brightness of John for the light. John was nothing but a full moon, reflecting the glory of Christ before his appearance, and Peter the glory of Christ after his appearance. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Spiritual MyopiaNearsighted: Spiritual nearsightedness can go something like this. “We don’t need to grow anymore…we don’t know everybody as it is…”, or “We can’t afford to send more money to missionaries overseas, we need more of it here…” or “I’m thinking about going to another church because my needs aren’t being met…” Nearsightedness comes from not making Every effort on these ingredients.
Cat & Dog TheologiesSpiritual nearsightedness is best illustrated by Cat Theology as opposed to Dog Theology. · A dog says: “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, You must be God.” · A cat says: “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be God.” “Cat Theology” has a greater desire to be blessed than to see God glorified. “Dog Theology” focuses on God’s glory more than the blessings.
The only way to have God’s Reflected Image is to focus on God, to position ourselves toward him. Godliness is the reflected image of Christ in our lives when we whole heartedly bring ourselves before God in reverent wonder of who he is, and what he has done, is doing, and will do! The focus must be on him, when it is and we truly reflect him, other people’s focus when they see us will be to want to see him also. A.W. Tozer in The Root of the Righteous wrote, “The widest thing in the universe is not space; it is the potential capacity of the human heart. Being made in the image of God, it is capable of almost unlimited extension in all directions. And one of the world's greatest tragedies is that we allow our hearts to shrink until there is room in them for little besides ourselves.” [3] Exodus 33:15-16 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. [16] How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" Moses does not want to face any battles without first being assured of God’s presence. “Make every effort to add to your faith…eusebeia, reverent wonder, godliness, so as to have God’s reflected image as your identity and strength. |