ON THE VANGUARD

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL
“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.”
II Corinthians 3:18

Do you remember the story of Snow White? Specifically, do you remember that part of the story where the evil queen asks her possessed magical mirror, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?” The mirror always responds to the queen, “You, my queen, are the fairest of all.” Now while I do not own a possessed mirror, nor have any desire to have such an accursed item in my house, I do find myself looking into the mirror and contemplating my image. I am not so much questioning if I am the fairest of them all, but rather questioning if I am reflecting Christ. I know I mentioned this yesterday when talking about Moses’ shiny features as a result of hanging out in God’s presence, but today I want to go a little deeper.
Yesterday, I think God really began to make this thought clear to me. If you have known me for any length of time, you have heard me share a few of the low points in my life. Now the good news is that in those low levels God never left me alone. He was right there with me, pushing me to be better and wanting me to surrender myself to Him so He could rebuild me. But I was the one who was hesitant. In some areas I didn’t want change. In other areas, I was afraid of change. Change hurts because it involves the stripping away of everything that I have used to mask my pain just so the root of the pain can be exposed. Why would I want to lay aside my ‘safety’ just to be exposed? Yet God has been making Himself real to me. God has been showing me my pride, my pain, my inadequacies, my junk. I have been looking in the mirror recently and finding a person who can no longer hide behind the facade, but rather wants to come out from behind it.
In this process, I have found II Corinthians 3:18. “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.” But I cannot leave with just this verse; I must shed a little more light on exactly what God is pointing out to me. To do this, I want to look at a few of the Greek words. The word ‘unveiled’ is ANAKALUPTO, meaning open. ‘Faces’ is the word PROSOPON, which while it means face, it also means the inward thoughts and feelings. Already a new light to this scripture is seen. I am one who has been reflecting my own pains, but God wants me to reflect in my face, as well as in my inward thoughts and feelings, His glory, His opinion and view, His DOXA. This can only be done by surrendering to His transformation. In Greek, the word is METAMORPHOO, which is where we get metamorphosis. This is the same word used in Romans 12:2, where Paul writes that we must be renewed in our mind. Only after this transformation can we be made in His image, His EIKON.
When I look in the mirror, I do not see the fairest, most handsome, well-built, muscular, great haired guy. I see far from it, actually. But there is one person I am starting to see a little more of. I am starting to see a little more of God, because I am starting to allow myself to be exposed to Him, putting myself on His operation table and asking Him to make me in His image in every area. It hurts to be worked on; it’s embarrassing to be exposed. The finished product, however, will reflect Him if I simply surrender.

I want to share this clip with you that has honestly been a launching point for me to see just how much I have been holding on to, and how much more from Him I need worked on still. Please enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfUzodLRvk