Jesus Christ is the effulgence of the Father’s glory; the express image of His Person (Hebrews 1:3). And that’s exactly what He’s made us; we’re the effulgence of His glory, for as He is—the glory of the Father—so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). Jesus said, “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22). This is extraordinary. If only you’d live with this consciousness every day!
2 Corinthians 3:18 explains it some more. It lets us know that the Word of God is a mirror: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” A mirror reflects whatever is set before it. If you stood in front of a mirror, you’d see your own reflection. The Word of God is a mirror, and the image of you that it reflects is called “the glory of God”; that’s who you really are!
What we read in John 17:22, is God holding up His mirror for you to see that you’re a partaker of His glory. You’ve been glorified just like Jesus. When Jesus walked the earth, He walked gloriously. He lived and manifested the glory of God. He walked on water, talked to the wind and the waves, unstopped deaf ears, opened blind eyes, healed lame legs, restored maimed limbs, and even raised the dead. We have the same ability within us to function likewise, because the same Holy Spirit that was the power and essence of Jesus, lives in us today.
This has effectively removed you from the class of ordinary men; you’re an associate of the God-kind. You’re the dispenser of God’s righteousness, love, wisdom, mercies and grace. God chose you to be the one to show forth His praises and manifest His glory in the earth: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
PRAYER: Dear Father, I thank you for your glory in my life. I affirm that my life is the manifestation of your wisdom and grace, and your righteousness is revealed and evident in me. You’ve made me a light in a dark world, and my light shines everywhere. I impact my world with your righteousness, wisdom, and love, today, and always, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further Study: Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
1 John 4:17 NIV This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
1-Year Bible Reading Plan: Luke 14:25-15:1-10, Judges 19-21
2-Year Bible Reading Plan: Mark 2:13-22, Leviticus 15
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