Once there was a mirror. Not a lovely mirror, but a shattered dirty mirror. It was designed to reflect the King and His Son, but it couldn’t. There were many such mirrors. None of them knew that they were dead and useless. They were headed for a great fire because of their rebellion. You see, the first mirror and his wife rebelled against the King. He told them not to climb a certain tree in the garden, but a crafty serpent deceived them and they climbed it. They fell and shattered and are now cursed, but the King graciously promised a Rescuer to bring them back to Him. The King keeps His promises.
The King let the mirrors see what they looked like. They all looked dirty and useless. Some of them liked being dirty and lived in open rebellion against the King. The rest secretly served themselves instead of the king. No matter how hard any of them tried they couldn’t clean or fix themselves. They all pretended they were whole and fooled their friends.
Knowing they were helpless, the King sent His only Son to live with the mirrors and become one of them. He was whole. He lived perfectly with them and taught them that the King wanted them to trust in Him and turn from their wicked ways so they could be rescued. Some of the mirrors hated him and killed Him because He claimed to be the King’s Son. He bore His Father’s wrath and became like a wicked mirror, so that He could set free all the mirrors he chose.
He was buried in a tomb, which was sealed up very well, and his friends scattered. Then, he rose out of the tomb. He appeared to His followers and gave them instructions. He promised to send the Helper to them and He went back to be with the King.
His friends went around preaching to the other mirrors and writing the Prince’s words. All the mirrors that turned to Him from their evil ways were seen as clean before the King and were put back together. But they still had some dirt on the outside. The Helper came to live in them and changed them. He gradually cleaned the dirt off of them as they learned to trust the King more.
Then when the other mirrors looked at the King’s mirrors, they saw a tiny reflection of what the King looked like. More mirrors trusted the king. Whenever one of the King’s mirrors died, they went to be with the King in his palace and became perfect. For the first time, the King’s image on them could be seen. Notice the mirrors didn’t become the King, but they reflected Him how He made them to.
Some of the mirrors still hated the King and hurt His friends. Others hated Him but pretended to be His friends. When they died, the King burned them in a great fire that never went out where they were tortured forever.
One day the Prince will return and all mirrors that don’t repent will join the serpent and the wicked mirrors in the great fire with no chance of escape. All the mirrors that love the Prince, will live with Him forever in His palace.
Which kind of mirror are you?
I wrote this in light of the last Jesus and Identity Sermon that Ryan preached. Someone pointed out that a mirror that doesn’t reflect well is useless. That is true. We were created to glorify God and we do that by reflecting Him. In Colossians 3:10, we are told “and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created Him,” We are supposed to grow to look more like Christ and do everything in His name. When you feel like sinning, ask yourself, “Can I do this in the name of Jesus?” As Christians, we are called to remove sin from our lives. (Colossians 3:8-9) We do this because we love God and want the world to know we are holy. We also put on righteousness, forgive each other, and put on love. (Col 3:12-14)
We were called to unity. (Colossians 3:15) To grow, focus on godly things throughout your day. Listen to good, theologically rich Christian music, encourage each other toward godliness by sharing what you have learned in your own Bible study. (Col 3:16) Finally, do everything to please Jesus. (Col 3:17)
“We were made to be mirrors perfectly reflecting God’s goodness, but with sin that mirror was fractured and the reflection is distorted.”
– Trip Lee, Rise page 10
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