It's Not About You (2 Cor. 3:18)

Every part of our lives is about His glory—past, present and future. God gives us abilities and gifts that we might utilize them to reflect His glory rather than promote ourselves. Unfortunately, many times we are more ambitious about building our kingdom rather than God’s kingdom. God does not bless you so that you can compete with Him but so that you can reflect Him.

Our Life’s Priority Is to Resemble Christ

Notice how verse 18 concludes: “[We] are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Watch the progression: We behold the glory; we reflect the glory; we become the glory. The word “transformed” indicates the continual nature of our transformation. The passive tense reveals that someone is doing the transforming for us. Romans 12:2 marks the only other appearance of this word in reference to a Christian. There, the Bible says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

In what way are we transformed?

Notice the phrase “into the same image.” The word “image” refers to exact representation. Second Corinthians 4:4 and Colossians 1:15 use the same language while describing Jesus as the exact representation of God the Father. Our transformation is “from glory to glory” through various stages of Christlikeness.

In other words, our life’s purpose is to resemble Christ more and more each day—a difficult assignment, to be sure; but notice the last phrase of the verse: “just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” How can we resemble Christ? The Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out.

Moses experienced outward transformation when he saw the glory of God. Christians enjoy inward transformation when we see the same glory. Working through His Holy Spirit, God completes the work of salvation in our hearts and lives.

Consequently, worship represents the primary means of our transformation into the image of Almighty God. You can’t be like Christ if you’re not reflecting Christ, and you can’t reflect Christ if you don’t first behold Christ. We will not behold Him unless worship becomes the foundation upon which we build our lives for the Lord. This is what Christianity is all about! It’s not about us! It’s about Him! I sense a real emptiness in our souls because we allow our worship of God to focus primarily on our needs and desires. Thus, rather than behold Him, we look in the mirror of God’s Word with veiled faces; and all we see is ourselves. Rather than consider additional ways to worship God individually and corporately, we selfishly strategize how little we can worship God and still call ourselves Christians! No wonder we’re not transformed.