Reflections and Images

On a calm day by a riverside, I snapped an extraordinary picture. Since I am not a good photographer, this was a total surprise. I didn't see the beauty of the picture until after I had taken it.

I didn't take this picture with a normal camera. It was taken with my Kindle Fire, which means I actually took it backwards (the Kindle Fire's camera is a front facing camera designed for the user to take a picture of himself). I was just playing around with the Kindle Fire and wanted to take a picture of the skyline in front of me.

Instead, I got much more than I imagined. Although clouds were casting a shadow on the landscape, the sun peeking through the clouds and branches made it possible not only to capture the skyline, but also its reflection.

On another day, I was experimenting again with the camera feature on my MacBook Air. The camera works the same way as the Kindle Fire's camera. This time, I took a self-portrait facing my computer with my back to a mirror, making an interesting picture.

This double image got me thinking. I did some research on how mirrors are made. With the help of a chemical process, a sheet of glass is coated with silver or aluminum. What is important is to make sure it is polished to perfection, removing any impurity. If any dip or impurity is not polished out, there will be distortions in the mirror.

Jesus the Image of God

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15).

Jesus came so that we might see God the Father. He is not a reflection of God. He is God. When we see Jesus, we see God. "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Any picture of Jesus includes an image of the invisible God - a little like my self-portrait. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men (John 1:1, 4).

Like the sun shining through the clouds to reveal the reflection of the skyline, Jesus, the Light of the world, shines through our dark clouds of sin. The resulting reflection exposes our sin nature. Those of us who see ourselves as God sees us, ask Him for forgiveness and trust Him as Savior.

Just as the impurities left in the glass distorts the mirror, sin in a Christian's life distorts the image of Christ. God is constantly working on polishing out those impurities so that His Son can be seen ... but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

God choses to reveal Himself to a lost world through His children. for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8) A little like the double image in my picture, when the world looks at a committed Christian, they should see the reflection of Christ in him. Others should be able to see Him by the lives we live and the love we express.

For those He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).