Does God Show Through?

John Clardy

1 Cor 15:47-50

47         The first man (Adam) is of the earth, earthy: the second man (Jesus) is the Lord from heaven.

48         As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

49         And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

50         Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

A little girl who was on the way home from church with her parents, turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher's sermon this morning confused me."

The mother said, "Oh! Why is that?

The girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?"

"Yes, that's true," the mother replied.

"He also said that God lives within us. Is that true too?"

Again the mother replied, "Yes."

"Well," said the girl. "If God is bigger than we are and he lives in us, wouldn't he show through?"

Today, one of the most dangerous tendencies that Christians fall into is the trend to blend. We become ensnared in the trap of “sameness.” You see sin does much more than infect us with lust and greed; it attempts to make us all the same. Sin wants us all to have our minds blinded to truth and to be lost in the crowd of humanity without any identity or purpose.

But Christians do have an identity. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. We have a heavenly birthmark which sets us apart and separates us from the sameness of the world! 

Ephesians 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise…

As Christians, we are out of step, unfashionable, unconventional and counter-cultural. We cannot help but be different because the one who is the chief cornerstone of our faith was Himself different.

Jesus was out of step, unfashionable, unconventional and even unreligious. He was rejected because He did not fit the specifications or expectations of the self-appointed experts of His day.  But the stone that was an oddity and that was disallowed became the chief cornerstone.   

Jesus Christ changes you, changes your values and your character, whether you want to or not!  Once you come in contact with Him you can never return to the same old person you once were. 

Paul declared in Galatians 6:17: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”  Paul had a supernatural encounter with Jesus that drastically changed him!  He was never the same! 

Have we had that kind of encounter with God? Do we bear the marks of Jesus like Paul did?  When people look at us do they know we are “one of those Christians?”  Does God show through?

We can’t afford to choose the acceptance of the world over the approval of God.  We must not be under the control of the former, earthly man! We must be under the control of the new spiritual, heavenly man.  We must let God be bigger than ourselves! Flesh and blood can not inherit the Kingdom of God! Only by letting God show through, only by bearing the image of the heavenly, can we enter into Heaven!