{"id":5539,"date":"2014-06-12T22:52:49","date_gmt":"2014-06-13T02:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?p=5539"},"modified":"2014-08-07T17:37:50","modified_gmt":"2014-08-07T21:37:50","slug":"a-moon-that-wanted-to-be-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/a-moon-that-wanted-to-be-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"A Moon That Wanted To Be the Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

While reading through the book of Ezekiel in the Bible, there is a common phrase that is repeated over and over again, \u201cThen they will know that I am the LORD.\u201d It usually follows one of two events \u2013 God\u2019s great blessing<\/i> on a nation or God\u2019s great destruction<\/i> of a nation<\/strong>. This phrase brings up an interesting question \u2013 why is it so important for these people to know that He is the LORD; why does He go to such extremes to reveal this to them?<\/span><\/p>\n

Be the Moon<\/span><\/h2>\n

When thinking about this question, my thoughts landed on a (admittedly) tacky glow-in-the-dark shirt that was gifted to me quite a few years back. The front of it had the phrase \u201cBe the Moon,\u201d with a drawing of the moon; the back said \u201cReflect the Son,\u201d with a drawing of the Cross of Christ. I know it\u2019s sort of an \u201ceye-rolling\u201d pun, but it brings up a vital point. There is an immense jewel that lies within the foundation of the phrase, \u201cThen they will know that I am the LORD.\u201d God wants people to know that He is the LORD because there is no higher calling in a person\u2019s life than to bring glory to God<\/i>, namely His son, Jesus.<\/strong> To us, this concept seems confusing, possibly even conceited. That is because we cannot comprehend how good it is for God to receive <\/i>glory because we are creatures who were created to give <\/i>glory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflecting Glory<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

The moon was created to reflect the light emitted by the sun, so we would have illumination at night. The moon has no light-emitting qualities of its own (a fact that rocked my 3rd-<\/span><\/sup>grade mind, by the way). In the same way, humans were created to reflect glory<\/strong>. We have no qualities of ourselves that are worthy of glory or worship. If you have a history of reading your Bible, you might be saying, \u201cBut Stefan, what about verses like Psalm 139:14 that claim \u2018I am fearfully and wonderfully made\u2019? Surely I have attributes about me that are worthy of glory!\u201d\u00a0 What people often neglect is the beginning and end of that verse \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I praise you<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

your works are wonderful<\/em>, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0I know that full well.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That phrase is deliciously sandwiched between two cries of worship! David, the writer of that particular psalm, sees that there are attributes about us that are magnificent (our anatomy, our cognitive abilities, our physical capacities, etc.) but instead of glorifying himself, David turns his worship to the one who actually made<\/i> this wonderful creation.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGlory Thief\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

On the other hand, there are those who desire glory for themselves. An excellent example is given in chapter 29 in the book of Ezekiel where Pharaoh, king of Egypt, has claimed the Nile to be made by himself for his own glory. This assumption comes to a screeching halt when God declares Pharaoh\u2019s destruction because of his self-glorifying pride and blatant disregard towards the actual order of things. There should be an obvious rebuttal in our minds to Pharaoh\u2019s claim of creating the Nile \u2013 \u201cThat is ridiculous.\u201d It was flowing before he was born and it\u2019s still flowing in his absence. Pharaoh had fooled himself into thinking that the Nile was his<\/i> creation intended for his<\/i> glory. Paul Tripp calls this act of conceit what it truly is \u2013 becoming a \u201cglory thief.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflection<\/span><\/h2>\n

What about you?\u00a0 Do you see attributes of yourself or particular areas of gifting and parrot the words of Pharaoh, \u201cThis is my own; I made it for myself\u201d (Ezekiel 29:3) or do you follow the example of David and say, \u201cI praise you!\u201d? \u00a0Are you giving glory to whom glory is due, or are you nothing but a moon that has tricked itself into thinking it is the sun<\/strong>?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While reading through the book of Ezekiel in the Bible, there is a common phrase that is repeated over and over again, \u201cThen they will know that I am the LORD.\u201d It usually follows one of two events \u2013 God\u2019s great blessing on a nation or God\u2019s great destruction of a nation. This phrase brings… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":5550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[19985,4448,4227,4174,4250],"yoast_head":"\nA Moon That Wanted To Be the Sun - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/a-moon-that-wanted-to-be-the-sun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Moon That Wanted To Be the Sun - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While reading through the book of Ezekiel in the Bible, there is a common phrase that is repeated over and over again, \u201cThen they will know that I am the LORD.\u201d It usually follows one of two events \u2013 God\u2019s great blessing on a nation or God\u2019s great destruction of a nation. 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