Reflections in the Mirror Part 3
Reflections in the Mirror • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Living in His Holiness
Living in His Holiness
In this series we have been talking about reflections in the mirror. The concept is to challenge us to personally assess our lives in how we are living, not just externally, but internally. Are we reflecting the image of Christ Jesus? We each must confront the self-deceptions and lies in the light of the truth of God’s Word.
Why is this so important? First, the days of this age we live in are shorter than we can imagine. Second, when we stand before God He will ask us, “Did you live holy?” He will not ask if we were perfect or had good excuses or justifications for areas of our hearts and lives that were unholy. He will simply ask, “Did you live holy?” Let me remind you what “holy” kodesh קָדוֹשׁ means. It means sanctified, consecrated, set apart, belonging whole heartedly in monogamous devotion to the Living God.
You have heard me say many times before that when God commanded the sons of Kohath קְהָת (meaning to unit and obey) be assigned to carry the holy things of God in the Tabernacle (Numbers 4:15), He said if anyone other than a consecrated priest touches them, they will surly die. That which belongs solely to God is holy because God is holy. And the people were not to treat the holy things of God as common to them. There was never to be such a familial or casual relationship between them and God. There was always to be a Holy Fear. A reverent fear indeed. But also a holy fear. Familiarity breeds “contempt” (dishonor and willful disobedience).
Thus, God commands us to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 11:44). Meaning, we are to be His “possession” as a bride to a groom. What I mean by possession is that Pastor Angie is “My wife”. Not a wife or belonging to another. She is my wife and I am her husband. A bride and groom are not just consecrated to each other on the weekends or in the dark beyond the threshold. They are consecrated to each other every day in every way. Their daily living, in a covenant marriage ordained by God, is to be a reflection of the goodness, love, and favor of the Lord and His holiness. If there is sin in the marriage or if the relationship is sinful, then there is nothing holy about it. When you allow sin of any kind into a marriage it is defiling to the holiness of the Lord. The same is with your marriage to Christ.
When you look in the mirror you are seeing a reflection. You are seeing a response or reply to the light and the image in the light. In darkness, there is no reply. If I turn the lights out and look in a mirror I get no reply because it works in the light. There is a Hebrew word for the word “reflect” which is anah עֲנָה meaning to give an answer or a reply. It is to respond to a question. For example, when God asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you? What have you done? Who told you that you were naked?” Their responses, to the light shown on their sin, were not reflections of their obedient living to God but a reflection of their condemnation for their rebellion against God.
So, when they looked at God, their image perception was askew because of sin. When God looked at them, they no longer reflected the holiness in which they were created.
The root of the word anah עֲנָה is the word anah עָנָה meaning to give an account or to give testimony for or against. Notice that the consonants remain the same but the vowel points have changed. The original Mosaic text did not have vowel points. The vowel points or niqqud נִקֻּד were created by the Masoretic scribes. This example in the word anah reveals a change in pronunciation of the word. The first one meaning reflection contains a shava ( : ) which gives a quick and short sound. Where the one meaning to give an account is a longer drawn out sound. So, how Adam and Eve responded gave testimony to their rebellion against God. It was a drawn out series of blame shifting. Deflecting is not reflecting. Deflect means to turn or divert something from it’s intended direction or to turn aside from a straight course. When we deflect, cast blame on others, take on a victim mentality, and refuse to assume responsibility and assess ourselves, we turn aside from the straight path of the Lord and reject His intended direction for our lives.
When each of us stand before God and He ask, “Did you live holy?” The totality of your life will be revealed. It will be a reflection of either Christ in you or the lack thereof.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
In Greek this seat is called the “Bema Seat”. However, in the days of Christ the religious leaders who sought to silence him sat in the synagogues on what was called the כִּסֵּא מֹשֶׁה, “Kisseh Moshe” or the Seat of Moses. It was a place of authority in which they interpreted the Torah or Law of God to the people. However, they had made it a judgement seat to condemn Christ.
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Like Adam and Eve, they had lost the reflection of God the Father. Oh, they looked the part outwardly but inwardly their reflection was not that of God and His holiness.
You have heard me mention before that in Matthew 26:74 the “cock” or “rooster” was not a chicken (Mishnah Bava Kamma 7:7). Instead it referred to a priest who would call forth the people for a time of daily devotion, worship and prayer. But something else that would happen is the blowing of a shofar. Mishnah Tamid 7:3 states, “They would blow a tekiah, a teruah, and a tekiah to announce the opening of the gates [of the Temple]” (Found at https://finaljubilee.com/data/topics/cockcrow on 21 August 2025)”
It was at this time, when the blast signaled the cleansing of the Temple made ready for sacrifices, that Jesus was being put on trial and judged for death for your sins. The three blasts are a sustained note (tekiah), followed by a quivering note (teruah), and then another sustained note (tekiah). These represent God’s judgement surrounded by His mercy. It speaks of His mercy being long and His judgement to be feared but always providing a way to experience His mercies.
In Exodus 20:20, God called Israel to the mountain to speak to them. The Scripture says there was lightening, thunder, smoke and the sounding of trumpets. It says the people were terribly afraid. But Moses tells them to not be afraid (yare יָרֵא terrified but in awe to know God) but that God has revealed Himself in such a manner that they may fear (yire יִרְאָה be terrified to rebel against Him) Him and not sin. In other words, God wanted them to live holy. He wanted the way they lived to be a reflection of Him and His goodness.
Holiness is more than belonging to God, it is living as God has commanded us to live. To live outside God’s ethics is to live a subjective moral life relative to your own law not His. You will never live in the fulness of the Lord’s favor until you live in the holiness of His way. You can continue to say you are a “Christian” but if you are not living the way of Christ, if you are not reflecting Christ, if your life is not a reflection of His righteousness, then you cannot expect the fruit of such living.
I can keep planting cucumbers hoping I will one day get tomatoes but it will not happen until I plant tomato seeds. I can keep hoping outcomes in my life will change for the positive but if I am not changing the choices I make and the attitudes I have, then I will continue to get the same negative outcomes. You can keep praying for a good godly spouse but if you keep looking in the same places or following the same relational processes, then you will continue to end up in horrible relationships. If I keep believing that I will get out of financial debt and anxiety but I keep managing my finances the same way I always have and never learning Biblical stewardship and work ethic, then I will always have a hole in my money bag and negative balance in my bank account.
If you let Christ teach you the way of living in His holiness and start diligently applying His ways to your life you will see the results of the Lord’s favor. Benefits to living in His holiness are many but the motive and intent should not be personal gain but glorification of God Himself. It is to draw nearer to Him. It is to know Him more sincerely. If you enter any relationship merely for personal gain, you have already defiled the relationship. Do not defile this relationship with the Holy Lord Most High. It is not a heavy lift. Jesus has already lifted the heavy part. You just have to carry your end of the relationship. Reflect Christ instead of deflecting your responsibility to live in holiness.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What burdens are you carrying today that are heavy and hindering your reply to the Lord who is calling you to be sanctified and serve? Lay them before the Lord today. Draw nearer to His holy presence.
