Is God with Us?

''And our faces are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings more and more glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.''
-- 2 Corinthians 3:18

by Michael Corthell

Is God with us?  Yes, always and if we understand that we are to live to bring glory to God, the thought that we are to be God's representative to our world is accurate. Glorifying God simply means that we are to demonstrate God's glory by the way we our lives.

''The virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will name him Immanuel.''
-- Matthew 1:23

His glory is the expression of all that He is, in His holiness (whole being). Obviously, we can't be all that He is, nor can we pull it off in 100% 'wholeness' (perfection). But we can live our lives to show other people what the love, justice, integrity, trustworthiness, mercy, and grace of God are like. Glorifying God means to express the reality of His attitudes, actions, and character in and through our lives. To be examples to the world of who God truly is.

In Scripture, we learn that God’s glory has been displayed through a variety of means. Psalm 19:1 John 1:1-51 points out that 'the heavens declare the glory of God.' From the incredible beauty of our vast universe, to the exceptionally fine details of DNA, the glory of God's power and infinite intelligence is manifest.

God also choose a select group of people, the Israelites, to reflect and portray His glory in a very special way. His divine protection and direction of the Israelites as they journeyed forty years from Egypt to the Promised Land let the whole world know God is sovereign, and does take a keen personal interest in His created beings.

And, of course, the Bible points out that God’s glory is most clearly seen in Jesus Christ(God incarnate), the One who is ''the radiance God’s glory and the exact representation of His being'' Hebrews 1:3.  explains that the Word, God's Son, came to live among us so that we could see the glory of God on an 'ordinary' and personal level.

This last quote just might be the 'bottom line' in answer to the title's question, ''Is God with Us?:

''So I am not the one living now—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave himself to save me.''
-- Galatians 2:20