What do you see when you look in the mirror? A sinner? A saint? Beautiful? Ugly? God’s work of art? A failure in life?
Years back I was struck by the idea that when God looks at us, he sees a toddler. We are ALL just toddlers to God. Not the brightest. Just running around sticking our fingers in light sockets. But God sees that cute toddler and loves us unconditionally. He thinks we’re cute, beautiful, a work of art, HIS work of art.
So how do we get from looking in the mirror and seeing the world looking back at us versus God’s miraculous creation looking back at us?
When you look at yourself in a mirror, you see a reflection of yourself that is the same size as you but reversed left to right. This is because light rays from your face bounce off the mirror and into your eyes. This reversal is called lateral inversion.
This made me think … lateral inversion … we see the world, instead of what God sees.
God sees us as his good creation. (Genesis 1) God also sees our brokenness, our flaws, and our scars. These marks, left by the struggles of life, do not take away from the beauty God sees when He looks at us. God knows our past and yet God sees remarkable brilliance in the present.
Often I catch myself staring at the mirror finding fault with my face and/or body. I’ve gotten over the shock of looking and seeing “an old lady” looking back, but I still analyze and scrutinize myself wondering how this grey hair, sags and wrinkles developed.
Of course, it is also very easy to be our own worst critics when looking in the mirror, just seeing our failures and wondering where our dreams went.
I’m sure there are many confident assertive and attractive individuals who are very pleased with the reflection staring back at them. I’ve just never been one of them. I find the older I get, the more my self-image has improved and the more confident I am. Maybe I’m just at peace with myself.
Yet, it is still so easy to find fault within ourselves, regardless of what we look like, especially when looking at ourselves in the mirror. We may feel insecurity inside our minds, making us feel inferior no matter what others tell us when they say we look attractive, gorgeous or even beautiful. When someone says we are talented, smart, funny, creative, or lovable, we need to have the confidence to believe it within ourselves because in reality it really is true. How is this possible? Because God created us so.
We all know the adage, “Mirrors don’t lie,” but they do! Lateral inversion. Mirrors don’t show us what God sees.
How Does God See Me in Christ – GotQuestions.Org
Several places in Scripture refer to believers being “in Christ” (1 Peter 5:14; Philippians 1:1; Romans 8:1). Colossians 3:3 gives a little more insight: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” When we come to Christ as broken sinners, He exchanges our sin for His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Through repentance and acceptance of Jesus’ death on our behalf, we are even called His children (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26). God no longer sees our imperfections; He sees the righteousness of His own Son instead (Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 8:12). Because we are in Christ, God sees Christ’s righteousness covering us. Only “in Christ” is our sin debt canceled, our relationship with God restored, and our eternity secured (John 3:16–18; 20:31). In Christ, God sees me as a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have peace with God and are counted as righteous before Him (verses 17–21). Rather than seeing my sin, God sees the righteousness of His Son. He sees me as justified, redeemed, sanctified, even glorified (see Romans 8:30).
In Ephesians 1:3–14 we learn some of the ways God sees us in Christ. God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (verse 3). We are equipped with all we need. We are chosen to “be holy and blameless before [God]” (verse 4). We are seen as holy and blameless because we are in Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18).
Ephesians 1:5 tells us that, in Christ, we have been predestined “for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” This means God sees me as His child (cf. John 1:12–13). This is “to the praise of [God’s] glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). In Christ God sees me in love, and He lavishes upon me His abundant gifts and the “riches of his grace” (verses 7–8).
God sees me in Christ as an inheritor of heavenly riches (Ephesians 1:11; cf. Romans 8:17). God sees me as His own, forever. He has sealed me with the Holy Spirit as a “guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14).
God sees me as His handiwork (Psalm 139:13–16; cf. Ephesians 2:10); as His friend (James 2:23); and as a chosen one, “holy and beloved” (Colossians 3:12). He sees me as “dead to sin” (Romans 6:11) but “raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1); as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16); as a living stone placed by a Master Builder (1 Peter 2:5); as part of “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (verse 9); and as one of the “foreigners and exiles” in this world (verse 11). God sees me as part of His flock: “He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (Psalm 95:7).
* * *
We know mirrors don’t lie unless it’s a trick mirror like those found at carnivals where it can distort our entire body making us appear short, tall, slim or heavy. I love the mirrors that trick us into believing we’re slimmer than what we really are! But mirrors that trick us into seeing or believing something other than what God intended, these are not good mirrors.
When I see myself in the mirror, I can see the tell-tale signs of aging letting me know I’m getting on in years. I know that no amount of makeup will make me look any younger, or have that youthful glow I once had.
Now don’t get me wrong though I see aging in the mirror, I also see the years God has blessed me with and years ahead where God will continue to use me. I am a child of God, though I may still be a toddler. I may still get confused where I am going, or trip and fall or stick my finger in a light socket, but He is my father and He loves me to no end. This knowledge gives me a zest for life and hope when I gaze into a mirror.
For God and you,
Deb Bostwick
Singles Blogger