Transformed Through Beholding His Glory {Art Exercise #2}

In my first "exploring purpose through beauty post" I shared about the word "transformation" found in 2 Corinthians 3:18:

We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Here is the relevant part, copied for you:

 The Spirit exhorts us to be transformed and that transformation is by beholding His glory, (not by working out our salvation) -  transformation is a work that He does  as we spend time in His Presence (not a work we achieve in our own efforts!)   And that is exactly what this word “transformed” means! It is metamorphóō (3339 - from 3326 /metá, "change after being with" and 3445 /morphóō, "changing form in keeping with inner reality" – properly, transformed after being with; transfigured.  (Metamorphóō is the root of the English terms "metamorphosis" and "metamorphize.")

So, we are "changed after being with" - and we are being changed as we spend time with Him, with no separation - and that seeing His glory is like looking in a mirror...

To truly see the beauty He has bestowed upon us, we look deeply and intently at Him, and see the truth of our own being reflected in His face...

To see our own beauty, we have to see His beauty...

To put it another way, from the opposite point of view, if we perceive God as a "big policeman in the sky", we may become a "policeman" ourselves, punishing the wrong doing we see in ourselves or in others...or we may become avoidant, trying to elude His imagined disapproving gaze.  Or, if we view Him as being unjust or abusive or uncaring or uninvolved with His creation, we may totally reject Him.  

The transformation occurs when we behold Him as He IS,  

not by beholding some wrong image of Him we have created in our own minds... 

My favorite way of "seeing" Jesus....the Lord my Shepherd

 I actually own prints of the bottom left and center left pictures...

Art Exercise:

The next step in our exploration of purpose and beauty will be to explore the beauty of God.  Jesus is described in many different ways in the Scripture.   Today you will pick one of those ways, and find images and words that reflect that image of Him, and collage them onto a piece of poster board, wood, or canvas.  You don't have to have many, but I would say that the very bare minimum would be 5-7.   Remember to "audition" you collage elements before you fasten them to your base.  You can even use items that fit your image choice, giving your piece a 3-D effect.  

Journal and share what this aspect of God's nature means for you.  This will help you gain deeper insight in how you connect to God.

And of course you can also do this exercise MY favorite way - digitally!  Above is my collage for the exercise - just for a sample...I think I might have to do a more in depth piece to really explore the name...

To help you with this exercise, I am including a brief list of Jesus's names and titles as well as links to a more comprehensive lists.  The Old Testament names always bring images to my mind...and here are some New Testament ones - Bright and Morning Star, Author of our faith (I see words with this name), Peace, the Vine, Friend of Sinners, Light, Light of the World, Living Bread...Alpha and Omega.  There are so many to choose from!

Found on Google

{click on the titles to go to the linked page}

Names and Titles of Jesus - Blue Letter Bible Online

 100 Names of Jesus

 900+ Names and Titles of God 

That's A LOT of information, so to make it simpler to find the description that you wish to work with, try this:  look at the first five descriptions.  Does any of them "speak" to you? If yes, use that particular image.  If no, move to the next five, repeating till you find the image you want to work with.

When you are finished with your collage, consider sharing it on the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CindyFort.at.12Tribes.

We will do some comparison between this collage and the first one soon {if you missed the first exercise, you can find it here or copy and paste this in your browser https://cjfort-artandlife.blogspot.com/2015/03/exploring-our-expression-of-beauty.html. 

The comparison exercise is in my newsletter. You can find it at the archived link here: Part 1 - https://bit.ly/3EkvBq4

                               Part 2 -  https://bit.ly/3YK7ZmS