The Georgia Bulldogs are National Champions for the first time since 1980 after defeating Alabama 33-18 on Monday night.

Georgia scored 20 points in the 4th quarter while their defense finished strong after stifling Alabama’s offense most of the game on their way to victory.

There were many intriguing storylines from this game such as Georgia head coach, Kirby Smart, winning his first championship in only his 6th year on the job while doing so against his mentor, Nick Saban.

The story of quarterback Stetson Bennett is amazing, too, when you consider he went from a walk-on at Georgia, transferring to a Community College, and then back to Georgia where he would win a National Championship and the game’s offensive MVP.

The players and coaches are the ones who went out and defeated the vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday night, but the Georgia fans are also experiencing the joy of this victory.

They waited a long time to see their school win again at the highest level, so it’s no surprise they are shouting and celebrating in a big way this week.

The Georgia fans weren’t the ones putting on the helmets and experiencing the blood, sweat, and tears on the field, but like all sports fans, they will continue to bask in the glory of the win.

Responses from the fans include, “We did it,” “We won,” and “We are the champions!” Georgia fans will be wearing their hats and shirts proudly and waving their flags confidently because of what the football team did on Monday night.

The fans didn’t do anything on the field to contribute to what was accomplished, but they experience the benefits, respect, and admiration because of their association with Georgia football.

This is called reflected glory and is defined as “respect or admiration that a person gets because of something that someone else has done.”

As sports fans, we all desire for our teams to win so that we can partake in the glory that comes from our team’s excellence, victory, and greatness – even though we do nothing to deserve it.

Today I want to parallel this concept of “reflected glory” as sports fans and remind ourselves of the much more powerful and amazing glory of God that we experience and reflect as followers of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NLT) explains, “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.”

Colossians 1:27 (NLT) tells us, “For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.”

2 Peter 1:3 (TLB) says, “For as you know Him better, He will give you, through His great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: He even shares His own glory and His own goodness with us!”

Just like Georgia fans didn’t get into the end zone, we aren’t the ones who went to the cross, Jesus did. He’s the one who shed blood, sweat, and tears. We can’t take credit for the “win,” but rather we reflect the glory of Jesus and we’re victorious because of what He’s done for us.

The following verses are powerful reminders of this:

“For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]” (Ephesians 2:8-9; AMP).

Jesus prayed this prayer while He was still on earth: “I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be one as We are one. I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me” John 17:22-23; (NLT).

As followers of Jesus, we experience reflected glory or “respect or admiration” because Christ lives in us and shines through us. We are not only associated with Him but united with Him and “…thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV)

This allows us to declare, “We did it,” “We won,” and “We are the champions” while waving our flags confidently.

As Psalm 20:5 (TLB) says, “May there be shouts of joy when we hear the news of your victory, flags flying with praise to God for all that He has done for you…”

I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing me to experience Your glory, Your goodness, and Your grace. I pray my life would reflect Your glory as You shine through me. I pray I’d live with confidence and boldness because of the victory I have in Christ. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

Discussion Questions for PACKS:

1. In what ways does your life reflect God’s glory?

2. In what ways can we move from being more concerned about reflecting the glory of our favorite sports team to “waving the flag” for Jesus?