God's Light Beams In

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV).

You’ve probably heard the saying, ‘You can’t get something from nothing.’ It’s true, at least it’s true for us. We can’t get something from nothing. 

But according to the Bible, God can. In the Genesis story of the creation of the universe, on the first day of creation, God commanded, “Let there be light,” and there was light. As he spoke, something came from nothing. What had not existed began to exist. There was only darkness and emptiness until God called out the light, and in response to his call the light came. 

Second Corinthians 4:6 begins with a reminder of this mysterious first day creative act of God to help us understand his work in human hearts. God’s work within our hearts is an act of creation, too. 

The creation of the universe began when God called physical light out. When he re-creates human hearts, he shines spiritual light in. God’s powerful call for physical light to shine out of darkness was the dawning of creation, and his powerful beam of spiritual light into dark human hearts is the dawning of new creation. When he shines his light in, the God who created the world in the beginning is creating once again.

The spiritual light God shines into hearts is “the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Christ.” It’s an illuminating light, a divine light focusing on the incarnate Son of God and showing him as he truly is. 

Jesus is the exact image of God. He shares his nature; he shares all of his perfections. And as he lived his life here on earth, as he died, and as he rose again, he revealed God to us. He displayed the beauty and magnificence—or the glory—of God. 

And as God’s re-creative light beams into our hearts, we begin to understand this. God’s light within us spotlights Jesus, and shows us that all of God’s glorious being shines bright “in the face of Christ.”

I remember the first time I caught a glimpse the glory of God in Christ. I was just a little girl—young enough to still be standing on a pew during a sermon. The sermon I heard was about Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, and I understood enough to know that what he accomplished there was something wonderful. I knew it was exactly what I needed. In my childlike way, I saw the goodness, love, mercy, grace, and wisdom of God on display as Jesus was crucified. This experience made such an impression on me that it is one of my first clear childhood memories. I didn’t know it then, but this was the beginning of new creation in my heart. I saw the glory of Christ and the glory of the cross because “God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in my heart to give me the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” 

Not every believer remembers or knows when they first began to see Christ’s glory. Some have known it as far back as they can remember. For others, the light dawns slowly, and their understanding of who Christ is grows gradually. 

But if you believe, you have seen the glory of Christ. And if you have seen the glory of Christ, it is because God has shined his light in to show him to you. And you have become, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, new creation.

God’s new creation work has begun in every believer, and he will continue this work until we receive our glorified—or new creation—bodies in the new heavens and the new earth. Then we will see him face to face in all his glory. 

And then we will be like him, because we will see him as he is.

I am thankful that God’s incarnate Son revealed his glory, and thankful for God’s spiritual light beaming in to show me his glory in Christ’s face. I am thankful for his new creation power. 

I look forward to the day when I see Christ with my physical eyes, in my resurrection body, face to face, as he really is, in all his glory.  

Sunday's Hymn: Faith of Our Fathers

Faith of our fathers! living still
In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene’er we hear God’s glorious Word:

Refrain
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.

Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free;
And blest would be their children’s fate
If they, like them, should die for thee:

Faith of our fathers! God’s great pow’r
Shall draw all nations unto thee;
And through the truth that comes from God
His people shall indeed be free:

Faith of our fathers! we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife,
And preach thee, too, as love knows how
By witness true and virtuous life:

—Frederick W. Fa­ber

 Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• In My Place Condemned He Stood at The Outspoken Tulip
• Before the Throne of God Above at The Happy Wonderer
• The Incarnation and Passion at The Upward Call
• King over all the earth at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 14, 2019 at The Thirsty Theologian

Theological Term of the Week: Atonement

 

atonement
The reconciliation of God and humanity through Christ’s work, which blots out human sin and satisfies God’s wrath. 

• From scripture:

[23] “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. [24] And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 




[29] “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. [30] For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins (Leviticus 16:23-24, 29-30 ESV).




[3] But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. [4] For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 




[12] But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, [13] waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. [14] For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:3-4, 12-14 ESV)




… in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them … . (2 Corinthians 5:19 ESV).

• From Concise Theology by J. I. Packer

Atonement means making amends, blotting out the offense, and giving satisfaction for wrong done; thus reconciling to oneself the alienated other and restoring the disrupted relationship. 

Scripture depicts all human beings as needing to atone for their sins but lacking all power and resources for doing so. We have offended our holy Creator, whose nature it is to hate sin (Jer. 44:4; Hab. 1:13) and to punish it (Ps. 5:4-6; Rom. 1:18; 2:5-9). No acceptance by, or fellowship with, such a God can be expected unless atonement is made, and since there is sin in even our best actions, anything we do in hopes of making amends can only increase our guilt or worsen our situation. This makes it ruinous folly to seek to establish one’s own righteousness before God (Job 15:14-16; Rom. 10:2-3); it simply cannot be done. 

But against this background of human hopelessness, Scripture sets forth the love, grace, mercy, pity, kindness, and compassion of God, the offended Creator, in himself providing the atonement that our sin has made necessary. This amazing grace is the focal center of New Testament faith, hope, worship, ethics, and spiritual life; from Matthew to Revelation it shines out with breathtaking glory. 

Learn more:

1. B. B. Warfield: Atonement
2. John Murray: The Atonement
3. Leon Morris: Atonement
4. J. I. Packer in Concise Theology: Sacrifice 
5. Michael Morales: The Day of Atonement

Related terms:

• definite atonement
• penal substitution
• propitiation
• reconciliation
• sacrifice

Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ

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