For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV).
Back at the very beginning of time, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light (Genesis 1:3).” From the empty darkness, God commanded the light to shine out, and the light obeyed his command. It was the first step, if we can call it that, in his creation of the universe out of nothingness.
But there’s another work of creation, too. It’s not accomplished by God calling light out of darkness; but rather, by God shining himself into darkness. He creates by shining into hearts that are dark, or, as the text said two verses earlier, into minds that are blinded (2 Corinthians 4:4). It’s a new creation that starts when God shines in to give light; not the light of daylight, but the light of knowledge. It’s the first step, if we can call it that, in the creation of spiritual life out of the nothingness of dark hearts.
What is the knowledge that arises from God shining in? It’s “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” God’s creative light discloses who Jesus is, showing that his glory is God’s glory, or to put it another way, showing that Jesus reveals God’s glory to us.
Jesus is God with a face that can be seen. No one can see the Father’s face and live (Exodus 33:17-23), but in his incarnation, the Son makes the Father known to us (John 1:18). The Son displays the Father’s glory in his healings and miracles, and especially when he is lifted up on the cross (John 12:27-28), where we see so much of who God is. It’s there that the power, wisdom, goodness, love, graciousness, mercy, justice, and holiness of God—and more—are revealed together. In the cross we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
It isn’t a surprise, then, that when we line up the parallel statement in verse 4 with this verse, we have, side by side, “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” with “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The display of God’s glory in the death of his incarnate Son is the very center of the good news.
Do you see the the power and wisdom and love of God in Christ’s death on the cross? Do you see the beauty of Jesus? Do you see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Do you know and love the gospel? If you do, it’s because God’s new creation has begun in your heart. It’s because “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in [your] heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”