God’s Word brought to my
attention again we who profess Jesus Christ as Lord are supposed to
have the countenance of Him showing upon our faces. Considering that has made
me think back to the last time someone commented upon the “shine of Jesus” in
me. Has it been a while for you, too? Do not get me wrong; I do work for Jesus
in the ministry to which He has put me. I do study His Word and
pray regularly. Yet the question makes me think.
In 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, Paul
spoke about the light shining in the darkness and making the glory of
God known. He, however, did not leave it at the “oh that” stage. He took
it closer to home and stated, “We possess this precious treasure, the divine light
of the Gospel…” (AMP) Wow, did that surprise you? How long has it been since
you thought about being the bearer of “light?” What is this light? Have we ever
really grabbed hold of it? Have we ever really considered we are supposed to
bear light in our world every day?
In looking back through the
Bible, God’s first command was “Let there be light.” You may be wondering, what
the creation of light has to do with being a bearer of the light. Well, let us
continue on our journey. Consider this, before there was light, there was total
darkness; nothing was visible. This prefaces God’s providing of light again
later during the history of humanity. God’s countenance is so blindingly light;
therefore, people cannot look upon His face.
Remember Moses, the man who
saw a burning bush that was not consumed ? Yes, that is he. Moses was the one
whom God called to Himself. He called him to the burning bush. God called Moses
to climb Mount Sinai. Remember, when Moses came down from the mountain after
being there 40 days, his face shone with the radiance of God. Exodus
34:29 says, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of
the Testimony in his hand, he did not realize the skin of his face shone and sent
forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord.” [AMP] The Author of light
became THE Light for His people. It
makes sense since the creation of light pushed back the darkness of the earth,
the word "Light" is more than a metaphor meaning to push back the
darkness of humanity’s mind and circumstances. (Remember, the prince of
darkness roams in our fallen world now and the Light of God must illuminate for
humanity the error and depravity to which Satan introduced us.)
Advance through history
another 3500+ years and you find another Light coming in the world. John was
the forerunner for this light, proclaiming His certainty before he had himself
seen it. (See, it is not so farfetched an idea to think of Light in more terms
than natural light of day.) John proclaimed in chapter 1 this Light was present
in the beginning, at the time of creation, yet God did not create Him. He
created the light. John said, now [at his time] the Light was coming into the
realm of humanity to bring light/enlightenment for the world to see
truth and return to the Father/Creator God. In John 1:9, John stated, “There
it was – the true Light was coming into the world, the genuine, perfect steadfast
Light that illumines every person.” [Amplified Bible] At that time in history,
the Jews knew of the prophecies of a Messiah. They heard from Isaiah when
God spoke with him and said, “He [God] says, ‘It is too light a thing that
you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore
the survivors of the judgments of Israel; I will also give you for a light to
the nations, that My salvation may extend to the end of the earth.’”
(Isaiah 49:6 [AMP]) The Jews knew of this and other prophecies, so they clamored
to John for baptism as repentance for sin; yet, they did not know Jesus. They
did not accept Jesus to be the Light of whom John spoke. The Jews were eager
for the Messiah but did not claim Him as their own.
From that point in time
onward, the apostles spoke of the Light often. Paul spoke of it most, but
in a different context from what people heard previously. Paul and Barnabas
spoke to the Jews in Acts 13:47 saying, “For so the Lord has charged us,
saying, I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles (the heathen), that you
may bring eternal salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.” [AMP] Further,
in his ministry to the Gentiles, Paul spoke to the Corinthians and said,
For what we preach is not
ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants
for Jesus’ sake. 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. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians
4:5-7 [AMP])
The Light that separated
darkness from day and the Light from the Creator/Author, became Light to show
us, all humankind, the way in a dark world.
Can the light that shone
from Moses' face, Paul’s sermons and face, and the faces of Christians
throughout the ages still be seen today? The challenge stands: when was the
last time someone said your face was radiant after your time with the Father? Maybe
it was just today. If it has been a while, then you need to do something.
Go
back into the presence of the Lord.
Worship
and adore Him.
Confess
and seek forgiveness.
Thank
Him for His hand is your world.
Commit
yourself anew to His service.
The
biggest thing, though, is to remain in Him.
Are you as near to the
Father as Moses, Paul, and Abraham were or other people today, such as well-known
evangelist Billy Graham? We are weak earthen vessels and we must strive to remain
in Him. Yet God chooses us to bear His light. He does not choose us because of
what we have done or can do, but because of Who He is, His power, and for whom
He still wants to be God.
What is stopping you from bearing the Light?
