Week 2, Radiant Prayer, Day 3: Righteousness
(Read 34:31–35; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6)
Have you noticed that the brighter the light, the more imperfections
you see? If you measure yourself morally based on how well you keep the
commandments, you may have had days that you “shine,” but even on your best
days, it is you who gets the glory, and not God. And on days that you
fall, your radiance quickly fades.
2 Corinthians 4:1-6 continues the analogy he began in the previous
chapter about Moses, the veil, and the shining radiance from God’s glory. Allow
me to continue my paraphrase from this morning.
“Because of this glorious ministry of God’s
mercy we received, we will not fade or faint. We reject the secret shameful
things, we refuse to walk in deceptive ways, and we repudiate the distortion of
the Word of God! No, by the demonstration of Truth, whoever has a clean
conscience before God will testify for us. You want to talk about veils and blinders
from the gospel, those who are lost can’t see it. Why? The devil, the god of
this world, has veiled and blinded their minds from seeing the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ. God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, is radiant in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.”
God has declared us righteous by faith (Romans 5:1). As a result, we can
pray in freedom. We are not condemned; we are forgiven. We are released from legalism
and live righteously because God has placed His Holy, Sanctified Spirit within
us. When we seek to be righteous by the law, we don’t shine. But when we see God’s
glory through the law of liberty, we reflect that light. Even more, we are transformed
into that radiant light through the Spirit. “Then the righteous will shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let
him hear!” (Matthew 13:43).
The book of Hebrews says that Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of
God and the exact imprint of his nature,” (Hebrews 1:3). Moses was
temporarily radiant because he was with God, but Jesus is forever
radiant because He is God.
And now we have the Holy Spirit of Christ within us. He who is the Light
of the World, calls us to also be as He is. “You are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden… Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16).
So, can darkness still come in? Yes, if we let it. That’s why prayer,
Bible reading and study, righteous living from the heart, fellowship with other
believers, is so important! Jesus compared these “entry points” of God’s light
to the eye. “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or
under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.
The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole
body also is full of light…as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light,”
(Luke 11:33ff).
Pray this prayer to God: “Shine in me, Lord Jesus, so I can shine to others. Let me live
righteously so that I may light the world around me with Your Glory. Do not let
me fade or faint, even if those around me are blind to Your light. In Jesus’s Name.
Amen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment