Shining Forth as the Sun with the Glory of God
God created man to gain an expression of Himself through man. As many as receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Life are primed to participate in this expression. As Christ grows in us the expression comes forth, blossoms at His
return, and expands more in New Jerusalem.
When the Lord returns visibly in glory, He “comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed in that day.” At that time, “the consummation of the age” (Matt. 13:40), “the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (13:43).
Shining like the sun is the blossoming of our shining forth as Christians during this age. Philippians 2:12-14 encourages us to cooperate with the Lord’s present operation in us. The result, in verse 15, is “That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world.”
A luminary is not the source of light but the radiator. The Lord is the light and we radiate Him. The Greek word translated luminaries is used only one other place in the New Testament, Revelation 21:11. “Her [New Jerusalem’s] light was like a most precious stone.”
Our cooperation in Philippians 2 includes taking the Lord’s word as our nourishment (1 Peter 2:2), letting it wash away all our old naturalness (Eph. 5:26), singing to the Lord and to one another, and praising and thanking the Lord in all situations. This is a foretaste of eternity in New Jerusalem.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.
Next post will be Wednesday, December 29.
Posted by Don on December 22, 2021
