“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2Co 4:6-7 nasb)
x Journal, The apostle Paul said that all believers in Jesus Christ have ‘surpassing [divine] power’ in their hearts, and that we must learn to live by that power and not by our own soulish self powers. Each apostle tell us the same thing, John says, “Greater is He who is in you and he who is in the world.” The apostle Peter said, “[We] are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Living with a glow for Jesus…
But before I go further I want to give a better perspective on why Paul called attention to the opening of Genesis, where God said, “Let there be Light.” Paul is saying that it is this, ‘in the beginning Light’ that is now shining in the heart of a believer. What Paul is doing is drawing on an ancient belief among God’s people that when God said,“Let there be Light,” the original Light that shown forth was the light that creation was to live by. The ancients called this Light, ‘the Light of Life’. The Hebrew people had other names for the original Light. They said that ‘Light’ is one of the names of Messiah, that God Himself is called ‘the Light of the world.’ Even the term ‘sun’ was sometimes metaphorically used to speak of God and His Messiah. You hear a bit of this from the Prophet Malachi:
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” (Mal 4:2)
Now let’s take this on and talk about… x
The Light that shines in the darkness.
When Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world,’ His words did not fall on unknowing ears. Many of the Jewish leaders knew exactly what Jesus was drawing from, and they did not like it. His words fell on those unbelieving ears that loved the darkness. But they also fell on believing ears. Those in Israel who believed in Jesus were being prepared to enter into God’s new world of creation. Jesus called His kingdom, ‘a kingdom not of this world.’ It would be a world of pure grace. It would be a world of unqualified love. This new world life would have its beginning stages in this present life but would culminate in the life to come. This life would be a journey of life. We are on our way home. This is why the apostolic writers said that true believers today are actually partakers of the powers of life that belong to the age to come. Paul said that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Listen to the apostle John:
“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. …
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Cf. John 1:5-14 NASB)
What does this have to do with ‘finding our way home? Good question. This brings us to… s The Redeemed Believer When a person is born again a number of things happens. As the Light of Jesus enters into the human Spirit, the new Christian is given a Christ like nature. But a problem remains. It is not our soul that is born again. It is that part of us that is called ‘spirit.’ The Christian becomes a spiritual being. Yet his or her personal life (soul) has to be redeveloped with spiritual values. When a new believer first enters the realm of salvation, there is a burst of spiritual life. There is joy! There is peace! There is wonderment! Grace flows like a river. Then somewhere along the way this feeling of joy may start to wane. Temptations begin to cloud the mind. The struggle of life becomes more difficult. A stumble. Another stumble, and then? What is happening? Paul said that believers must learn to draw on that ‘surpassing power’ that is part of our inheritance in Christ. Whatever may be the case, the believer looking to himself rather than to Christ, is going to have many mistakes, misdeeds, and extra bits of misery in life. And this is why it is so important to understand this principle of ‘Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.’ By the way, this principle doesn’t just disappear because you had a failure or a hundred failures. It is a truth that needs to become an active principle in each believer’s walk with the Lord. The Old Testament writer said:
“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” (Pro 4:18)
Letterism says we need all the laws we can get to get saved and to stay saved! Bad thinking. Paul said that every person born of God’s Spirit remains eternally under the life supervision of the Holy Spirit. This means that every failure we make is attended to by the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God who births us, seals us, tutors us, educates us, places us where we need to be, refreshes us, turns our trials, temptations, and failures into victories, helps us escape bad teachings, keeps the glory of Jesus before us and in us, and many such things. Our final presentation in heaven is a thing of the Spirit. x The Redeemed person is a son or a daughter Our relationship with the heavenly Father is not that of a servant. We are sons and daughters of the living God. Angels know the Spirit’s seal upon God’s children. The seal says, ‘Sealed for the day of redemption.’ (Eph4:30) The Holy Spirit is to present us safely before the throne of God. This work of the Holy Spirit is so powerful, that He can and does take every situation of our life, and turn it into part of our reshaping in Christ. This is why the apostle said,
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Paul explains God’s purpose as our final glorification together with Christ.” Rom8:28-30
Paul also says,
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image (inward spiritual likeness) from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2Co3:18
x The question is not ‘How to we find our way home?’ Yes, the title of this blog could be challenging. That was simply to get your attention. No believer has to find his way home. You are on your way home. You are already guaranteed an entrance into heaven. Believe it or not, your name was recorded in the Lamb’s book before the foundation of the world. So when God said, ‘Let there be Light,’ that statement reached across prophetic history and at the right moment, that Light entered into your heart. And inside you were given a shining heart. Now, can you let your soul relax in the knowledge that Jesus is going to see you through? Can you let go of bitterness? Can you lay your past failures and mistakes where they belong? In the sea of forgetfulness. Can you be quiet in His rest? Can you take to heart what David said in this ascending Psalm? Listen:
O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel [Christian], hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever.” (Psa 131:1-3)
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