2 Corinthians 4:6. 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.
Christian, your salvation is no less amazing, glorious, and spectacular than that very first day of creation when God said, Let light shine out of darkness.
When God created in Genesis 1 he was revealing himself. The light that broke through and shattered the darkness revealed the physical creation, but it also revealed the Creator. As the psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” With that darkness shattering light God’s love, goodness, and perfection were made visible.
And just like on that first day, now, in Christ, God has brought about a new creation. Once again he has shattered the darkness with light. But not the physical light of Genesis 1. Rather, he has shattered the darkness of our hearts by shining the spiritual light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
When Paul says “in the face of Jesus Christ” he is quickly moving us from Genesis to Exodus. In Exodus Moses asked to see the glory of God – Lord, show me your glory. But no one can see my face (presence) and live, God replied. So God gave Moses a partial view of his glory. From behind the rocks of Sinai Moses saw the back of God, not the face of God. God passed by Moses, covering Moses’ face with his hand, declaring his goodness and grace – The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and merciful. But, in Christ, we are experiencing the fullness of God’s presence, his goodness and grace. We are seeing the face of Jesus Christ in our hearts. The very face of God.
What does all this mean? It means that we now have an illuminated heart.
An illuminated heart?
Yes. Just like God’s creation of light illuminated our eyes and allowed us to see all the physical realities around us, now by the indwelling life of Christ, we have an illuminated heart and can see all of the spiritual realities around us – if we choose to.
Christian, think about what you know that others don’t. Think about what you can “see” that others are blind to. Because God’s light has shown in our hearts we can see into the deepest secrets of God, his mysterious redemptive plan through Christ.
But are your spiritual eyes even open? Are you daily looking into your illuminated heart to know the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Are you interpreting all of life through the lens of the cross and resurrection of Christ? Are you making daily choices from spiritual realities and eternal life?
Are we even aware of what we have? Because we have an illuminated heart we know the meaning of life. We can see into the next dimension. We are engaged in spiritual warfare. We can discern evil from good. We can hope beyond death. We can long for and see eternity. We can love beyond sensual experience. We are guided internally by the Spirit’s love in our hearts. We can see real transformation in others and in ourselves. We can pray in faith, believing, nothing doubting. We can see the upside down nature of the kingdom of God where the first are last and the last are first. Where winning comes by losing, strength comes by weakness, living comes by dying. And most importantly, we understand all the mysteries of God and his salvation found in the God-man Jesus Christ.
Christ in us is the ultimate reality shining in our very beings. To see Christ is to see the face of God and live. God’s glory not just with or around us, but IN us. Now “to live is Christ” is to have an illuminated heart by this indwelling glory of God. In Christ, we can truly know our God. We can look into his face and not just survive, but truly thrive.
You
Do you believe that you have an illuminated heart? How often are you aware of the spiritual realities around you?
You in Christ
How does knowing that the Presence of God lives in you give you confidence to live within the presence of God?
Christ in you
What is one way you might live from your illuminated heart today (the heart of Christ)? For example: loving and enemy, trusting God’s sanctification, awareness of spiritual warfare.
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Playlist: Illuminated Hearts.
Click Here to listen to the playlist on Spotify!
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To see today’s post from the TLIC Family blog –> Click Here
To Live is Christ 