God's Light Beams In

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 (2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV).

You’ve probably heard the saying, ‘You can’t get something from nothing.’ It’s true, at least it’s true for us. We can’t get something from nothing. 

But according to the Bible, God can. In the Genesis story of the creation of the universe, on the first day of creation, God commanded, “Let there be light,” and there was light. As he spoke, something came from nothing. What had not existed began to exist. There was only darkness and emptiness until God called out the light, and in response to his call the light came. 

Second Corinthians 4:6 begins with a reminder of this mysterious first day creative act of God to help us understand his work in human hearts. God’s work within our hearts is an act of creation, too. 

The creation of the universe began when God called physical light out. When he re-creates human hearts, he shines spiritual light in. God’s powerful call for physical light to shine out of darkness was the dawning of creation, and his powerful beam of spiritual light into dark human hearts is the dawning of new creation. When he shines his light in, the God who created the world in the beginning is creating once again.

The spiritual light God shines into hearts is “the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Christ.” It’s an illuminating light, a divine light focusing on the incarnate Son of God and showing him as he truly is. 

Jesus is the exact image of God. He shares his nature; he shares all of his perfections. And as he lived his life here on earth, as he died, and as he rose again, he revealed God to us. He displayed the beauty and magnificence—or the glory—of God. 

And as God’s re-creative light beams into our hearts, we begin to understand this. God’s light within us spotlights Jesus, and shows us that all of God’s glorious being shines bright “in the face of Christ.”

I remember the first time I caught a glimpse the glory of God in Christ. I was just a little girl—young enough to still be standing on a pew during a sermon. The sermon I heard was about Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, and I understood enough to know that what he accomplished there was something wonderful. I knew it was exactly what I needed. In my childlike way, I saw the goodness, love, mercy, grace, and wisdom of God on display as Jesus was crucified. This experience made such an impression on me that it is one of my first clear childhood memories. I didn’t know it then, but this was the beginning of new creation in my heart. I saw the glory of Christ and the glory of the cross because “God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in my heart to give me the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” 

Not every believer remembers or knows when they first began to see Christ’s glory. Some have known it as far back as they can remember. For others, the light dawns slowly, and their understanding of who Christ is grows gradually. 

But if you believe, you have seen the glory of Christ. And if you have seen the glory of Christ, it is because God has shined his light in to show him to you. And you have become, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, new creation.

God’s new creation work has begun in every believer, and he will continue this work until we receive our glorified—or new creation—bodies in the new heavens and the new earth. Then we will see him face to face in all his glory. 

And then we will be like him, because we will see him as he is.

I am thankful that God’s incarnate Son revealed his glory, and thankful for God’s spiritual light beaming in to show me his glory in Christ’s face. I am thankful for his new creation power. 

I look forward to the day when I see Christ with my physical eyes, in my resurrection body, face to face, as he really is, in all his glory.