DRAWING NEAR
December 8
Christ's Radiance and Representation
"He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of
His nature" (Heb. 1:3).
Jesus is both God manifest and God in substance.
Just as the rays of the sun give light, warmth, life, and growth to
the earth, so Jesus Christ is the glorious light of God shining into
the hearts of men and women. As "the radiance of God's glory," Jesus
expresses God to us. No one can see God in His full glory; no one
ever will. The radiance of that glory that reaches us from God
appears in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Just as the sun was never without and can never be separated from its
brightness, so God was never without and cannot be separated from the
glory of Christ. Never was God without Him or He without God, and
never in any way can He be separated from God. Yet the brightness of
the sun is not the sun, and neither is Jesus exactly the same as God
in that sense. He is fully and absolutely God, yet as a distinct
Person within the triune Godhead.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not
walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).
As the radiance of God's glory, Christ can transmit that light into
your life and mine so that we can radiate the glory of God to a dark
world.
In using the term "exact representation" to describe Christ's
relationship to God's nature, the writer employs terminology usually
associated with an impression reproduced on a seal by a die or stamp.
Jesus Christ is the reproduction of God--the perfect, personal
imprint of God in time and space.
How wonderful to realize that Jesus Christ, who is both the full
expression of God and exact reproduction of God's nature in human
history, can come into our lives and give us light to see and to know
God! His light is the source of our spiritual life. And His light
gives us purpose, meaning, happiness, peace, joy, fellowship,
everything--for all eternity.
Suggestion for Prayer:
Thank God that He determined to become a man so we could know what He
is like.
For Further Study:
Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 and note who allows people to see or not see
spiritually.
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing,
4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe,
lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image
of God, should shine on them.
5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and
ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake.
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness,
who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
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In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
STOP! Who do you think Jesus is?
http://www.gty.org/Gospel
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To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
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