The Light of the World

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge (Psalm 19:1-2).

Light was the first of God’s creation as He spoke into the darkness of nothingness. Ever since, in ways we won’t understand this side of eternity, outer space and the sky declare the Lord’s glory. The countless stars in a myriad of galaxies spinning around the universe reflect the glorious presence of the Creator. Day and night those heavenly bodies speak of unseen things above … if we listen to their voice.

As a boy, one of my favorite past times was looking into the night sky. I didn’t grow up in a home with money, but somehow my mother scraped together enough to buy me a telescope so I could gaze at the heavens and dream of the wonders unimagined. Though my eyes are now dimmed, I keep staring into the night sky with anticipation.

In the days of Israel’s wilderness wandering, God instructed Moses to build a tent where He would meet with His people wherever He led them. This tabernacle of His presence sat at the center of the camp, reminding Abraham’s descendants that God was ever-present among them.

Inside the tabernacle was total darkness but for a golden lampstand with 7 individual lamps. This alone lit the Holy Place with it’s table of daily bread and simmering altar of incense. The lampstand was to burn continually and only Israel’s High Priest was permitted to attend to it (Leviticus 24:2-3).

But before “In the beginning” of Genesis and the candlestick in the tabernacle, the Gospel of John reveals In the beginning was the Word … in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1, 4). Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star and Sun of Righteousness who reveals the Father in Heaven and sheds spiritual light upon us that we may see and follow Him (Revelation 22:16; Malachi 4:2).

The light of creation’s first day and the golden lampstand in the tabernacle of God’s presence among His people point to Jesus, the light of the world (John 8:12). Do you see Him and His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14), or are you in the dark?

Lifting the Veil on Sanctification

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Exodus 32-34 details Moses’ response to Israel’s worship of the golden calf. In their false worship, Israel broke the Ten Commandments they’d twice previously agreed to obey. In his anger at their sin, Moses slammed the two tablets of stone to the ground, illustrating Israel’s disobedience.

One result of Israel’s sin was God’s refusal to dwell in the midst of His people. Instead He’d remain far off (Exodus 33:7). Sin separated God and man.

From outside the camp, Moses would enter the tabernacle of meeting to hear from God and then bring God’s message to the people. Moses became the mediator between God and man.

Whenever Moses met with God, his face shone like a lamp, reflecting the majesty and glory of God. The glow terrified the people because it revealed God’s perfect holiness and the darkness of their sin-corrupted hearts. After delivering God’s word, Moses would veil his face – not to hide the glory of God – but to hide the fact that the glory quickly faded from his own face (Exodus 34:30; 2 Corinthians 3:13). Moses’ veil protected the people from God’s judgment but also kept them from being transformed by God’s glory.

In Second Corinthians 3, Paul uses the shining face of Moses as an illustration. Many people only see the Bible as a series of stories, God’s wrath, commandments impossible to comprehend or comply with, and difficult sayings. Sin veils the heart from seeing Jesus in Scripture, the primary reason Scripture exists!

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16). When we follow where the Scripture leads – which is always to Jesus – we see Him in all His glory and can’t but help to love, adore, obey, and worship Him alone.

Now we all, we who trust in Jesus by faith, have the veil of separation removed and we find ourselves looking in a mirror. The shadows are replaced by a crystal clear revelation of Jesus. As we lovingly gaze at His image revealed in Scripture, something remarkable happens to us: the Bible becomes ever clearer and we find our own image being transformed bit by bit, from glory to glory, into Christ’s moral likeness and character. This is sanctification!