January 6, 2009

• Feast of Epiphany/Bible Reading-II Corinthians: manifesting Christ to the world

  In the liturgical calendar January 6 is the Feast of Epiphany, that time we commemorate when God became flesh and was made manifest to the world through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
  
  

  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

  6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

  10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
  
  14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

  15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

  16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
  

  –John 1:1-18

  EPIPHANY

  "manifestation of a divine or supernatural being"
  epiphany - from the Greek epiphainein, "reveal"
  manifestation - from the Latin manifestare, "make public"

  If you are a Christian, God has chosen to reveal Himself to you. None of us can come to God or know God apart from Him revealing Himself to us through His Son Jesus Christ. By His grace God has shone in your heart to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Before that time you were blinded and in darkness.

  As we are given this light, we are also given a responsibility. We are not given this light so we might keep it hidden–so we might keep Him hidden. God has shone His glorious gospel light in our hearts and has made us partakers of His divine nature so we might manifest Christ to the world as just as the Word became flesh to manifest God to the world. Just as the Father sent the Son into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world.

  You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart...
  
  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.
  

  
  Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 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.
  

  
  

  

    
  

  7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
  

  –II Corinthians 3:2-3, 18; 4:1-12

  Matthew Henry wrote this about II Corinthians 4:

  They made it their business to preach Christ, and not themselves: We preach not ourselves. Self was not the matter nor the end of the apostles' preaching: they did not give their own notions and private opinions, nor their passions and prejudices, for the word and will of God; nor did they seek themselves, to advance their own secular interest or glory. But they preached Christ Jesus the Lord; and thus it did become them and behove them to do, as being Christ's servants. Their business was to make their Master known to the world as the Messiah, or the Christ of God, and as Jesus, the only Saviour of men, and as the rightful Lord, and to advance his honour and glory...[1]

  
  Have you ever really considered what it means that you have the very glory of God, the Spirit of the Son of God, dwelling within your heart?

  What a tremendous and awesome gift!

  Yet what a tremendous privilege and awesome responsibility!

  Do you make it your business to make Christ known to the world–or do you seek to make yourself known?

  Do you make it your business to advance His honor and glory or your own?

  We are light bearers. We are glory bearers.

  What are you doing with that light and glory which dwells in you?

  
  Christ's sufficiency not ours

  When we consider that God has entrusted His light to shine in a dark world through such earthen vessels as us, we can begin to feel unsure, overwhelmed and inadequate. The apostle Paul himself had a similar feeling! Paul reminds us that yes, we are not sufficient for these things, but our sufficiency and our power comes from God.

  And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. II Corinthians 3:4-6.

  Have you thought that God can't use you? If you have figured you are too broken, too shattered, too much a wreck, too inadequate, too much a disaster, consider Paul's words once more:

  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
  

  
  Broken soul, God wants to use you! Believe it! Believe His Word to you! Believe Him! Praise God, if you are Christ's you have this treasure, this gospel light, this glory, the Spirit of God, dwelling in you. When we are weak, He is strong. It is not us, but the power of Christ in us, the life of Christ manifested in our mortal flesh! The immortal, invisible God only wise come to dwell with us and abide with us. Emmanuel, God with us, God in us, is working in and through us! Not of us, but to Him, so that the glory goes to Him alone. In His mysterious and wondrous ways, God places His light within our earthen vessels to shine out His life and love to the world.

  So no matter how broken your vessel, God wants to use you and God can use you. In fact, many of you know that suffering is often God's preparation for you for Him to use you for a greater work for Him. Are you willing to let Him use even those most broken parts of you to shine out His light to the world?

  There are times I've told God I've been broken enough, and He reminds me that His breaking is only for my good and for His glory and part of that is so His light might shine more brightly in and through my brokenness. I have to trust Him in this at the times when the tears are streaming down my face and I am sobbing for relief. I've been there once more over the past few days...but so has He. "Trust Me. I want to use this brokenness..."

  Or perhaps rather than feeling unqualified and inadequate, there are times when we can get on a roll and begin to become puffed up and think we are sufficient for these things. When we have that attitude, that is a sign we have lost an appreciation of the glory of God that dwells in us. It's at those times we need to go back and sit at His feet, no, prostrate ourselves at His feet, at His wounded feet and behold His glory once again and ask Him to show us that He alone is holy, holy, holy. So we might remember: Apart from Him we have no message. Apart from Him we have no light. Apart from Him we have no power. Apart from Him, we have no life and no ability to impart His life to others.

  And if we don't go back before Him voluntarily, if we've become so full of ourselves, in His loving discipline for us, for our profit, He'll humble us and get us on flat on our faces before Him one way or another, so we might be emptied of all that is of us.

  
  Has your light gotten dim?

  Has your light become dim? Are you really reflecting God's glory? What kind of epistle are you? Has your light become dim because you've not been making time to abide with Him and let Him abide in you?  Have you been taking the time you should to sit with Him and behold His glory?

  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.

  There is no transformation without beholding, without abiding. Yes, Christ is our sanctifier, but we must avail ourselves of His means of grace: prayer, Bible study, memorization, worship and so forth...

  Have you forgotten Jesus' words?

  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5.

  Are you abiding as you ought? What in your schedule may you need to scrap in order to make time with Him a priority? What good things might you need to put aside to do so?

  
  What are you doing with the light God has given you?

  What have you been doing with the light God has given you? Have you been hiding the gospel light under a bushel?

  You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16.

  A light is to shine.

  Are you letting your light shine before others? When we hide the light, we are really hiding Christ in us! And when we hide the light we bring no glory to God. Look at Matthew 5:16: "let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light so we might walk in the good works He has ordained for us all so He might receive glory. Certainly if God were to ask us in an audible voice, "Do you want to give Me glory?" most of us would respond yes. But have you considered that whenever we as His light bearers choose to hide our light, we are saying no to an opportunity to glorify God? Whenever we choose to hide our light, we are actually stealing glory from God.

  Since we are in essence light, Martyn Lloyd-Jones challenges us with these words:

  We are to be like "a city that is set on a hill", and "a city that is set on an hill cannot be hid". In other words, if we are truly Christian we cannot be hid. Put in a different way, the contrast between us and others is something which is to be quite self-evident and perfectly obvious. But our Lord does not leave it at that; He presses it still further. He asks us, in effect, to imagine a man lighting a light and then putting it under a bushel instead of putting it on a candlestick. Now, in the past, commentators have spent a good deal of their time in defining what is mean by a "bushel", sometimes with amusing results. to me the important thing is that it covers the light, and it does not matter very much what it is as long as it does that. What our Lord is saying is that it is a ridiculous and contradictory procedure. The whole purpose of lighting a light is that it may give light. And for a foolish man to cover it with something which prevents that quality from manifesting itself, is, we are all agreed, utterly ridiculous. Yes; but remember that our Lord is speaking about us. There is obviously a danger, or at least a temptation, that the Christian may behave in this completely ridiculous and futile manner, and that is why He emphasizes the matter this way. He seems to be saying. "I have made you something that is meant to be like a light, like a city set upon a hill which cannot be hid. Are you deliberately concealing it? Well, if you are, apart from anything else, it is something which is completely ridiculous and foolish."[2]

  What are you doing with the opportunities God has given you? Have been you been deliberately concealing the light of the glory of the Gospel? What is keeping you from letting your light shine? What hinders you from manifesting the life of Christ to the world?

  Where is God sending you to manifest His Son? What souls do you know who are mired in darkness and need to see Jesus shining in you today?

  How might God be wanting use your brokenness and weakness and frailty to shine the treasure of His gospel light, to manifest His Son, in a dark world?

  

  Prayer:

  Holy and most High God, You are light and You have sent the true light to the world. Thank You for shining in our darkened and depraved hearts to give the light of Your glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Thank You that though You have created all things, though as King of kings and You rule over all, You choose, sanctify and ordain ordinary broken earthen vessels like us to shine forth Your glorious gospel light to a dark world. Almighty God, thank You that, although You have all power and might, although You are King of kings and Lord of lords, in Your inscrutable ways You choose to manifest Christ to the world through weak and frail creatures like us. Help us to never forget Your sufficiency for us as You send us to shine as lights in this dark world for the things that are impossible with us are possible with You.

  We have Your gospel light dwelling in us, we have Christ in us, the Light of the world in us. Yet we must confess we are often ridiculous and foolish and we hide the light You have placed in us. Forgive us for Christ's sake. Help us to shine as we ought. Help Your Church to shine brightly like a city on a hill which cannot be hidden. Open our mouths so we might not remain silent but preach Christ our Lord. Guard our mouths so we might not preach ourselves but preach Jesus Christ our Lord. Help us to make it our business to make known Your Son to the world. May our lives shine forth Your only begotten Son through Your power, which is exceedingly above all we can ask or imagine, and all to Your praise, honor and glory.

  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

  14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

  –Philippians 2:12-16

  
  EPIPHANY

  "manifestation of a divine or supernatural being"
  epiphany - from the Greek epiphainein, "reveal"
  manifestation - from the Latin manifestare, "make public"

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  • So this is Christmas: He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found
  • Mary's Emotions, part 2: What Does the Church Do with Marys in Our Midst?
  • Turn off your lights?

  You may be interesting in listening to Watermark's "Light of the World."

  Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Note: my NKJV has a different translation for II Corinthians 3:3 than a couple other NKJVs which I checked; I'm using mine here.)

  Dictionary information on "epiphany" and "manifestation" from my Oxford American Dictionaries widget.

  [1] Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible, Complete Commentary on II Corinthians.

  [2] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount - Second edition (in two volumes)" (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 149-150.

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