My Walk With Him: 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.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

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.

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

This morning, I continued with John Piper's Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture, covering chapter four - Reading to See Supreme Worth and Beauty, Part 2. Here, Piper continues with the third of six implications that flow from the ultimate goal of reading the Bible (as listed here); the third of the six implications is "that we should always read his word in order to see this supreme worth and beauty[.]" In this chapter, which is the second of three to explore this specific implication, Piper seeks to demonstrate that through the Bible as a whole - both Old Testament and New Testament - God reveals his glory.

As his key scriptural evidence for such a claim, Piper uses 2 Corinthians 3:6-4:7. Here Paul writes that the glory of God existed in the books of Moses just as they do today in the entirety of the New Testament, not just in the Gospel books. Within this text, Piper shows how the glory of God is revealed in the Old Testament but it is temporary surpassed by the greater glory of Jesus Christ. Piper also points to how "Jewish readers in Paul's day were...spiritually blind...[and] Paul compares the Jewish readers of his day to the generation at Mount Sinai," quoting Exodus 34:34-35. Piper continues: "Moses...lifted the veil when he turned to the Lord in the tent of meeting...[and] the point I want to stress is that the occasion for seeing the glory of God-or not seeing it-is the act of reading the Scriptures....[t]he veil, the hardening, kept out the peculiar glory of God." Piper emphasizes that "not everyone sees the glory of the Lord in the gospel" and he specifically uses 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, pointing out that "the same blindness that kept Israel from the seeing of the peculiar glory of God in the Mosaic covenant is still at work blinding people to the glory of Christ in the gospel." But just as God hardens hearts, He softens them and reveals his glory as Piper points to 2 Corinthians 4:6 to show God's role in lifting the veil.

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My Prayer: Heavenly Father, Jesus, You are an awesome God and I see Your glory every day, in scriptures, in creation, and elsewhere in my life and in the lives of others. How magnificent You are! You bless me immeasurably - thank You Jesus! Yet I am not deserving for how You bless me. I worry....Please forgive me Jesus! Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.