The Shining God
2 Corinthians 4:6

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Light and darkness are naturally direct opposites. Where there is the absolute absence of light, there is absolute darkness. Where light enters, darkness is dispelled according to the brightness of the light. Where there is absolute light, there is absolutely no darkness at all.

Light and darkness represent respectively things that are direct opposites. Paul the apostle declares that there can be no communion between light and darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14), and in the context associates righteousness with light, lawlessness with darkness; Christ with light, Belial (or Satan) with darkness; a believer with light, an unbeliever with darkness; God's temple with light, idols with darkness. Elsewhere light is associated with good and sweet, darkness with evil and bitter (Isaiah 5:20); light with day, darkness with night (1 Thessalonians 5:5); light with wisdom, darkness with folly (Ecclesiastes 2:13); light with knowledge, darkness with ignorance (2 Corinthians 4:3, 6); light with peace, darkness with calamity (Isaiah 45:7); light with salvation (Psalm 27:1), darkness with condemnation (John 3:19); light with life (John 1:4), darkness with death (Luke 1:79).

This contrast between light and darkness is highlighted also in our present text: "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."

The conjunctive "for" at the beginning of this verse connects it to the preceding verse (v.5). But some question the part of that verse to which the conjunctive of this verse refers.

Some connect this verse to the latter part of verse 5, in which Paul identifies gospel preachers as "your servants for Jesus' sake". Accordingly, Paul here in verse 6 cites the reason why he was the servant of others: God had revealed Christ to Paul so that Paul could serve others in preaching Christ to them. This may be cross-referenced to Galatians 1:15f, in which Paul says "God … called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles" (see also Acts 26:12-18).

Others connect this verse to the first part of verse 5, in which Paul declares gospel preachers "do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord." Accordingly, Paul here in verse 6 cites the reason why he preached Christ Jesus the Lord: It is through preaching Him alone and exclusively that men are divinely blessed to see in His face the knowledge of God's glory.

We would embrace both connections, and reject neither: Paul in our present text states both the reason why he preached Christ (as in v.5a) the reason why he did so as the servant of others (as in v.5b).

I. The Shining God Identified

1. The shining God is light itself (1 John 1:5): "God is light." That is, God is light in His very nature and essence. i. God is absolute and perfect light, for "in Him is no darkness at all" (same verse). ii. In God is found all that light represents (as already cited): goodness, not evil; sweetness, not bitterness; wisdom, not folly; knowledge, not ignorance; peace, not calamity; salvation, not condemnation; life, not death.

2. God is the Father of lights" (James 1:17). That is, God is the Creator and Sustainer of all kinds of lights. i. God is the Father of physical light, such as from the sun and moon and stars (Genesis 1:14-18). ii. God is the Father of intellectual light, such as the light of reason (e.g., "wisdom" in James 1:5). iii. God is the Father of spiritual light, that regarding salvation in Jesus Christ, who is Himself "the true Light" (John 1:9; cp. 8:12).

3. God is "dwelling in unapproachable light" (1 Timothy 6:16). God is so gloriously bright that no man with naked eyes can behold Him, and no sinner in and of himself can approach Him (see Exodus 33:20-23; Acts 26:13-14a; 9:3, 8f). And not only does God dwell in light, but "light dwells in Him" (Daniel 2:22). There is absolutely no darkness where God dwells.

4. God is clothed in light – for "[You] cover Yourself with light as with a garment" (Psalm 104:2).

II. The Shining God Distinguished

1. The shining God is distinguished from the Prince of Darkness (as Satan is called; see Colossians 1:13). He in the present context (v.4) is identified as "the god of this age" who has blinded the minds of unbelievers in order to keep them in darkness.

2. The shining God is distinguished from the idols of men. God shines in and upon others, but idols are in darkness unless someone shines a light upon them.

III. The Shining of God in the Original Creation: "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness ..." Reference here is to the creation of the heavens and the earth in Genesis chapter 1.

1. God created the light by fiat (the command to "Let it be done!") - for "God ... commanded light to shine." On the first day of creation "God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Such is the omnipotence and sovereignty of God.

2. God created the light ex nihilo ("out of nothing", as it were) – for "God commanded the light to shine out of darkness." God created the light without the use of preexistent materials.

3. God created the light perfectly – for "God saw the light, that it was good" (Genesis 1:4). God makes no mistake in His works.

4. God created the light alone and unassisted – for God does not need the assistance of any other person or thing in His works.

IV. The shining of God in the Re-Creation: "[He] has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." This re-creation is the work of God in salvation, in making "a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This "new creation" is also "the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 2:24; cp. Colossians 3:10).

1. The place in which God shines: "in our hearts". The "heart" is the whole moral and spiritual being of a person. Satan blinds our minds in order to veil the gospel from us (vv.3f), and to prevent us from understanding the truths of God (1 Corinthians 1:14). But God overthrows Satan's dominion of darkness over our minds by shining in our hearts, thereby unveiling the gospel to us and giving us light with which to understand and believe it.

2. The manner in which God shines: "[He] has shone in our hearts". God does not merely shine His light intoour hearts. Rather, He Himself shines in our hearts. He is not only the believer's illuminating One, but also his luminous One. God is this in the person of the Holy Spirit, who takes residence in the hearts of believers (Galatians 4:6). By this act believers are made to be "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 2:14).

3. The reason why God shines: "to give the light of the knowledge of God". God shines in the hearts of believers so they may know not only the glories of His divine person, but especially the glories of His salvation, including the believer's redemption, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, and glorification.

4. The result of God's shining: the illuminated behold "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". Christ is revealed to believers as not only the glorious God, but also as the only Savior. And whereas God's glory shining in Moses' face caused beholders to tremble and request he veil his face (3:13; Exodus 34:29-35), believers with unveiled faces behold Christ's glory and are being changed into the same image of glory (3:18). And they say of Christ, "In Your light we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

There are also other results! God has kept His promise to Christ that "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house" (Isaiah 42:6f). God has kept His promise to believers that "I will make darkness light before them" (Isaiah 42:16). Fulfilled is the prophecy that "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined" (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16). The illuminated confess that "Through the tender mercy of our God ... the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:79). They obey the exhortation to "proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). They are told that "you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light .... And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ... [God] says: 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light'" (Ephesians 5:8-14).

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