Arise, Shine and Be Radiant

Arise, Shine and Be Radiant

 Read:  Isaiah 60

Have you ever considered what God’s glory really is?  God’s glory is one of those concepts that is intangible and difficult to explain.  

John Piper says: “The glory of God is the manifest beauty of His holiness. It is the going-public of His holiness. It is the way He puts His holiness on display for people to apprehend. So, the glory of God is the holiness of God made manifest.” 

Can you imagine the beauty of God’s holiness?  We get glimpses of it, in things like the captivating beauty of the Grand Canyon, or the sunset over the ocean.  Moses longed to see God’s glory.  He wanted to see and intimately know the essence of His character, His divine presence, all that makes Him who He is!! Yet, God said that no one could see His glory and live. 

Colossians 1 says “The Son is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn over all creation. . . For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him.”  This was God’s plan for putting His glory on display.  He brought His glory to us in His Son, Jesus Christ, to live among us, so we could know Him intimately. 

In Isaiah 60 we get a glimpse of God’s further plan for “manifesting” or putting His overwhelmingly beautiful holiness on display.  Just like Moses, who after being in God’s presence was radiant, His divine purpose for us is to ARISE, SHINE and RADIANTLY reflect HIS GLORY! 

John Piper concludes by saying:  “So I ask, ‘Do you see it? Do you love it?' You were made for this, deep down in your heart. There will come a day (and I hope it’s tonight) when enough of the crust is scraped off that you will say, 'I am made for this. This is why I exist: to see that. Everything is pointing to that. All the glory that I thought was so attractive is going there. This is all husks and ashes. He was right. The Bible was right. Jesus was right.' ”