May 8, 2021 -- Hebrews 1:3 -- Jesus Radiance Divine!
/He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God…
Hebrews 1:3 English Standard Version
My soul soars and blesses God the Father that He has given us the radiancy of Jesus Christ. Radiance is defined in these ways: brightness and heat. Radiance is also a description of great happiness. Radiance is also applied in the English language to the glow and health of youth. What an apt description of Jesus Christ—He is the radiancy of the glory of God. The brilliance of our Father in heaven shines through Jesus. What we know of the warmth our Father’s love is most perfectly and definitively displayed in Jesus Christ. We need no other prophet. In Jesus Christ our sure hope and great confidence in God is the source of happiness that no circumstance can ever rip from our hearts.
You might, somewhat sarcastically, think well, of course Richard speaks of Jesus as radiancy, hope and blessedness that never ends. Look at how easy Richard’s life is. No one knows the burdens each of us privately bears. Depletion from fighting depression wears me out. This dark cloud has been threatening to overwhelm me with floods of rain so that I would be drowned. Been going on these last four weeks or so. What keeps me going?
It is the radiancy of Jesus. When the day begins with worship of Him Who is the radiancy of the Father’s glory—light and happiness and a glow as if captured and brought back in time from the heavenly fountains of eternity wherein which I’ll be in the presence of the Father—dispel the darkness. I don’t rise up and feel like doing this. I don’t spring out of bed, motivated to worship. In obedience I begin to worship, and in ever greater measures the Spirit captures me as the devotion begins and He revives me. Sometimes this glimpse of Jesus’ radiancy lasts for hours and fills the day with hope. Other times it is just a brief time where the radiancy of Christ dispels the darkness of sin and gloom—but it is enough. More than enough to light the day with wonder and hope.
Tomorrow is Sunday. Get to church. Find a Bible-preaching, Jesus come in the flesh. true God, true Man believing church. If you are able to attend, blessed be the God of our Salvation. If not, get dressed up for worship and watch a livestream service. Pray to the Spirit, asking that the radiancy of Christ will fill you and you by faith will glimpse the glory of God.
O Divine Redeemer,
Great was thy goodness
in undertaking my redemption,
in consenting to be made sin for me,
in conquering all my foes;
Great was they strength
in enduring the extremities of divine wrath,
in taking away the load of my iniquities;
Great was thy love
in manifesting thyself alive,
in showing thy sacred wounds,
that every fear might vanish,
and every doubt be removed.
When thou art absent all sorrows are here,
When thou are present all blessings are mine.
Victory. Excerpts of. The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust. page 98
https://youtu.be/chnlE-CnZYU
