Light

December 30, 2023

1 John 3 tells us that when [Christ] is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Furthermore, He was manifested (the same word as “revealed” above) to take away our sins, and that the Son of God was manifested (again, the same word as “revealed”) that He might destroy the works of the devil.“ —I John 3:2, 5, 8 

The root of the word “reveal” or “manifest” means “to shine,” which makes me wonder what was on John’s mind when he wrote these words. Perhaps when he wrote “When he is revealed (read “shine”), we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is,” he was thinking of Moses, whose face shone when he had been in the presence of the Lord (Exodus 34:29-30). It is by the shining light of Christ himself that we see, that our sins are taken away and the devil’s work destroyed. We know that light has cleansing properties, as 1:7 says, “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

We know that the devil works in darkness, that he depends on it to hide his true nature and that of his goals. It’s the light of Christ that exposes and destroys his work. When Jesus is revealed to us, ie, when he shines in our hearts, like Moses, we can reflect his glory, experience the delight of having our sins forgiven, and the freedom that comes from having the devil’s work in us destroyed. It’s all a matter of the Light, shining in the darkness.