O God, by your power may we, with all the saints, comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with your fullness. Amen.[1]

The light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ

Psalm 119:105-112 NRSV
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your ordinances. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

This is a dark world, and the only dependable light is the Word of God. It leads us a step at a time, as we walk in obedience. We walk in the light as we obey His Word.[2]

[The Word of God] must be not only a light to our eyes, to gratify them, and fill our heads with speculations, but a light to our feet and to our path, to direct us in the right ordering of our conversation, both in the choice of our way in general and in the particular steps we take in that way, that we may not take a false way nor a false step in the right way. We are then truly sensible of God’s goodness to us in giving us such a lamp and light when we make it a guide to our feet, our path.[3]

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 NRSV
Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth, we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light 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 gospel was rejected by people who were unable and unwilling to accept it. They disbelieved and were abetted in their unbelief by Satan, the god of this Age who, though defeated by Christ, continues his hold over the present world. His blinding of peoples’ minds makes it impossible for them to see the light of the gospel. The gospel, then, is not obscure. In fact, it points to Christ who, as the image of God, revealed God the Father by His words and actions.[4]

The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Maker of Heaven and Earth,
Make the startling claims of our faith come alive to us. Let us not divorce theological truth from the history of your salvation, which occurred in time and space. Let us not waiver in unbelief but rest our lives upon the truth that you raise the dead. Amen.[5]

And Can It Be?


[1] The Worship Sourcebook, CRC Publications, p. 46.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Ps 119.
[3] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 923.
[4] David K. Lowery, “2 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 563.
[5] The New City Catechism Devotional, 2017, p. 139.

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