A shining Light

DEVOTION

PROPHESIES AND FULFILLMENTS CONCERNING CHRIST

A SHINING LIGHT

Isa 42:6-7

6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

NIV

Isa 49:6

"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

NIV

There is no question Jesus is the covenant for the people and a light for us gentiles. Jesus has brought salvation to the ends of the earth. We know this, even without the scriptures that show us this that was spoken by God through Isaiah is fulfilled. All throughout the scripture we know Israel is his chosen people, but that he has shown his light to all mankind, those who are considered gentiles because we were not born into one of the tribes of Israel. Yet because of God has said, we have been grafted in, or adopted, or are in fact the true Israel because of the circumcision of our heart. But we get ahead of our self, we need the fulfillment scripture.

Luke 2:25-32

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

NIV

Acts 26:23

23 that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."

NIV

God has had many covenants with the children of Israel throughout the Old Testament, even before they were Israel God established covenants with his people. Starting with Adam, but now this is the final and everlasting covenant not just for the children of Israel but for the gentiles as well. God is the sovereign covenant maker. This covenant is an act of God. He freely establishes a mutually binding relationship with humankind. He bestows blessings on people conditionally and unconditionally. Conditionally as they obey the terms of his covenant, unconditionally God bestows blessings on his people regardless of their obedience or disobedience to the terms of the covenant. This is shown to us in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a covenant God make with all humankind. He made it no matter if we agree or disagree. The fact is Jesus died on the cross whether someone believes or accepts that fact. The covenant is there for the taking, for all who believe. A person or people cannot break this covenant even by disobedience or disbelief. It has been established by God. Those conditional covenants include words like, “if my people, then I will” or something to that effect, in so many words. But Jesus is the unconditional everlasting covenant to the children of Israel and to the whole world. He has been the light that shown in the darkness of our hearts and revealed to us the truth. He is the light of men. We stumbled through the darkness of life before we saw his light. We know what darkness is, the absence of light. We have built darkrooms and stood in them, seeing nothing at all. Darkrooms for the use film photography, but more importantly, darkrooms in our heart. But the light will always penetrate the dark. His light did so in our life. We can never return into the darkness again for it does not understand the light, and having this light within us, the darkness cannot come back, it cannot remove the light. The only way would be for the light to leave, and he has promised us, made this covenant with us, that he would never leave us nor forsake us. There were covenants of works in the past, but we exist within this new covenant of grace. Jesus is the grace of God in the sense of a free gift, unmerited favor. Being the light he is the grace of God in the sense of being a divine influence upon our heart and how that is reflected in our lives. He has told us we are the light of the world. We reflect his light, we are a reflection of his light within us. Just as Moses face shown because of being face to face with God, reflecting the glory of the Lord, we should be shining that brightly, because we are not just face to face with God, we have him dwelling within us. Let us simply allow his light to shine through us.