Light in Cardboard Boxes

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6

I am now officially calling this my "wow verse". It is one of those Scriptures that I have probably read before, but it suddenly meant something vastly more amazing when I read it again this week. I think I may have actually "wowed" aloud when I came across it.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness...'"

In the beginning, when the world was still formless and empty, God spoke light into existence. But even before He spoke it, even before He created it, He was Light. In the beginning was the Light, the Word of God, Jesus - who was with God and who was God.

"...made His light to shine in our hearts..."

This light-speaking God is still creating light in dark places. This time, instead of filling the emptiness of the universe with light, He fills the void of our desperate hearts with Light - the light of Himself.

"...to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God..."

God's glory - His majesty, greatness, brilliance, beauty, uniqueness - is awe inspiring enough in and of itself, but it takes my breath away that this glory can be known by us. God, in His indescrible glory, can be known by us. And what words can we use to describe what it is like to know God? I love how Paul uses the word light. Knowing God is like light - radiant, enveloping, piercing, flooding light. But that's not all. The best part is the very last part of the verse:

"...in the face of Christ."

Tho only way we can know God in His glory is by gazing upon the face of Christ. Jesus, our Savior who took upon Himself the punishment of our sins, has made a way for us to come into the presence of a holy God. We can look in His face, let our eyes fall into His, and know the great love of God.

I think I could read this verse every day of my life and love it more and more each morning.

Yet don't forget to keep reading because the next verse is another one of my favorites:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (v. 7).

What a treasure - the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And we hold this treasure in jars of clay, or as a friend of mine would say, cardboard boxes. We, the vessels, are simple, disposable, and valueless, except the fact that we carry within us the greatest treasure ever. This is so that the treasure gets the attention, not the carrier.

This Christmas, I keep thinking about light. I keep thinking bout how God is light, how He created light and fills our hearts with it, and how we have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This light, in my little cardboard box, is the gift I keep coming back to, and it is the gift that I want to share with everyone I meet.