NIV 365-Day Devotional Plan (2017)Sample

THE FACE OF CHRIST

Why does God look the other way? The psalmist asked this, thinking God had forgotten the people of Israel in their misery and oppression. The Israelites were conquered by their enemies, scattered and dishonored, yet they had not fallen away from God. They had remained faithful and obedient to his covenant (Ps 44:17). Yet, God chose to allow afflictions on his people, as if he were hiding his face from them (v. 24). They sought God in their darkness, asking him to reveal himself and his glory.

The New Testament affirms that Jesus came to reveal God to all people, displaying the glory of God in the face of Jesus. “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 God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2Co 4:6). No one has seen the Father (Ex 33:20; Jn 6:46), yet through the face of Christ, God’s people see his glory revealed. And keeping hearts focused on eternity, Jesus’ followers long for Christ’s return — when “they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads . . . They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light” (Rev 22:4 – 5).

Jesus, I cannot wait to see your face. Until then, please let your light shine through me in such a way that others want to know you and know God the Father. Amen.

 

Taken fromNIV The Jesus Bible