To See Jesus is to See God

Amen. Amen. Y'all can go ahead and be seated. This time we'll go ahead and dismiss our kids to Little District. And so as they head out, for the rest of us, go ahead and grab your Bibles. We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 1.

We're still in the middle of our first three verses of Hebrews. And just so you know, go ahead and give you a little bit of a warning. We're going to be in these three verses for quite some time. All right? And uh because again it's uh to miss these three verses, you'll miss the entire point of the entire book. And so uh we've titled this sermon series Jesus is better.

And that's exactly what we're going to be just showing and proving over and over and over as we walk through this is that regardless of whatever it is that you're trusting in or that you're putting your hope in or that you're hoping will provide you some sort of satisfaction in your life, Jesus is going to be better than whatever that thing is. And that's what the author is really trying to explain to these people, these Jewish Christians or also Jews who have heard of Christianity. He's letting them know before you run back to something else, before you put your trust in something else, I want you to see ultimately that Jesus is better. And so last week, which was our second sermon in this new series, last week was an awesome sermon. Not just because I preached it, but it was an awesome sermon in what we were looking at in the text. We got the opportunity to look at the purpose of life and the origin of life.

The purpose of life and the origin of life. And it was no small feat to answer that in literally just an hour. But we did it. And the big idea was that everything everything is for Jesus and everything is from Jesus. Everything is for Jesus and everything is from Jesus. So he literally bookends everything.

And so we started off when you look at these verses, we started off looking at the fact that he's the heir of all things, which means that at one side of history, everything is moving towards Jesus. He's going to receive everything. It's all his. And the reason why everything is moving towards him and that everything is his is because everything came from him. As it says that through him all things were created. He's the creator of the world.

He's the creator of the ages. And so everything is for Jesus and everything is from Jesus. And so that's what we looked at last week. And that's why the author says Jesus is the heir of all things because it ultimately begins with him. And what the author is going to do today is he's going to take it a step further for us. He's going to take it a step further for us.

And actually what we were going to do is we were going to look at the next two declarations. But in all honesty, we're only going to cover one of them today just because as I was putting it together uh as we look at the radiance of his glory and the fact that he's the exact imprint of God's nature, um there was so much to cover in him being just the radiance of God's glory that I didn't want to at the end of it just kind of throw in the fact that he's the imprint of his nature. Um as sort of like a final point. We're going to cover the majority of that next week. Uh, but we might touch on it a little bit today. But the reason why I bring that up is because I just want to make sure that we love God's word so much that we have no reason to speed through anything.

We have no reason to speed through it. We love it so much that we want to take time to sip and savor. We want to take time to really see and glean from the passage what it is that God wants us to know about himself. And so we take our time through books of the Bible. As I say, we preach through books of the Bible. We go verse by verse.

Um we've preached through the book of Acts and that took us two years. We've preached through the book of Luke and that took us two and a half years. So five years of our 10 years as a church has been whatever Luke says, you know, and so um which is good. It's good for us to take our time through books of the Bible. And so Hebrews 13 chapters might take us a year or two. And that's totally fine.

We're okay with that. These three verses might take us three months. We'll see what happens as we continue working through it. But I do want to read it all in the context for you here. Keep it all together, these three verses. Um, and then just unpack one thing from these verses.

And so, starting in verse one, here's what the author says to us. long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Let's pray for this one more time as we unpack it. Father, I pray this morning knowing that it pleases you to reveal your son to us. That you would do that. That you would be pleased in your son being made known to us as we open your word. As we read these scriptures that are inspired by you, I pray that we see Jesus clearly for who he is. Not what culture says, not what society says, not what trends and fads have said, but what your word says.

And that when we see Jesus, it demands a response from us. We either receive him for who he is or we reject him for who he is. And I pray this morning that we receive him for who he is. the radiance of the glory of God. Father, help us to see that truth this truth this morning. And may it produce in us a doxology.

May it produce in us an awe and a reverence where we fall down at your feet and we worship you. We worship you. We ask all these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So, here's the big idea that I want you to see today.

I want you to see and and it'll also be the same big idea for next week as well. But the big idea is to see Jesus is to see God. To see Jesus is to see God. Again, last week told us that Jesus stands at both ends of everything. Everything will ultimately be received by Jesus because in the beginning, everything was created from Jesus and for Jesus. So, that's what we saw there.

But here the author is taking it a step further and he's not just saying what Jesus owns and what Jesus made, but he's letting us know what Jesus is. What Jesus is. He is the radiance of the glory of God. The radiance of the glory of God. And before we unpack that a little bit more, I want you to see another passage in scripture. A big chunk of passage.

So, I'm going to read quite a bit here, but I want you to see it because it is communicating the exact same thing. And so, in other words, what I want you to really see here is instead of taking my word for it, I want you to take God's word for it and let scripture interpret scripture. And so, I want you to turn over with me to John chapter 1. And I'm going to read the first 18 verses of John 1 because it is communicating really the snapshot of what the author here is getting the point across. And so in John 1, this p again this passage just beautifully capture. It frames up for us what the author of Hebrews is considering in these phrases, the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

And so starting in verse one, here's what the Apostle John has to say. And again, mind you, this is the Apostle John who spent three years with Jesus. Okay? Also, the Apostle John who became one of the the main leaders and elders of the church in Ephesus, one of the greatest churches in the New Testament. Also, the Apostle John who later so loves Jesus that he's willing to be boiled alive for Christ. I mean, so this is a guy who staked a lot of his life on who and what Jesus is.

All right? Because I'm going to be honest with you. If you just think Jesus was a good man who lived 2,000 years ago, you're not going to be willing to be boiled alive for him. If you just think he was just a good teacher and it gave good principles like Plato and Aristotle did, you're not going to be willing to go through and endure what a man like this went through and endured, to spend a whole life serving him. And so, here's what he says in regards to who Jesus is. Starting in verse one, he says, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God."

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. We covered that last week. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John then takes a little moment here to insert kind of another little interesting section where he pulls on who John the Baptist is.

And he says, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him." Summing up for you, what we're doing here today is that very thing. We're bearing witness about who Jesus is. So that all might believe in him. That's what we want.

That's the goal. That's why we prep sermons. That's why we sing songs. That's why we pray is so that all might believe in him. He was not the light. John the Baptist.

But he came to bear witness about the light. And then John now pulls it back in. The apostle John verse 9. The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, and if you believe in Jesus, this is talking about you today. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Who were born, this is so important, who were born. So if you ever come to Jesus and you pat yourself on the back that I found Christ, this is going to humble you a little bit and say, "No, no, no. It was the other way around.

You didn't go searching for him. He came to you who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So if you're in this room because you believe in Jesus, praise God. Don't praise yourself. Praise God that he came to you and reconciled and redeemed you who was lost. And the word, here's verse 14 that's so important here.

And the word again, that same word when you go back to verses 1-3 that was in the beginning, that was with God, that is God, that word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is where you have to start shifting your mindset that Jesus was not just some earthly good man and good teacher and good rabbi back in the day but this is the incarnate God. This is the second person of the trinity who has existed for eternal uh for all eternal eternality and is now stepping into our humanity and is continuing And we have seen his glory. Glory as of the only son from the father that is full of grace and truth. That's one that you need to underline in regards to what we're going to be talking about today with the radiance of the glory of God. John again the apostle or the uh John the Baptist bore witness about him and cried out this was he of whom I said he who comes after me because Jesus was born after John the Baptist ranks before me because he was before me for from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace for the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one, and this is so important right here, no one has ever seen God. God, the only son who is at the father's side, he has made him known. So, no one has ever seen God. But when Jesus who is at the right hand of the father comes into our world and dwells among us, he is now making known to us who God is. Who God is. And that's what we're going to be talking about today.

So the two things I pray for you to see today and next week is that Jesus shines the glory of God and Jesus shares the nature of God. And so today we'll look at Jesus shines the glory of God. Next week we'll look at Jesus shares the nature of God. And the reason why this is so important is because the Jewish audience that is receiving this book essentially this letter which really reads more like a sermon that's being preached to them. But this Jewish audience they believe in a monotheistic God. They believe in a monotheistic God.

So they would have a hard time accepting the fact that the monotheistic God exists in three distinct persons. So when they hear their knee-jerk reaction would be to think that Christianity in some way or another is polytheistic. That would be their knee-jerk reaction. That it's a religion of many gods. That you're saying there's a father that's a god and now you're saying there's a son that's a god. That sounds like multiple gods.

But the author of Hebrews, what he's doing for them here is he's actually pulling them in to say, "No, no, no. We're still monotheistic. We only believe that the one true and living God happens to exist as three within one." Three within one. So, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit exist distinctly, but they exist as God. And that's what he's starting to help these Jewish Christians or these Jews who have heard of Christianity.

He's helping them start to understand that there's more to it than what they've heard and what they've learned throughout their day and age, throughout the traditions that have been passed down to them. So this would be something that these Jewish hearers have to begin wrestling with. We are good with the father being God. But now if you're referring to the son being God, that's something that we have to wrestle with a bit. That's something that we have to look at because to this point, many of the Jews, as John 1 says, he came to his own and they did not receive him. They did not receive him as God.

That would be blasphemy to not receive him as God. That would be sin to not receive him as God. And that's exactly what it was. They were sinning and not receiving him as God. And so the author here is saying, "You've already missed him. I'm going to continue driving the point home so that you know and don't miss him, but have an opportunity to come to him so that you may know."

Again, Jesus is not just another messenger or just a good teacher or just a religious entrepreneur who created a startup religion 2,000 years ago. That's not what he did. And so, let me provide a bit of structure for you in what God is and what God is not in relation to what we refer to as the Trinity. The Trinity. Because that's really what he's talking about here. The father is not the son.

And that's important when we talk about the radiance of his glory. The father is not the son. The son is not the holy spirit. And the holy spirit is not the father. They are distinct. However, the father is god.

The son is god. and the Holy Spirit is God. So they exist as three in one. And what they are is what we believe is God is God. And so I want to help you a little bit here because when we start looking at this radiance, we're going to be talking about language that's like the essence or the spirit or the substance, the thing that makes up God. I think the best terminology for it is just the nature.

the nature of what God is. And so when we look at the father, it is so easy for everybody both Jews and Christians to look at the father and say he is the nature of God. He is God. But when we start looking at the son, when we start looking at Jesus Christ, that man who lived 2,000 years ago, the man who let little children come and sit on his lap, the man who who touched lepers, is not just a a new idea that entered into the world, but is the nature of God, just as the father is the nature of God. That's what we're talking about today. And so to reject him is to reject God ultimately.

But to receive him is to receive God and get to enjoy him forever. And so the first point and the only point for today is that Jesus shines the glory of God. He's the radiance of the glory of God. In other words, God's glory is perfectly revealed in the sun. It's perfectly revealed in the sun. The Greek word for radiance, I want you to see this is apalisma.

Apisma. And it means brightness shining from a source. Brightness shining forth from a source. In human terms or some created examples, if you will, this would be like the sun and sunlight. Sunlight is shining forth from the sun. Or take a fire around a bonfire, you feel the heat.

The heat is radiating from the fire. When we have Jesus, you have the glory of God that is radiating that is shining forth from the source which is Jesus. But there is a distinction between those examples because sunlight is not the sun. Heat is not the fire. But when it comes to Jesus radiating the glory of God, the radiation that comes from him and the radiance are the same thing. So when we say that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, he is both the light that is being cast and also the source that is creating it.

He is both. And that's why I believe the author uses the word radiance and not just radiate because radiance is also a noun and the verb would be to radiate. So Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and therefore Jesus radiates the glory of God. He's both the source and what comes from the source. He is both cause and effect if you will. Radiance and radiator both distinctly different from reflecting glory.

So there will be some religions, some people who would say, well Jesus just reflects who God is. He reflects what God is like. And that's not what we're actually saying. We're not saying Jesus reflects the glory of God. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. He's the source of it and also is what radiates the glory of God.

So he is displaying it as well as it goes out from himself from his nature. In other words, it would be incomplete to simply say that Jesus reflects the glory of God. It falls short to say Jesus was like God in that he reflects what God's nature is like. No, no, no. Jesus is God and therefore Jesus radiates what God is because Jesus is the radiance of God's glory. And I want to show you an example in scripture so that we make sure we know the difference between reflection and radiance.

Reflection and radiance. Because again, this is just going to continue drawing near to the fact that Jesus is better than any earthly human that's ever been made. He's better. In Exodus 34:29-35, I want you to see the the the the distinction and the difference between what Moses shined and what Jesus shines because the language is actually similar shining. It's not the same thing though. So, let's look at it because it's important for the role of you and I as well as we get to kind of the call to action towards the end.

But the context here in Exodus 344, just so that you know, is Moses has been spending time with God. All right? So, he's up on Mount Si. He's spending time with God. He's receiving the covenant of God. He's receiving the Ten Commandments.

He's receiving the instructions for the people of God. And he's now coming off of the mountain to meet with Israel and to tell them what God has said. This is fascinating. I I love this. I want you to see this. So in Exodus 34 looking at 20 verse 29 when Moses came down from Mount Si with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain Moses did not know that the skin of his face shown because he had been talking with God.

So again, one thing that's really important is because he had been talking with God, because he was in God's presence, his face, his face is now shining the glory of God. Just hold on to that as we get to uh a bit of application later. And so in verse 30 it says, "Aaron and all the people of Israel, they saw Moses and behold the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him." That's amazing. Like they were afraid. They know Moses, right?

They're familiar with him. They would say he's an approachable guy. And all of a sudden now he's unapproachable. There's something about him that is terrifying them, which is also a point to hold on to. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Si.

And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face so that it actually makes him approachable again. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses's face was shining, and Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with him or to speak with God. What I find fascinating is that the face of Moses was merely reflecting the glory of God. It's not radiating the glory of God because Moses isn't the source. So Moses is not the radiance of God's glory.

If he was the radiance of God's glory, then it would radiate from him. But instead, he got a sunburn. That's the best way to say it. Both s Nburn. And therefore is now reflecting the glory of God. And just this reflection of the glory of God was too much for the people to behold.

It's too much for the people to behold. What we're looking at today is Moses reflected the glory he encountered. I want you to think like when you see the sun hit a bicycle reflection and it kind of shines at your light or like when I'm driving in the car and the sun hits my watch and I like, you know, mess with Kelsey and I like try to blind her in her eyes. Like that's reflection. It's not radiating. It's reflecting something.

Moses reflected the glory he encountered. Jesus radiates the glory that he embodies. Those are two different things. Radiance communicates source. Now let's look deeper into the word glory here. This is essentially answering the question, what is Jesus and what is Jesus radiating?

What's coming from him? And the Greek word for glory is doca. And it means splendor. It means splendor. It means honor. It means majesty.

Essentially everything about something that ascribes it worth and value. And so the worth and the value and the essence and nature of who Jesus is is radiating from his being, from his nature. And it is nothing shy of being absolutely glorious. Absolutely glorious. And so this is where we get the word doxology from. the understanding of God's glory when the New Testament writers are being carried along by the Holy Spirit and as they're recording scripture down as they're being reminded of what Jesus has teached them and or taught them and and taught them to observe and commanded of them as they're writing this.

There are moments where they're seeing the scriptures play out as they are writing and recording them inspired by the Holy Spirit. And there are moments that we are that we see in scripture where they can't help themselves but break out in a doxology, break out in an in a in a in a um an act of worship because of who God is and what he is revealing to them and what he is ultimately radiating in the sun. We saw that in first Peter when we were walking through that first Peter breaks out in a doxology. We see that at the end of Romans 11, the Apostle Paul where he gets to a point and he just says like to to to God be all glory forever and ever. Amen. Because of just the beauty that is coming from him.

The more you spend time with Jesus, you will not be able to help yourself fall down and worship. And the beauty there is that everything else in your life, all the cares and anxieties and all the stress and all those those things that are honestly trying to rob you of joy, all those things melt away when you are gazing upon the glory that is radiating from the person of Jesus Christ. That's why I started off in in the call to worship with just may we come in and gaze upon Jesus because I'm telling you right now, if you're fixing your gaze on anything else in this world, that's going to be the root of your anxiety. That's going to be the root of your stress. That's going to be the root of the lack of peace in your life. But when you gaze at the author of life, when you gaze at the one that everything is going to be his and everything comes from him, all of the problems in your life start to melt away.

I'm not saying all the circumstances get better, but all the problems that come with it, all the stress and all the anxiety and all the lack of peace, those things melt away because you see the author of life. You see the king of kings. You see the lord of lords. You see the prince of peace. And you you see that he has not withheld himself, but he has unveiled himself and is now revealing himself to us so that we might see the radiance of the glory of God. That's what he's doing.

He's been veiled for so long and we've gotten bits and pieces. That's what the whole first sermon was all about. That long ago through the the fathers, through the prophets, he has spoke to us in many ways. It was all puzzle pieces. But now in Jesus and in Jesus alone, he is revealing to us the full picture of the puzzle. And the radiance of his glory is now radiating out and it is shining a light to all of the world that this is the true light.

This is the true source. This is the true creator of the world. And that through him we might have satisfaction forever more. We might have forgiveness of sins as we'll talk about in a couple of weeks when we get to the purification of sins. part of his role, part of his work, but he is bringing us near. And that alone is worth doxology.

It's worth worshiping him and standing in amazement for who he is. You see, the Hebrew people, especially in the Old Testament context, they would equate God's glory with God's presence. They would equate God's glory with God's presence. Wherever the glory of God was, wherever the doca of God was, there was the presence of God. And therefore, there was a reverence for that place. And I want you to see this because in in the Old Testament, they would put so much reverence on the physical place where God's glory resided.

And what he is now doing in the person of the Son is is creating a reverence in him that all of those things were pointing to. But then is able to tell us that that reverence actually now comes to reside within us to where we become the temple of God. But I want you to see this specifically as it plays out in the Old Testament when Stephen, one of the early church's first deacons, was about to be stoned to death. And again, at the approval of Paul, by the way, so just a little uh side note on the power of the gospel, the same Apostle Paul who at the end of Romans 11 is worshiping and praising Jesus Christ for who he is the same Paul at the beginning of Acts who is dragging out men and women and children from their homes and approving of them being stoned to death for following Jesus Christ. One of the best pictures of what the gospel does is the same people that that Paul murdered and applauded it are the same ones who will be applauding in heaven when Paul walks through those pearly gates.

That's the beauty of the gospel. That's the beauty of the gospel. But when Stephen is about to be stoned to death, Stephen preached a masterclass sermon on the Old Testament. I'm not going to read the whole sermon to you, but he preached a masterclass sermon on the Old Testament. And one specific passage he quotes from Exodus 3. And here's what he says.

This is actually in Acts 7:30 through33. He said, "When 40 years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Si in a flame of fire in a bush. And when Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. And as he draw near or drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord. I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses trembled and did not dare to look again.

No one has ever seen God and live to tell it. Then the Lord said to him, "Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Now, was there anything holy about the ground itself? No. It's dirt. It's dirt.

But because the presence of God was there, it became a place of reverence to where it demanded an act of worship, which was him removing his sandals. This is how the Jewish people would view the presence of God. It's usually tied to a place. In Exodus 24, the glory of God settles on Mount Si. In Exodus 40, the glory of God fills the tabernacle. First Kings 8, the glory of God fills Solomon's temple.

So for Jewish Christians or again Jews who are learning about Christianity as they walk through this, when they hear the glory of God, they think the presence of God and therefore they would be thinking Sinai, cloud by day, fire by night, ark of the covenant, tabernacle, temple, holy of holies. And what the author is telling them now is not anymore is it tied to a place, but it's embodied in a person. It's no longer tied to a place. It's embodied in a person. The full presence of God, the full glory of God is not found in anything made by man but Jesus. But Jesus.

And this is why John 1:14 becomes extraordinary for us is because the word became flesh. And so the glory of God is now embodied in a person who is walking around. And we have seen his glory. Glory as of the only son from the father. And so again, the big idea to see Jesus, that man who was born of a virgin 2,000 years ago, is to see God. Is to see God.

And that again, as I mentioned last week, is what makes Christianity distinct from every single world religion, even some that claim to be Christian. If you do not believe that Jesus Christ is eternally past and also eternally future, always existed as the second person of the Trinity as the son of God who is begotten, who is of same nature, of same essence. If you do not believe that, then you do not believe in what we believe as Christians. Period. You do not believe what this is if you do not believe that Jesus Christ is God. Is God.

So we have to start there. He's better than everything. Everything he is better. And so the original audience, the reason why the author is driving this point home, even in just this one little phrase, the reason is because they are tempted to look for someone or something else. And he's letting them know, why would you? Why would you look for anything else when this is who Jesus is?

Again, I'll have to cover the exact imprint of his nature next week because it's just too good to speed through. So, instead, I want to close with this. What do we do with this? What do we do with this? Jesus radiates similar to Moses, but actually taking it a step further, we do reflect the glory of God. But there is also a part that changes a bit for us where we are able to shine the glory of God because no longer is it external like it was for Moses but it becomes internal for us because Christ comes to dwell within us.

We are not the source of the light, but we are, as the scriptures say, jars of clay carrying a treasure that didn't begin with us. But Paul says that as we behold the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to the next. And so as we are growing in Christ, as we are growing in Jesus, literally as our thoughts are becoming more like his thoughts, as our affections are becoming more like his affections, as our principles are becoming more like his principles, as the way we live our lives based on his design, not our design, based on his worldview, not our worldview, we start to shine. find more of the glory that he is radiating through us. We're not the source of it. So, there still is a bit of reflection there, but it is deeper than just merely reflecting it as Moses did.

In other words, as you become what you behold, others begin to see the radiance of the glory of God. As it reflects through you, but also radiates through you because it is Christ in you, radiating it to others around you. Behold him in his word. Walk with him. Worship him. Treasure him.

And as you behold the glory of Christ, again, the spirit of Christ transforms you into the image of Christ so that the people around you begin to see something of Christ through you. That's what it's all about. That's why ultimately John the Baptist who again in Luke chapter 2, there's this really fascinating thing that Jesus says of John the Baptist. He says, "Of anyone born of woman, there's no one greater than John the Baptist." which is just an awesome thing to say or hear if you're John the Baptist, right? Like he could just go around to anybody and be like, "I'm better than you."

You know, I'm I'm better than you. Jesus said so. But that's actually really not what Jesus was saying. What Jesus is actually saying is drawing in on something that John the Baptist says later. John the Baptist says, "I must decrease and he must increase." Referring of Jesus.

That is what makes John the Baptist great is actually the humility that's produced and his understanding that what came after him just because Jesus was born second came before him and is greater than him. And so John the Baptist as Jesus is saying this to the people, no one is greater than born of woman that is greater than John the Baptist. They would then look at John the Baptist and say we should become like John. And John ultimately is pointing them back to Jesus saying no no no no. What makes us great is when we actually realize that we must decrease and that when Christ comes and dwells within us, he must increase. He must increase.

So that when you're living your life, you're not actually trying to get people to become more like you. You're getting people to become more like Jesus. That's it. So I I'm not trying to make a bunch of disciples who are like Dwayne. We're making disciples of Christ. And the beauty of this is this is really simply just the the the the foundation for disciplehip is we want the radiance of the glory of God that then comes to dwell within us to radiate through us as Christ becomes king of kings, lord of lords of our life.

Whatever he says is what we do. I mean, that's what honestly it it's just taking the same posture that Mary had at the first um the the wedding in Canaa at the first miracle that Jesus performed. They came to Mary and they said, "What should we do?" And she said this, "Do whatever he says. Do whatever he says." That's disciplehip.

That's disciplehip. So if you're meeting with someone and they ask, "What should I do with my life, a good discipler will say," whatever Jesus says. Do whatever Jesus says. He's the radiance of the glory of God, not me. Don't do what I say. Do whatever he says.

And your life will begin to shine. to shine the glory of Christ. And so that's why Jesus then says, "Let your light shine before others." When he says, "Let your light shine before others," he isn't saying that you have some intrinsic light that that the world needs to see. Honestly, that sounds like what secular society right now is preaching. Let your light shine.

Let who you are be what everyone sees. No. No. No. Let the light of Christ that is in you shine so that when the world sees your good works, they don't give glory to you. They give glory to your father who is in heaven.

They give glory to your father who is in heaven. They see your life, but they glorify your God. That's the key for us when it comes to reflecting this glory of God that is within us. Jesus is the radiance. We are the reflectors. And the closer we draw to the light, the more his glory should become visible through our lives.

I want you to think about the sun for a moment. The su n sun for a moment. The sun's about 93 million miles away from us. And yet even from that distance you can't stare directly into it. Right? I mean honestly if we tried to behold the glory of the sun we'll go blind.

And yet it's just something that the radiance of the glory of God created. He created Jesus's glory is so much greater than that. We stand in front of it too long and we do get a sunburn. S U N. But yet the only reason why it exists is because of the power of Jesus, the glory of Jesus. The radiance of Jesus.

When we Here's the here's the thing that's actually just fascinating about the gospel. When we look at that sun that is shining in the in in the universe and we can't even get closer to it without being incinerated. We've believed for some reason that the goal of man is to approach God. But the scriptures have been clear that if we approach him in our own will and in our own way in all honesty because of his holiness and our sin, it incinerates us. And so what had to happen is instead of us approaching an unapproachable God, no one has been able to see God and live, God had to then approach us. He had to come to us in order to make it possible.

And this is the beauty of the gospel. This is why John 1:14 says, "The word that created everything and that is for him and that from him everything was made." That son becomes flesh and dwells among us. Even though he's veiled in a way, he is unveiling himself so that we are able to see. But the only way that we can actually see is if something is dealt with and done with when it comes to the sin that separates us in the first place. The only reason why we can't approach the throne of God is because sin cannot be in his presence, in his holiness.

And so he has to come and deal with what is separating us. And the beauty of the gospel is that the radiance of the glory of God comes to us. And the radiance of the glory of God, the thing that we can't even look at, gets nailed to a cross. Gets nailed to a cross. Like there's no other story that is ever written in humanity that is comes close to the beauty of this. We try.

Hollywood tries. There's the damsel in the stress and there's the hero that comes to save the day. Where's that story come from? It's borrowed truth. But that's exactly what God does. God's glory descends on Mount Si, fills the tabernacle, fills the temple again and again and again until ultimately God himself comes in the person of Jesus Christ.

Not just to come and say, "I'm here to wipe everyone out." He didn't come to condemn the world. He came to save the world. He came to save you and I. And that that act of mercy and grace, his breaking of his body and his shedding of his blood is the only thing that deals with our sin and allows God to be able to forgive us and then welcome us back into his presence where we can behold his glory and not be incinerated by it. And that's why John 12:23 puts it this way.

When Jesus is talking about that moment when he goes to the cross, when you're thinking about the radiance of the glory of God, he says it this way, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. To be glorified. So the best picture we get of the glory of God is not simply him sitting on a throne but it is also him coming and laying down his life. It provides for us the full picture of God's glory, honor, reverence, but also his love, mercy, grace, and sacrifice to us. The cross was never an afterthought. In other in other words, the best way to say it is because God is unchanging means that the son who has existed for eternity past.

Think about this. The son who has existed for eternity past has always been sent. The cross was always the plan for us to be able to see the full display and picture of God's radiance and it being radiated through Jesus Christ. So yes, we will see him as king of kings, but we also see him as a sin on a cross nailed to it because he became what we were. All of that allows us to be able to come in and see the nature in the heart of God. And so to miss the cross, like again, the the Jews, they're wanting the Messiah to come and they're wanting the Messiah to be a th on a throne when he arrives.

And they would not accept a king who would touch lepers, who would let little children come to him, who would speak with a woman at a well, but that is also radiating the glory of God. And so we get the humility, but we also get the honor and the holiness. We get all of it and it's all embodied in Jesus. The author is screaming, "Don't miss Jesus." And I pray you don't miss him this morning either. Father, we thank you so much for your word.