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22nd September 2025
MondayReflection
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'David Guzik'
Pastor, Bible teacher, and author of a widely
used Bible commentary
'Spiritual Treasure in clay pots'
2 Corinthians 4 v 5-6
For it is not ourselves that we preach;
we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4 v 5-6 GNT
Paul didn't climb into the pulpit or stand before an audience to preach himself.
He wasn't important and he wasn't the focus.
Jesus was the focus, so Paul could strongly say the focus must be on Christ Jesus the Lord.
He is the one to preach about!
Not everyone who opens a Bible and starts talking is preaching Christ Jesus the Lord.
Many well-intentioned preachers actually preach themselves instead of Jesus.
If the focus is on the funny stories or the touching life experiences of the preacher, he may be preaching himself.
It wasn't only that Paul did not preach himself.
He also did not preach a gospel of moral reform or a list of rules you must follow to be right with God.
Paul's goal in preaching was to bring men to Jesus, not to make moral changes in men.
When a man is brought to recognize Jesus Christ as Lord, and to love and worship him as such, then he becomes like Christ.
When Paul did present himself, this is how he did it. Not as a lord, not as a master, but simply as ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
If it were for his own sake or for the sake of the Corinthian Christians themselves, it wouldn't last or it would turn fleshly pretty easily.
Paul always served others for Jesus' sake. He did it primarily to please Jesus, not to please man.
Paul is saying, "The Lord God who created light in the physical world can fill your heart with spiritual light, even if you are blinded by the god of this age."
Satan's work of blinding is great, but God's work of bringing light is greater.
Genesis 1:3 says that God created light with a command, and Paul believed that is exactly how it happened.
This describes Paul's own conversion accurately (Acts 9:1-9).
On his way to Damascus to persecute and kill Christians, suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
This was the first encounter with Jesus in the life of Saul of Tarsus (also known later as the Apostle Paul).
This should be a good way to describe every Christian:- people with shining hearts.
God shone in our hearts, and it should show in shining lives for Jesus Christ.
What exactly has God shone in our hearts?
It is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.
Every Christian should have some knowledge of the glory of God.
If one is a Christian and can say, "I really know nothing of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God," then he or she should seek God earnestly so that He would shine it in their heart.
God gives us the light of the knowledge of God, and we have the responsibility to get it out.
He "shined it in" so that we could "shine it out" instead of "shining it on" as some Christians seem to do.
Imagine a man in a sunny room who enjoys the sunshine so much he wants to keep it all to himself.
He says, "I'll shut the curtains so that none of this light gets out!" and puts himself back into darkness.
When we try to hoard up the light within ourselves, we will certainly lose it.
We come to the knowledge of the glory of God by seeing it in the face of Jesus.
God gave us a display, a picture, a representation of His glory: His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9).
He also prayed that we would see His glory, the glory of God the Father: that they may behold My glory which You have given Me
(John 17:24).
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
David Guzik
David Guzik is a pastor, Bible teacher, and author of a widely used Bible commentary.
Millions of people use David's online Bible commentary
on sites such as Enduring Word and Blue Letter Bible..
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