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The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal].

—Hebrews 1:3 AMP

Who is this Messiah we consider during Advent? By scanning the entirety of Scriptures, we find Him defined with our inadequate language.

In Isaiah 9:2, we read:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

In John’s gospel 8:12, Jesus defines Himself.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

That light, we read in our title verse comes directly as the radiance of God, a reflection of the Shekinah glory. This glory was reflected in the burning bush for Moses (Exodus 2:2), again in the pillar of fire leading the Israelites from Egypt. (Exodus 13:21). We see this awesome reflection in the tongues of fire that sat on each of the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:3).

In this day, how does God provide for us this reflection of God’s brilliant glory? We see God as we look at Jesus. We see His perfect image by gazing at Him through direction from His written Word and prayer, through Spirit-led preaching and teaching.

Not only in those ways, but God expects each of His followers to live as a reflection of God’s Shekinah glory in our lives. We represent the image of Christ to this world. The more “face time” we have with Him, the more fully we absorb and then give off His powerful light.

What a tremendous promise in this regard we read in 2 Corinthians 3:18:

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Even if we shine brightly as lamps in this dark world, we must have oil or power—the Shekinah glory—from some source other than ourselves. The Bible often describes the oil we need as the power of the Holy Spirit. As we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit allows us to mirror Jesus to the watching world.

We cannot expect to give off the Light of Christ in this world unless we reflect Him in the same way that the moon reflects the sun. Nor have the power to continue to shine as lamps without the oil of the Spirit.

This question is worth asking ourselves: “Is the ‘light’ I give off come to me from my own dimly lit bulb and does it shine for my own glory? Or instead, do I truly reflect the glory of my Father in Heaven?” The difference is like night and day!