Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ! Welcome again to the column of our „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! Yesterday we started talking about our highest calling as the children of God and the Disciples of Christ – to manifest God to people. Jesus was sent to show the Father. Today Jesus is sending us to manifest Him. The highest calling of every Christian is to reveal God to others by the way we live our lives.
«For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body of dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh» (2 Corinthians, 4:6-10).
God commanded His light to shine in our hearts. The entrance of His Word brings light into our hearts. God commanded this light to shine in us so that His glory would spread though our lives. My treasure in life is this light, – God’s Word that helps me to manifest God through my life. The level of light inside of me is what determines how I live, how I react to circumstances. This in turn determines my ability to manifest to others Who my God is. Your reaction to problems and the storms of life is what reflect the level of light that you have inside. That is why you must give all the efforts it takes to ensure that your life is been filled up with God’s light all the more. Jesus dwells in me, therefore I must manifest His life to others. Jesus did not reveal Himself to others; He only revealed and manifested to others Who the Father is and He did only the Father’s will. God said in His Word that whoever glorifies Him will also be glorified by Him. When God glorifies or uplift you, nobody can break, humiliate or pull you down. «Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing» (2 Corinthians, 2:14-15).
I am God’s advertisement! I am a letter read by all men! Every one of us is the fragrance of God! God leads us in triumph in Christ. I must diffuse the pleasant aroma of God. When I overcome difficulties and temptations in a godly way, I diffuse the wonderful aroma of God Almighty into this world. But it is possible only when God’s Word abides in us. Another way I do that is by walking in love: «Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us» (1 John, 4:11-12).
The level of Love that I have in me is a revelation of how much of God lives in me. When I walk in love, I promote the God Whom I represent: «Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma» (Ephesians, 5:1-2).
The strength of our sweet-smelling aroma is determined by our love walk, – by the level to which we are manifesting God through love. So we see that Jesus came to reveal God to us. Then He paid the price on the Cross of Calvary so that every one who believes in Him can become one with the Father. Now Jesus is calling all believers to follow His example and manifest God to other people through our lives. Be blessed! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
