“You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

We are living in unprecedented times. As I am writing, the world is gripped by the COVID-19 Virus. The virus has affected the whole world. Sadly, many have died but thankfully many more have recovered. Fear has gripped our nation and the nations of the world but there is hope in the midst of the darkness. His name is Jesus, the Light of the World. 1 John 4:17 says As He is (Jesus) so are we in this world. That means those of us who are in Christ should be shining like bright lights (Philippians 2:15) during this time. This is not a time to shrink back but to rise and shine in the mist of the uncertainty and fear moving though our world. We who are in Christ are the solution to the broken world. Isaiah 60 says “ARISE (FROM the depression and prostration which circumstances have kept you–rise to a new life)! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! God made us a little lower than the heavenly beings and has crowned us with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5-6). We are spirit beings that will leave forever. Through the body and blood of Jesus, we have been re-establish as sons and daughters and His Glory is in and upon us.

I think it is worth discussing just how wonderfully we have been made. With all our wonderful medical science, we still have yet to figure out all the intricate processes of the human body. Recently, the gut microbiome has been a hot topic. Studies are showing that the gut microbiome plays an important role in our physical and emotional health. Interestingly, these gut microbes are found in the soil. You may recall that the Lord formed us from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). Our body is essentially the same composition as the soil. The soil He formed us from wasn’t just any soil but it was divine soil full of His Glory! I am amazed by the vastness and richness of God. Let’s look closer at how divinely we have been created.

In Genesis, we read that the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the waters. Water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The next verse says that God said “Let there be Light”. Here in the first chapter in Genesis, we see the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters (Holy Spirit), and said “Let there be Light” or in other words let there be Jesus. I believe evidence of this is in Colossians:

[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation. For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him.

Jesus, the Light of the World, is the First Born of Creation. He was with the Father and always has been. The world was created through Him and all things exist through Him. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit said “Let us make man in our own image in Genesis 1:26-27. Let’s look at it.

God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

We are told in Genesis that God created the heavens, the earth, and all the animals before creating man. We are told that no plant or herb was growing yet because God had not caused it to rain (Gen. 2:5). A mist or a fog rose up from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground. The Lord God then made man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life. The human body is made up of mostly water and elements found in the soil. Friends, this mist was the Holy Spirit and the dust was divine dust. The Glory of the Lord was present and we became a divine being in the likeness of God. We are His Glory! We were one with Him and able to live and move in His presence. The Glory of the Lord was manifested on earth. When Adam and Eve fell for the lie of Satan, we were separated from the Spirit of God but the Glory of the Lord was so present on the earth that the people at that time lived hundred of years. As sin grew upon the earth, the Glory of the Lord slowly lifted. It is only though Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, that we are born again or re-established with the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. We are born again of the Spirit the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. We are now the vessel to bring the manifest presence of God to the earth! We are again one with Him in spirit and can live and move and have our being in Him. Glory!

God blew His breath into our nostril and he is still breathing life into us today. Through worship, prayer, meditation and declaring His Word, we are transformed into the image of Christ. We take our place as sons and daughters to push back the darkness and bring hope to our areas of influence. In the secret place, we intentionally turn of our hearts and minds towards our Father (Abba) allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us or saturate us with His life giving presence. Worship and renewing our mind with the Word of God are keys to being saturated with the Holy Spirit. We were created to be Worshippers. It is in the secret place with the Lord that a divine exchange takes place.

The purpose of going to the secret place with the Lord is to progresively know Him and to be known by Him. In the secret place, we are filled to over-flowing with the Spirit of the Jesus. In other words, we are to be saturated with His Spirit or the Holy Spirit to the point that “rivers of living water flow from our belly” (John 7:37). Saturation is defined as the “state or process that occurs when no more of something can be absorbed, combined with, or added”(Google Dictionary).

Psalm 36:9 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.

Jesus is the “Fountain of Life”-But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life. John 4:14

Let Him saturate you today with His life giving presence. God is Love. He created us in Love to be loved and to love others. Loving God, loving ourselves, and loving others is the great command. Love covers a host of sin. The greatest love is for a friend to lay down his life for another (John 15:13). God showed us this kind of love through His son. His perfect love is now poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given us (Romans 5:5). I will leave you with this thought from Solomon:

All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God’s providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun] and the whole [duty] for every man. Ecclesiastes 12:13