the face of God, with a job to do

The Word for today:
Psalms 66 & 67

mark these:
Psalm 67:1-2 --
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.

2 Corinthians 4:6 --
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

What is a face? Is it something to just look at? Or does it have a job to do? Scripture tells us that a face has work to do. A face is like a projector (1); it shows us what's going on inside.

God wears his heart on his sleeve, so to speak. He makes his heart plain to see. We see God's heart in Jesus.

When God was sad, Jesus cried (2). When God was angry, Jesus blistered the opposition, cleared their polluted temple, and told them just what they could do with their pious pretense.

When God was happy, Jesus was overjoyed (3).

Jesus is the express image of God (4). What does that mean? It means that Jesus expresses God so that we can understand Him:
God made his face to shine upon us,
so that his way may be known on earth,
his saving power among all nations (5).

The "incarnation"--when God the Son was born a man at Bethlehem--was God's expression of himself in terms we could understand. What better way to express your heart than to give it a face? And what better way to express your Word? So the Word of God became flesh and dwelt amongst us (6). We couldn't understand God's Word until he put it in human terms--Jesus.

Deep inside everyone who trusts in Jesus lives God himself--God the Spirit. But the people in your neighborhood and at your school can't see God except when they see another incarnation--the body of Christ, which is the church (7)--which is made up of you and me.

So you and I--the church--are the only Jesus they can see. We are the face of God. As the face of God, we've got a job to do:
Let your light so shine, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (8).

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(1) see 2 Corinthians 4:6 (above); (2) John 11:35; (3) Luke 10:21; (4) Hebrews 1:3; (5) see Psalm 67:1-2 (above); (6) John 1:14; (7) Colossians 1:24; (8) Matthew 5:16