seeing it is God who said, “Light will 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.
Parallel translations
- KJV For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- BSB 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 Jesus Christ.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
- NLT For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The God who said 'Let light shine out of darkness' has shone in believers' hearts to reveal His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Conversion is a new creation of light by God.
Overview
Paul compares the new birth to the first creation: the God who created light now creates spiritual light in the heart. The result is the knowledge of God's glory seen 'in the face of Jesus Christ,' who reveals God to us. This shows that saving faith is God's gracious, sovereign work, overcoming the blindness Satan imposes, and that Christ is where God's glory is fully beheld.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 29
- Isa 60:2For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.
- Gen 1:3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
- 1 Pet 2:9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
- 2 Pet 1:19We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts:
- Eph 5:8For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- 2 Cor 4:4in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.
- Isa 40:5Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Heb 1:3His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
- 2 Cor 3:18But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
- Isa 45:7I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things.
- Exod 33:18–23He said, “Please show me your glory.”
- Col 1:15who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
- John 11:40Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?”
- Eph 1:17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
- Acts 7:55–56But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
- Gen 1:14–15God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
- Ps 90:16Let your work appear to your servants; your glory to their children.
- John 14:9–10Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
- John 1:14The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- Ps 63:2So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.
- Exod 34:5–7Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name.
- Ps 74:16The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.
- John 12:41Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.
- Phil 2:6who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
- Isa 6:1–3In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
- Ps 136:7–9To him who made the great lights; for his loving kindness endures forever:
- 1 Pet 1:12To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
- Isa 35:2It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. Lebanon’s glory will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They will see Yahweh’s glory, the excellence of our God.
- Luke 10:22Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.”
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Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 4:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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