August 3, Morning
C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling
"The Lamb is the light thereof." — Revelation 21:23 · KJV
Quietly consider the Lamb as the light of heaven. In Scripture light is the emblem of joy, and the joy of the saints in heaven is summed up in this: Jesus chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, and glorified us — we are there entirely through the Lord Jesus, and each of these thoughts is to them like a cluster of the grapes of Eshcol. Light is also the cause of beauty; nothing of beauty remains when light is gone. Without light no radiance flashes from the sapphire, no ray proceeds from the pearl; and so all the beauty of the saints above comes from Jesus. Like planets, they reflect the light of the Sun of Righteousness and live as beams from that central orb; if He withdrew, they would die; if His glory were veiled, their glory would expire. Light is the emblem of knowledge, too. In heaven our knowledge will be perfect, but the Lord Jesus Himself will be its fountain. Dark providences, never understood before, will then be clearly seen, and all that puzzles us now will grow plain in the light of the Lamb. Oh, what unfoldings there will be, and what glorifying of the God of love! Light also means manifestation. In this world "it doth not yet appear what we shall be"; God's people are a hidden people, but when Christ receives them into heaven, He will touch them with the wand of His own love and change them into the image of His manifested glory. They were poor and wretched, stained with sin; but one touch of His finger, and they are bright as the sun and clear as crystal. Oh, what a manifestation — and all of it proceeds from the exalted Lamb! Whatever there may be of radiant splendor, Jesus shall be the center and soul of it all. Oh, to be present and see Him in His own light, the King of kings and Lord of lords!