How To Let Christ Shine Through You

How to let Christ Shine in You

We’ve looked at Jesus as the door into God’s presence.

We’ve talked about how to get “into Christ” and be “into Christ” in our lives.

Last week we saw that what we are to get out of church is Christ.

Today, let’s turn practical. Jesus is the way to God, so I must enter into Christ and let Christ enter into me.

Then what?

Now it’s time for my life to shine with the light of Christ. So, how do you let Christ shine in you? I’m glad you asked! There is no greater blessing than having Jesus Christ shine in my life so that others see Him in me. The result of Christ shining in your life will be that you bring glory to God the Father, who sent Jesus in the first place and planned this whole adventure of Christian living for us.

I remember being so concerned about how to be saved that I didn’t think much about what I was saved for. Have any of you ever experienced that? When I was growing up, it seemed like the whole purpose of being a Christian was to get in the gates of glory and avoid the fires of hell, all the rest was details. I still believe in heaven and hell, but I also know that God has something for us to do now that has great value and in fact, eternal worth. God’s purposes for our faith are for the praise of His glory, and fulfilling those purposes is what being a Christian IN THIS WORLD is all about.

What is it? It all revolves around Christ in us, the hope of glory and Christ shining through us. There are Five basic purposes we perform that bring glory to the Father and let Christ shine in our lives. Today we will survey them:

1. Jesus shines through our works of service or ministry. 1 Peter 2:12, Matthew 5:13-16

Jesus said to his disciples: you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is then good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand so that it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus tells us to let our light shine. Where? Before men! Why? So that they may see our good works. Our what? Our GOOD WORKS. For what purpose? Are we looking for glory for ourselves, no. We are letting our light shine before men so that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

How do we let our lights shine? By showing others our good works in Christ. This is what we could call our ministry, our service. Christ shines through is when we do good works of service to others in His name.

Christ shines in us when we serve in His name. Jesus made this very clear when He told the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25.

The motto of the Youth Work Camp is: You are never more like Jesus than when you serve! How true! And you shine the light of Jesus when you do!

2. Another way for Christ to shine in us is our worship. Look at Psalms 145:1-4, and 40:1-3.

David tells how God rescued him and saved him and how God put a song of praise in his mouth! David began praising God and he said: Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.

Our worship is a testimony of our faith in God through Jesus Christ. Our songs lift His name in praise and proclaim our commitment to Him. Our prayers are spoken to our Father through the name of Jesus Christ declaring our dependence on Him and expressing our devotion to Him. Our communion celebrating the Lord ’s Supper with the bread and cup proclaim Jesus’ death until He comes again! Our offering testifies that we are thankful for the Lord’s provision of all we have. Our ministry of the word in teaching and preaching articulates our faith in God’s instruction and guidance and will.

Jesus Christ shines in us through our worship. 1 Peter 2:9-10 tells us that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God… but for this purpose – that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light!