Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
2 CORINTHIANS 4:6 | For it is the God who said, “Let light 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.
Vision is the central metaphor for knowledge in the English language and in western culture. When I understand your point I say “I see what you mean.” Achieving “clarity,” “shedding light,” and many other expressions depend on the connection between knowing and seeing. But western culture has lost confidence in this connection, first in its intellectual and later in its popular forms.
Confidence that the mind is the mirror of nature, that perception puts us in touch with reality, has been lost. Many have given up entirely on the idea of agreed truth and substituted group interests. Increasingly intellectual claims are reduced to something else, like a cover for economic advantage, or a product of racial/ethnic/cultural bias.
Contrast the immense confidence of the apostle Paul. His vision of life as been given to him by the creator himself, revealed in Christ. He has absolute trust that nothing can undermine, surpass, or relativize the truth he has been given.
Notice the sight metaphor for knowledge in our verse.
How confident are you in the truth you’ve been given?
