Joy: When God’s Face Shines | May 19, 2023

Colorado has an average of 300 days of sun per year, and my face loves it. As a kid, nothing was more enjoyable than that first day of summer as we ran to the pool to spend the day with warm sun on our faces as we played in cool water.

Even now as I feel the warmth of the rays, I automatically turn my face toward the sun, and suddenly I’m singing, “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry …”

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. (Ecclesiastes 11:7 ESV)

Is it any surprise that the priestly blessing in Numbers contains God’s face as the light that shines?

Numbers 6:24-26 NASB

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

²⁵ The Lord cause His face to shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

²⁶ The Lord lift up His face to you,
And give you peace.’ 

The Israelites associated the face of God and His glory with light:

Psalm 89:15-16  NASB

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! LORD, they walk in the light of Your face.

In the New Testament, we see the face of Christ revealing God’s glory and light:

Matthew 17:1-2 ESV

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 

2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

When someone’s face lights up when they see us, we feel joy. When God’s face lights up, there is eternal joy. The face of God turns towards us and blesses us with His favor and grace. 

This summer, when you are blessed with warm Colorado sun on your face, remember how blessed you are that God’s face shines on you and fills you with inexpressible, glorious joy. (1 Peter 1:8)