37. Shine Forth
Matthew 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
This promise is for the righteous, that is, those who are declared righteous by grace through faith because of Christ. The righteous are the believers in Christ. They will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of God. The invisible reign of God in the hearts and lives of believers here on earth is the church on earth. Within that church the believers are like suns shining forth with light and good works in the midst of a darkened and sin-infested world. When this light is noticed people glorify God. Usually it is not noticed, but the light is still there pushing back the darkness; the world does not understand why some families, some communities, some areas seem spiritually dark and some appear brighter. The difference is explained by the amount of light that shines forth from the righteous persons living in the kingdom but affecting the kingdoms of the world.
Jesus says, “You are the light of the world,” in Matthew 5, but in John 8 he says, “I am the light of the world.” Both are true for He it is that shines through us from the kingdom within into the world around. We shine as lights in the world, but He is the light shining from our hearts through our eyes and faces and mouths.
In this context in Matthew 13, however, the time of shining is the close of the age when the angels reap the wheat and the weeds. Then the righteous will shine like the sun. After all cause of sin and law-breakers are thrown into the fiery furnace (the lake of fire), then the righteous will shine. The righteous are indeed shining already, but the suns will be obviously seen when the evil and sin, and darkness and deception, and cloud and fog is removed from our eternal presence. There will be no sin to hide and distort the shining light within each saved person. Everyone will see and notice the light shining like the sun. We do not see the righteous shining in the here and now, and we do not yet see the revelation at the future Harvest Day. For this reason we have the Scriptures to give us these promises so that we can see and believe. The promises are real; what is seen is not.