Morning Star

Morning Star

“And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)

Peter referred to the “word of the prophets” as a “light, shining in a dark place”.  God’s word is meant to be just that; a light.  When we read the entire passage we see that the intensity of the light grows, until it becomes the dawning of Day.  It is prophesied of Jesus that He is the sun (Lk 1:78) who will guide our feet.  He is the One who brings the full light of the word of God.  We understand this further when we see that the Pharisees,  who had the word, did not necessarily have understanding of it or of eternal life.  It was God’s purpose to put the understanding of the word of God in Man by the indwelling of the Spirit of His Son, Jesus.  This Spirit, the Holy Spirit, teaches us the meaning of the word of God (Jn 14:26).  The Holy Spirit trains us in steps, or stages, and if we persevere we will have the full understanding of God’s word to us, His purposes, and what we should do because of the word given us.

First, a man must receive the word by faith, believing it is from God.  This is true of both the logos and rhema word.  Then the man must defend the word from theft and corruption, as illustrated by the parable of the Sower and the Seed (Lk 8:11-15).  Next, he must learn to apply the word, for it is a man’s obedience to the word which will bring fruit from the word (Jn 15:7-8).  It is during the stage of obedience in which the man is then given wisdom, and his understanding of the word increases.  If the man will persevere against his flesh, the world, and satan, then the understanding of the word will grow inside of him and bear fruit. 

It is also during the stage of obedience that satan will come with his “secrets”:  wisdom and knowledge given without the need for obedience (a “no-strings-attached” gift from the enemy).  This is how he came to Eve in the garden, speaking of knowledge purportedly kept as a secret from her by God (Gen 3:4).  Satan does not require obedience to his word as God does, therefore his ways seem easier.  But if a man gives up his obedience and takes satan’s secrets, he will circumvent his own training as a son of God. 

When a man does overcome satan, his flesh and the world, and does obey the word given to him, then the Morning Star arises in his heart (Rev 2:28).  God can trust this man with the purposes for which He sent the word, and teach the man how to behave towards those purposes; this is called the Mind of Christ.  The overcomers in the church at Thyatira did not want to learn satan’s secrets (Rev 2:24), so they were rewarded the Morning Star.  God knew He could trust them with His purposes for nations, so God also bestowed on them “authority over the nations”.  They had the Mind of Christ.

Christ’s mind held more than the word of God.  He not only obeyed it perfectly, but understood His Father’s purposes for speaking.  He spoke what He heard the Father speak, and did what He saw the Father do (Jn 12:49-50).  His obedience to God the Father is His testimony and a legacy He leaves to us (Jn 17:4).  It has been God’s purpose to speak His word to Man so that Man could be trained by his obedience to the word.  If Man will overcome he will understand fully and know the purposes for which God speaks to him.  And when the Morning Star arises in his heart he will know how to behave towards that spoken word.  This will bear the fruit of men and women living Christ-like lives on the earth.  And God’s word will become our testimony(Rev 12:11), which we speak and do.