The Bright and Morning Star/The Author and Perfecter

{This is the tenth part of a twelve part series attempting to answer the question "Who is Jesus?". The song "I AM" by Mark Schultz is utilized in this series as a reference point, and the lyrics can be found in the "I AM series" post found earlier.}

The Bright and Morning Star/The Author and Perfecter

The Bright and Morning Star

There are few bright and morning star references in the Bible, but the most significant comes near the very end of the entire book.

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." (Revelation 22:16)

Jesus proclaims himself as the bright Morning Star, what does this mean? To tell the truth, I wasn't sure about this one, so I did some internet research and tried to see what others have said about it. What I read seemed to make sense, so maybe I should have just thought about it longer.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Jesus was the light of the world, from him, the darkness flees, and if we believe in him, we come out of the darkness of and into the light. Satan has been called the Prince of Darkness, trying to keep us in the dark with our sins. If we stay in the dark, we can not receive forgiveness. If we are ashamed, embarrassed, or proud of our sin, we can not enter the light. Entering the light means repenting of our sins, confessing them to God, asking for, and receiving forgiveness from God. Doing this, we enter into fellowship with Jesus Christ and his followers.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

Just as at daybreak, we see the sun rise out of the sky, illuminating and brightening morning stars, so when we come out of the darkness of sin and into the light of righteousness, we see Jesus, the Bright Morning Star rise from the darkness and chase the darkness away.

I read this online, and thought that it was written much better than I could, so I will end with this:

At the midnight of our personal darkness we need only remember that Jesus, the star, comes to the horizon of our lives, ushering in a new day of light in which the darkness of our blackest night is chased away. And, like the wise men seeking the newborn King, we are compelled to profess to all the world, "We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." With saints of old, seekers of today, and the celestial choirs of forever, we join in riotous praise as the oppressive gloom of sin and death flees before the shining Morning Star! At His feet we bow our hearts and minds and adore Him.


The Author and Perfecter

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

What does it mean that Jesus was the author and perfecter of our faith? To answer this question, we must understand why God gave the Israelites the list of laws that he did. At that time, he gave the laws to help set apart the Israelites as the people of God. Some of the laws were moral laws, some were health regulations, and some seemed rather bizarre and arbitrary. The purpose of the law was to point out the sin of the people.

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. (Romans 5:20)

That is, the law was added so that people would become aware of their sins. If they were aware of their sins, then they would recognize the need for forgiveness from God, against whom all sins are committed. Even though most sins directly hurt or harm another person or their standing, the sin is not committed against that person, but against God. Thus, the law does not make anyone perfect, but instead points out imperfections. The need for forgiveness remains. As mentioned in The Holy Lamb post, forgiveness under the old covenant required the sacrifice of animals to appease God. When Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all, he ushered in the promised new covenant, in which faith in Jesus Christ absolves us from sin.

We know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

In this way, Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. As God, he was responsible for giving the Israelites the law. As God incarnate, he lived the perfect life to become a perfect, sinless sacrifice, able to cleanse all believers of their sin. In this way, he perfected the law and by doing so, allowed us to break free from the bindings of the law and sin, and to accept the gift of salvation through him.