Compelling Love

When Jesus, Yeshua rose from the dead, the “Sun of righteousness” arose with healing in His wings as Malachi had prophesied:

Malachi 4:2a (NKJV)
But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;

Dr. Henry Morris writes in his commentary on Malachi 4:2, “The ‘Sun of righteousness’ clearly refers to the coming Savior, for He will come ‘with healing in his wings.’ … ‘It is as though the sun is rising rapidly on great wings, dispelling the world’s darkness with its light, dispensing healing to its sin-sick soul.’ (ICR Days of Praise, March 30, 2010)

Psalm 84:11 declares,

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

In Malachi 3, Yahweh promises to those who reverently fear the LORD and who meditate on his name, “They shall be Mine, … on the day that I make them My jewels [special treasure]”:

Malachi 3 (NKJV)
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
And the LORD listened and heard them;
So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.
17 “ They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts,
On the day that I make them My jewels [special treasure]
And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”

Ian Potts posts this commentary on his September 9, 2008 online blog:

But did Christ, the “Sun of righteousness” remain in the grave? Did He who is the light of the world remain buried under its surface, held fast by the bonds of death and the grave? No, thanks be unto God, He did not! Christ “the Sun of righteousness” arose “with healing in his wings”! On the third day He rose again from the dead, having conquered sin, death and hell and having brought in everlasting righteousness to the account of all His people. Yes, the “Sun of righteousness” arose – and the grave could not hold Him! (http://thesunofrighteousness.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/christ-the-sun-of-righteousness/)

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s confirmation that those who believe in him are made alive in him as Paul declares in Ephesians 2:

Ephesians 2 (NKJV)
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Charles Spurgeon wrote in a sermon dated November 12, 1871:

He is the center and King of all truth. He is the center of the Church too. Not the pastor, not the church itself, not any rule or government, no bishop, no priest, and no Pope can be our center. Christ alone is our central sun. We follow as planets where he leads the way: around him we revolve, but we own no other Lord.

Let it be so in the world that even there Christ governs and is the center of all history. You will understand history better when you know this, for this is the key of the world’s story, the reason for the rise and fall of empires. You shall understand all things when you know Immanuel, God with us.

And let him have this place in your hearts. There enthrone him! Establish him as the central sun, and let him rule your entire being, enlightening your understanding, warming your hearts, filling all your powers, passions, and faculties with the fullness of his presence. To have Christ in us, the hope of glory—oh, what blessedness! But let us take care that it is so, for we know not Christ aright unless we give him such a place in our hearts as the sun occupies in God’s world.

In this sermon about Christ as the Sun of Righteousness, Charles Spurgeon also encourages believers to “bask in his beams” by doing these things:

(1) Realize that he is, “he shineth still, he blesses still”;
(2) Lay your souls beneath his divine influence; Christ Jesus is yours for ever and forever.
(3) Imbibe the joy of his strength. He is like a bridegroom rejoicing to run his race.
(4) Reflect his light whenever you receive it. He is the sun, and you are the planet, but every planet shines, shines with borrowed light. Cast back on men the light which Jesus gives you.

Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV):

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Jesus declares in John 8:12 (NKJV),

I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

In Revelation 22, Jesus, Yeshua declares that he alone is the “bright and morning star”,
the star of the early dawn, the harbinger of eternal light and life.  Christ is the true Day-Star, Son of the morning. The Spirit and the bride respond saying, “Come!”

Revelation 22 (Hebrew Names Version)
16 I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star.” 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 8/16/2011