Reflection

The Bible claims that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and that he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Hebrews 1:3). When we consider that God is Light (1 John 1:5) and that Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12), it makes sense that Jesus is God’s exact imprint and reflects him perfectly.

But no one has ever seen God, so what does that actually mean? As Colossians 1:15 notes, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. So, through Jesus, invisible Light (to the human eye) becomes visible Light (see visible light spectrum in How Much Can We Actually See?) that we (humans) can all see Him.

As discussed in An Introduction to the Biblical Understanding of Light, when God gave instructions to the Israelites to build the menorah (lampstand), He designed it so that the left side was an exact mirror image of the right side. With its center light, the lampstand was shown by God to Moses (~1445 – 1405 BC - Exodus 25) and John ~1,500 years later (~80 – 90 AD - Revelation 4) demonstrates to us the perfect reflection (shadow) of the invisible God (the Father) and his visible representation on earth in Jesus Christ (the Son), through the work of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35).

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered her, "[1] The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of [2]  the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— [3] the Son of God. (Luke 1:26-35)

A simple light experiment highlights this amazing reflection. If you take a light beam and reflect it against a perfectly flat mirror, the light will always follow the same simple rule: the angle of incidence will always equal the angle of reflection. So, if you point the light beam at 50°, it will be reflected at the same angle (50°). This parallels God’s reflection in Jesus.

Another interesting experiment shows that if you lined up mirrors in a room at the perfect angle and pointed a light or held a candle, the room would become extremely bright because of all the reflections. This parallels what happens when we show love and hope to others through the gospel.

A final, saddening, experiment shows that if you put a light-suppressing object (e.g. black felt) in line with the mirrors, the light would be absorbed and reflect almost nothing. This parallels Satan, who has disguised himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and ultimately leads to death.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of Light. (2 Corinthians 11:14b, NIV)

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)