"Who
[the Father] has qualified you...":
The verb "qualified" is hikanoo in the
original Greek. It comes from the adjective hikanos,
which means "sufficient, competent, fit." So it
signifies "make sufficient, render fit," or
"qualify." Probably the best translation in this
passage is: "who has qualified us." Another
good translation is "Who made us fit or adequate
for."
Alone, we are not fit, adequate, sufficient, qualified or
competent to share in the inheritance of the saints. Our
competency comes from God:
The question: 2 Corinthians
2:14-17: "But thanks be to God, Who always
leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads
everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are
to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and
those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of
death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to
such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of
God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with
sincerity, like men sent from God."
The answer: 2 Corinthians 3:1-6:
"Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need,
like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from
you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts,
known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter
from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but
with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours
through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in
ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence
comes from God. He has made us competent as
ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the
Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life."
The
"kingdom of light" is the opposite of the
"dominion of darkness." Anyone who is in
God's kingdom is ALWAYS in the light.
"Light" symbolizes many things in God's
Word:
1."Light" symbolizes
Holiness:
Matthew 5:14-16: [Jesus said,] "You
are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be
hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a
bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to
everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine
before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your
Father in heaven."
Matthew 6:22-23: [Jesus said,] "The
eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body
will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole
body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is
darkness, how great is that darkness!"
Acts 26:18: [Jesus said to Paul,]
"to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and
from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by
faith in Me."
1 John 1:5-7: "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."
2. "Light"
symbolizes Truth:
Psalm 36:9: "For with You is the fountain
of life; in Your light we see light."
Psalm 119:105, 130: "Your Word is a
lamp to my feet and a light for my path...The unfolding of
your Words gives light; it gives understanding to the
simple."
2 Corinthians 4:6: "For God, Who
said, "Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light
shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Christ."
3. "Light"
symbolizes Love:
James 1:17-18: "Every good and
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows.
He chose to give us birth through the Word of Truth, that we might
be a kind of firstfruits of all He created."
1 John 2:9-11: "Anyone who claims
to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the
darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and
there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever
hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the
darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness
has blinded him."
4. "Light"
symbolizes Glory:
Isaiah 60:1-3: "Arise, shine, for
your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon
you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is
over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears
over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the
brightness of your dawn."
1 Timothy 6:15b-16: "God, the
blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Who
alone is immortal and Who lives in unapproachable light, Whom no
one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and might forever.
Amen."
Revelation 21:23-24: "The city does
not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God
gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will
walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their
splendor into it."
5. "Light
symbolizes Life:
John 1:1-5: "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were
made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him
was life, and that life was the light of men. The light
shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood
it."
