The Sun and the Son

I’ve always loved being in the sun. Growing up in rural Missouri, summers were full of sun-filled fields and forests, bright with flowers. Living in Australia and California, the sunrises and sunsets near the ocean filled me with strength and peace. God invented the sun to show us that each new day starts fresh with His blessings. And the greatest blessing of all time, is that God so loved us that He sent His only Son to redeem and save us. We have eternal life through Jesus Christ, God’s son.

The Messiah Compared to the Sun

Psalms 19:4-6:
Their line [the star constellations that speak of the Messiah] is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle [tent, home] for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The twelve major constellations of the zodiac describe the Messiah and what he would accomplish. Each has three other constellations that give details about him, so that these 48 naturally visible star arrangements tell of God’s promised Son. These twelve signs are a “home” for the sun—our local star passes through them on the ecliptic in the course of a year.

How does God describe the sun? As a bridegroom and as a “strong man.” These both refer to Jesus Christ, the bridegroom of his people and the strongest man who ever lived for God. The zodiac and other constellations give specific information about the Messiah as a bridegroom and a mighty man. See the series on God’s Celestial Word, beginning with the “Celestial, Written, and Living Word” for more details.

One great thing about our sun is that “there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” The sun faithfully shines and warms our planet each day. Even though the earth’s rotation, clouds and weather, or earthly obstructions may dampen its effect; the sun is still shining even at night or when we are in the shade. The same is true spiritually about Jesus Christ. Although people may turn from God’s Son, he is still Lord of all at God’s right hand.

Philippians 2:9-11:
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Just how hot is our sun? The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says its temperature varies from around 27 million degrees Fahrenheit at its core to about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit at its surface. We think of time in terms of minutes and seconds (a second is about the length of an average human heartbeat). But the sun is quick and powerful: NASA says that every 1.5 millionths of a second, the sun releases more energy than all humans consume in an entire year.

Just how much power do we have in Christ? The Bible says that we have in God’s gift of holy spirit, all the power that we need. In fact, it’s the same power that raised Christ from the dead!

Ephesians 1:18-20:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.

Healing from the Sun and in the Son

The Messiah, Jesus Christ, is compared to the sun to close out the entire Old Testament prophecies about him.

Malachi 4:2:
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings [rays]; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is “the Sun of righteousness” that brings healing in his shining rays. Scientists have discovered the truth of God’s Word about the healing benefits of sunlight.

Sunshine improves sleep and regulates our “circadian rhythm” by telling the body when to increase and decrease melatonin (a hormone that helps us sleep and lowers stress). Our bodies produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight and that helps the body maintain calcium. That builds strong bones and is also vital for our immune systems.

One of the obvious benefits is how sunshine makes us feel. And this is not just in our heads: sunlight boosts our bodies’ level of serotonin (helping our mood so we can stay calm and focused). One study showed that people getting adequate sunlight lived up to two years longer than those who did not.

Jesus Christ brings true healing today. For more details see the following blogs:

Jesus Christ Brings Healing for All
Words and Healing
Communion: Forgiveness and Healing
The Sun of Righteousness
Six Doctors

Old Testament Prophecies about the Son and the Sun

Psalms 72:1,2,17-20:
Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son [the Messiah].
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor [humble] with judgment.
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

David’s prayers end by declaring that the Messiah would judge God’s people in righteousness. His name would continue “as long as the sun.” It is God Who does wondrous things through His Son (I Corinthians 8:6). It is the Son who made known God’s glory to the “whole earth.”

Psalms 89:1-4, 34-36:
I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

By God’s loving kindness and mercy, He made a covenant with David that the Messiah would come from his line. Jesus was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3), for his mother, Mary, was a direct descendant in David’s lineage (Matthew 1:16 accurately reads “And Jacob begat Joseph the father of Mary”). Jesus was raised from the dead unto eternal life. Now as King of kings and Lord of lords, he rules forever and his throne is “as the sun.”

Psalms 84:5,11:
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

These scriptures describe the Messiah, the blessed man whose strength is in the Lord God. That God is a sun and shield, giving grace and glory. Our heavenly Father withheld nothing that Jesus ever needed. And that same God cares for us to meet our needs in Christ.

Isaiah 60:19,20:
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

When God raised Christ from the dead, the veil in the Temple was torn in half and all men gained direct access to the Father. Since Pentecost in 28 A.D., men and women have been born again of God’s spirit and filled with His power through Jesus Christ. Now our “true light” in life is not our earthly sun, but God’s heavenly Son, our Lord and Savior.

The Son and the Sun in the New Testament

Matthew 13:43:
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Jesus foretold that those believing on him would be raised from the dead. Their future is bright—for they will shine as the sun in God’s eternal kingdom.

Matthew 17:1,2:
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
And was transfigured [the Greek word metamorphoō] before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Peter, James, and John saw Jesus “metamorphisized” in a vision. His face shown as the sun, resplendent with the glory that God gave to His Son. We too can be “metamorphisized” as we put on God’s thoughts.

Romans 12:1,2:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed [metamorphoō] by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

II Corinthians 3:18:
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed [metamorphoō] into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When we look on the face of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, we are transfigured into the glorious image of “Christ in you,” the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). By the spirit of the Lord, we can live with God’s power today—and hope for the future glory we will receive with new spiritual bodies, “like unto his [Christ’s] glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).

Acts 26:13-15:
At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Paul’s vision of the risen Christ was brighter than looking at the sun. We’ve all been warned since childhood not to stare directly at the sun. But the glory of Christ brightens our lives today greater than the sun that warms us. The same will be true in the future.

Revelation 1:13-16:
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Revelation 21:23:
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Revelation 22:3-5:
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

What a great hope we have in the Son. Let’s enjoy another day of sunshine and stay physically healthy. And let’s “bask in the Son” to have God’s true and glorious goodness manifested in our lives.