6. The God of creation is the God who redeems men through Christ. With the light of creation which shone forth at God’s command (Gen. 1:3) Paul compares the brilliant light which at his conversion (cf. Acts 9:3; 22:6; 26:13) he saw on the face of the risen Christ. Yet here, unlike the narrative in Acts, Paul says that God has shone in our hearts, just as in Gal. 1:16 he says that God was pleased to reveal his Son “in me.” He evidently thinks of it as a visible brightness, for he saw the face of Christ, but it was more than external light; it also suffused his whole life and was a spiritual presence and power, not a merely physical occurrence. The illumination or light which the knowledge of the glory of God gave was not just for himself; as vs. 5 indicates, and as for at the opening of this verse implies, God shone in Paul’s heart to give others light through the knowledge which the conversion experience gave him of God and his saving work. Paul thought of every spiritual blessing as given for use in his apostolic ministry.