1 John 1:5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Darkness is a scarey thing. C'mon admit it. You are scared of the dark aren't you? If not, I have to tip my hat to you. Couple that with a graveyard and I am on hair raising on my arms alert. When I was younger I was guilty for watching the occasional vampire movie, at least with one eye open. So I have been conditioned to expect the worst from the darkness because I have seen visuals of a bony hand come out of the darkness and grab people around the throat. And the truth is a graveyard only holds dead people, so we are really safe there, no matter what Josh Gates says in Expedition Unknown.
But think about the alternative.......LIGHT!! In the daytime all of these fears subside and the light seems to bring a calm to the whole scarey thing. And I am just talking about sunlight. But the light of Jesus is much brighter and much different than the physical light we see that comes from the sun. The light of Jesus is the "light in our soul." His spiritual light shines in the darkness of our soul and give us so many things like hope, peace, love, kindness, etc. The rest are listed in Paul's letter to the Galatians in Chapter 5, verses 22-23. You see, there is a resulting change in our atmosphere when the light of Jesus is shining on it. Our atmosphere? You know, that inner us that makes our decisions, motivates us for living, handles the unexpected situations in life,and all that other stuff that makes up......US!
So John in the above scripture is speaking at a much deeper level than we may realize. John says "there is no darkness in God." What does this mean? When darkness seems to come our way, God's intervening light dispels that darkness and keeps it at bay. Wow!! We serve such a wonderful God and He allows us to live in the glow of that light. In The Lord of the Rings movie the people are sheltered in Helms Deep and they are fighting the darkness that is trying to kill their light in the form of the Orc army. At just the right moment when the darkness was so overwhelming and almost assured a victory the character Gandalf shows up on the adjoing hill with a host of warriors and they ride down the hill to assure victory over the darkness of the Orcs army. Light is not just good. It is great!
The light of Jesus is not only a victorious victory in the midst of darkness, but it is also an indicator of whether we know Jesus or not. In verse 6 of the above scripture John writes
6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. That is a spiritual guarantee that our fellowship with God is real and complete and that ongoing fellowship dispels light forever. FOREVER!
What we might have been in the dark about before Jesus is no longer dark but light. And that light is GOOD! The result of that assurance of light is what our Christian fellowship is built on and John wrote in verse 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. The strength of this fellowship cannot and will not be shaken by what satan may bring our way through the darkness and Jesus is our white knight coming on the hill at just the right time. I believe it and I have seen it again and again. So, trust God and live in His light and the darkness will not overwhelm you. In fact, the darkness does not have a chance in your life any more because of that light from Jesus.
How dark is your darkness? With the light of Jesus that darkness is no longer a "thing" that controls your life. The light of Jesus reveals a new way of living and that way Jesus says is the abundant life. I will list it this way . Darkness - John 10:10a 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. Light - John 10:10b My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren
Comments