1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light
The end of the passage says He called us out of darkness into light. Before Christ, we were in darkness. What does that mean? The great eclipse came in the garden of Eden. We were seperated from God. Thus in darkness.
How do we experience darkness on a day to day basis? An initial question is to understand the standard. What is light? God is light. 1 John 1:5-7 says, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” It’s His nature. We think of light as being physical, as that which the sun or a light bulb produces. That is part of His creation, which is an emination or a representation of His spiritual light. We get closer to the idea as we think of an insight as being enlightening. He will teach us plenty as we draw near to Him. However, He is light. It’s part of who He is. As we approach Him, His light brightens, to oppose Him, the light dims.
Back to the question of how to be in light or darkness in our day? To be in the light is to be in His ways. Galatians 5:22 & 23 describes the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.…” One needn’t be religious to have these traits. Our western culture prizes these. They came from the judeo-christian heritage. They are the ways of the light.
There are moral guidelines which also are considered as being light: the Ten Commandments apply, biblical sexual guidelines, justice, avoiding the trap of human vices, etcetera. This is an area where our culture gets upset. Our culture is fine with the biblical character traits of kindness, but it’s moral guidelines are seen as too restrictive. Yet, these are also behaviours of the light. To live accordingly is practicing ways of the light. To live opposed to them is to walk the ways of darkness.
God warns against the above behaviors because of our good. He is our creator. He made us to best function by His description. Much like a product is designed for particular purposes, so are we. The bible is our instruction book. The end of a screwdriver can be used as a hammer, but it would work poorly and damage the tool. So, He gave us guidelines for our own good.
To walk in the light means two things, lifestyle and relationship. The lifestyle is to have one’s behavior be biblical. This is to be in the light externally. The second and most important is to be in relationship with God, for He is light. This is to be in the light at our core. To be in relationship with the lightgiver. Today’s passage says He called us out of darkness into light. That is dealing with a relationship. Just as we may call someone to initiate a meeting, so He is calling us to Him. He sent Jesus to reach us and to pay for our sins.
Our guilt and sin seperates from Him. While some of our behavior is good, our sin blocks us from Him. Jesus died a brutal death to pay for ours. As we accept His sacrifice, we are cleansed and restored to a relationship with our God; brought into the light.
While accepting His forgiveness is free, it implies that we will do what He says. To walk in the light. This may sound concerning, as images of monks or extreme religious people come to mind. That’s not it at all. Here’s how Jesus describes following Him, …”Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”, (Matthew 11:28-30). The gospel means good news. Picking up a weird religious life isn’t it. It’s getting to know the one who loves and knows us best and seeking to follow Him.
As we accept Christ, we are in the light relationally, but our lifestyle may be in darkness. Much like a sunrise rise gradually brings light to the morning, so He will slowly turn the light on our actions. We don’t have to clean up before coming to Him. He will point out slowly the areas He wants to conform. As we read the bible, He guides us. Today’s passage says He calls us out of darkness into light. This means we were stumbling about trying to orient ourselves. This is difficult when we can’t see. It’s as if He calls out directions. “Turn left… too much… yes…now go ahead ten steps…the door’s right infront of you…turn the knob and you’ll be out”. Those are some supposed ways He get’s us out of our difficulties. The Matthew passage says to “learn from Me”. As we read the bible and follow it, we learn from Him and are on our way out of darkness.
Today’s passage say He calls us into His “wonderful light”. God wants His light to be like the that of a fireplace. To provide a warmth that invites us out of the cold. It’s not the inspection light of a police interrogator. That light is accusing. Yes, we are sinners, but He paid for that. He wants to forgive. If we feel guilty when we think of God, that’s not of Him. His light is welcoming. Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Lord, thank You that You have called out of darkness and into the light. Help us to stay in the center of Your brightness. Thank You that Your light produces is connected to the warmth of Your love, not the harsh brightness of judgement.
The end of the passage says He called us out of darkness into light. Before Christ, we were in darkness. What does that mean? The great eclipse came in the garden of Eden. We were seperated from God. Thus in darkness.
How do we experience darkness on a day to day basis? An initial question is to understand the standard. What is light? God is light. 1 John 1:5-7 says, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” It’s His nature. We think of light as being physical, as that which the sun or a light bulb produces. That is part of His creation, which is an emination or a representation of His spiritual light. We get closer to the idea as we think of an insight as being enlightening. He will teach us plenty as we draw near to Him. However, He is light. It’s part of who He is. As we approach Him, His light brightens, to oppose Him, the light dims.
Back to the question of how to be in light or darkness in our day? To be in the light is to be in His ways. Galatians 5:22 & 23 describes the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.…” One needn’t be religious to have these traits. Our western culture prizes these. They came from the judeo-christian heritage. They are the ways of the light.
There are moral guidelines which also are considered as being light: the Ten Commandments apply, biblical sexual guidelines, justice, avoiding the trap of human vices, etcetera. This is an area where our culture gets upset. Our culture is fine with the biblical character traits of kindness, but it’s moral guidelines are seen as too restrictive. Yet, these are also behaviours of the light. To live accordingly is practicing ways of the light. To live opposed to them is to walk the ways of darkness.
God warns against the above behaviors because of our good. He is our creator. He made us to best function by His description. Much like a product is designed for particular purposes, so are we. The bible is our instruction book. The end of a screwdriver can be used as a hammer, but it would work poorly and damage the tool. So, He gave us guidelines for our own good.
To walk in the light means two things, lifestyle and relationship. The lifestyle is to have one’s behavior be biblical. This is to be in the light externally. The second and most important is to be in relationship with God, for He is light. This is to be in the light at our core. To be in relationship with the lightgiver. Today’s passage says He called us out of darkness into light. That is dealing with a relationship. Just as we may call someone to initiate a meeting, so He is calling us to Him. He sent Jesus to reach us and to pay for our sins.
Our guilt and sin seperates from Him. While some of our behavior is good, our sin blocks us from Him. Jesus died a brutal death to pay for ours. As we accept His sacrifice, we are cleansed and restored to a relationship with our God; brought into the light.
While accepting His forgiveness is free, it implies that we will do what He says. To walk in the light. This may sound concerning, as images of monks or extreme religious people come to mind. That’s not it at all. Here’s how Jesus describes following Him, …”Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”, (Matthew 11:28-30). The gospel means good news. Picking up a weird religious life isn’t it. It’s getting to know the one who loves and knows us best and seeking to follow Him.
As we accept Christ, we are in the light relationally, but our lifestyle may be in darkness. Much like a sunrise rise gradually brings light to the morning, so He will slowly turn the light on our actions. We don’t have to clean up before coming to Him. He will point out slowly the areas He wants to conform. As we read the bible, He guides us. Today’s passage says He calls us out of darkness into light. This means we were stumbling about trying to orient ourselves. This is difficult when we can’t see. It’s as if He calls out directions. “Turn left… too much… yes…now go ahead ten steps…the door’s right infront of you…turn the knob and you’ll be out”. Those are some supposed ways He get’s us out of our difficulties. The Matthew passage says to “learn from Me”. As we read the bible and follow it, we learn from Him and are on our way out of darkness.
Today’s passage say He calls us into His “wonderful light”. God wants His light to be like the that of a fireplace. To provide a warmth that invites us out of the cold. It’s not the inspection light of a police interrogator. That light is accusing. Yes, we are sinners, but He paid for that. He wants to forgive. If we feel guilty when we think of God, that’s not of Him. His light is welcoming. Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Lord, thank You that You have called out of darkness and into the light. Help us to stay in the center of Your brightness. Thank You that Your light produces is connected to the warmth of Your love, not the harsh brightness of judgement.