Freedom from Darkness
1 John 1:5-10
What is the antidote to darkness? Light.
What is the solution for guilt and shame? Forgiveness and restoration.
The apostle John is about to tell us where light and forgiveness can be found.
The attributes of an infinite God are infinite in number and in perfection. We are finite creatures and so anything infinite will ultimately be beyond our comprehension. But while we cannot fully comprehend God, whatever God chooses to reveal about Himself can be known with proper confidence. And this, dear friends, is one of the reasons we study through books of the Bible here at TVC; for it is in the scriptures we find the self-revelation of God; it is in the scriptures that we come to know God.
God is light but light is not God. We don’t want to fixate on the effect (light) more than the cause (God) but it may help us understand the cause more if we ask the question what light is, what it does and what it is useful for?
- Illumination
- Navigation
- Warning
- Hope and Help
- Warmth
- Growth, Healing and Therapy
- Wonder/Splendor/Glory
God can dispel any and all the darkness that surrounds you or me. All we need to do is turn away from the darkness, turn toward God, and let the shadows fall behind us.
“A man who looks toward the light sees no shadow; a man who walks toward the light leaves darkness behind him.”
C. H. Spurgeon
God loves you right now, just as you are. God’s grace accepts us right where we are, but His grace never leaves us as we are.
“If a man lives in a light-proof room the sun may shine in dazzling splendor and the man himself will know nothing of it. He may light himself a candle or he may bore a hole in his prison. In the first case he can never have more than an artificial glimmer, and in the second he will get only a tiny glimpse of real daylight…What we are going to try to do, then, is not to light fresh candles but to take down the shutters. There is no reason why we should be content with the candle or the pin-hole if a little determined thinking and a little sincere action will remove the shutters.”
J. B. Phillips, Your God is Too Small
“God does not love people because they have sorted themselves out. He loves failures, and his love makes them flourish.”
Michael Reeves
