Freedom is Good News Part 205

Allow me to bring forth a quote from our previous article, “It is the life of our Savior that brings us light.”  This is in reference to John’s opening remarks in his gospel, that Jesus is the light of man.  Having experienced this ‘light’ in my life these past 44 years I cannot conceive of walking in the darkness that is the fleshly/sinful aspect of this world! 

Paul says it this way in his letter to the Colossians, “We give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  The light of the kingdom is mine!

Those who understand and accept the salvation that is from God, through His Son Jesus Christ, know full well the difference between darkness and light.  Everyone reading this article understands the difference between walking into a dark room and a well-lit room.  The darkness may cause us to stumble over some object we can’t see.  But turn on the light and behold, all is visible.  So it is when we walk through this morally dark world around us.  Without the light of life that exists in the Savior to guide us, we stumble, we fall and we know not how to navigate our lives.

I know some folks who do not accept God in any way; by definition we might call them atheists.  They are very nice people; and they seem to follow a set of ethics and moral values as they make their way through life.  But I wonder where it is that they have found these morals and ethics.  Are they built into the fabric of humanity?  They would probably say yes to such a question.  But who built these morals into us?  Who decided that we should not kill one another; steal from one another; lie to each other?  Is it just ‘dumb luck’ that leads us to such laws?

Paul answers these questions in his letter to the Romans (7:7-8), “What then shall we say? That the law is sin?  By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”  Paul here tells us that it is God’s law that informs us of sin and John lets us know that “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4)

God gets the credit for the laws that govern society – we humans are not the author of morality.  The 119th Psalm, (which is the one that glorifies and praises the law of God) tells us in the 105th verse, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  

But God’s law is not only a pathway for us as we negotiate our life in society.  In His system of laws we also find out how He desires to be worshiped.  This is an interesting aspect of these “laws of light”.  We, who are a part of God’s creation, could never understand how the Creator should be worshiped.  It is God who gives us the blue print for such an endeavor and it is a part of that ‘light’ of His word.  Shall we consider the good news of worship in our next article?  Stay tuned!!!