And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

       And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night… (Genesis 1:4-5).
 

 

Yesterday, we discussed the fellowship and union that we have with the Lord and other Christians. At the same time the Lord is joining us to Himself and His people, He will also be separating us from the darkness in our lives, and those who walk in darkness. This is a necessary process if we are to abide in Christ Jesus.

 

After we come to know Jesus as the Light, God begins to separate the light from the darkness in our lives. This can be a difficult time because it is easy to become so distracted by the  darkness that we lose sight of the Light. It is crucial for us to always keep our attention on the Lord, who is our Light, even when the Holy Spirit is convicting us of sin, or revealing people or situations that we must avoid.

 

Darkness represents sin. The light will immediately begin to reveal the sin in our lives. Even small matters that we never thought about before, such as telling little lies, suddenly become dark and ugly. There will be a strong tendency at this point to just turn the light off. When we come to understand the grotesque nature of all sin, the exposure of that sin can seem intolerable. We must either turn the light off and go back to our old lives, or remove the sin. There can be no compromise. If we are to proceed, light and darkness must be separated. The Lord Jesus said,

 

       "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away;

        for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 

       "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:7-8).
 

 

When the Holy Spirit moves, He always convicts us of sin, but He also reveals the counter to our sin which is righteousness. Then He will show us the consequences of sin, which is judgment. It is hard, but it is essential before the new creation can begin to bloom in our lives. When we are confronted with the realization of the depth of our sin, we are compelled to cast ourselves upon the mercy of God at the cross. We can only find peace at the cross of Jesus, and there He becomes our Savior. His cross becomes the peace and joy of our lives. It is a hard work to have our sin exposed, but we have relief and comfort at the cross. Always flee to the cross!

 

There is deliverance from the darkness in our lives. When we see the darkness, the light becomes even brighter. We must see the darkness and how utterly dark our sins are, but the purpose in the darkness being exposed is to separate us from it. Therefore, we must not become overly focused on the darkness, but turn immediately to the light. We are told in II Corinthians 3:18:

 
 

       But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord,

       are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
 

 

We must see our sin in order to repent. We are not changed by seeing our sin, but by turning to the Lord and by seeing His glory. Whenever our sin is exposed, we must repent, then quickly turn to the Lord and His righteousness. Our goal is not to become perfect people, but to abide in the One who is perfect. Our righteousness will never be in us, but will always be in Him. It is not what we do, but what He has already done, that changes us.

 

If we start focusing on the darkness in our lives, we will fall into a black hole that is very difficult to escape. Do not look for darkness in your life, but allow the Holy Spirit to shine the light on it. When He exposes the darkness, He will also give us the truth that sets us free. Our goal must always be to keep our attention on the light, and let the light expose whatever darkness is in our lives. See it, repent of it, and then keep following the light.

 

As we follow the light, much of the darkness will separate from us automatically, which is why Jesus said love was the fulfillment of the Law. If we will follow the two simple commandments, to love the Lord and to love our neighbors, we will fulfill the whole Law. If we love the Lord, we will not worship idols, etc. If we love our neighbors, we will not murder, envy what is theirs, or steal from them. As we grow in the light of God's love, the darkness will be exposed and separate from us. Follow love, and you will follow the Light.