GOD IS LIGHT

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5)

Devotion 7 of 22

CALLED INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT

Although the light in which God dwells is "unapproachable," by grace we are "called" into it--and it will not blind us or consume us!

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him Who hath CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT" (1 Pet 2:9).

The realm we once occupied is called "darkness" because it obscured God to us. While there, dominated by the devil and enslaved to sin, we did not know God. In that condition we were "ignorant" of Him, and therefore alienated from Him. As it is written, "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the FUTILITY OF THEIR MIND, having their UNDERSTANDING DARKENED, being ALIENATED FORM THE LIFE OF GOD, because of the IGNORANCE THAT IS IN THEM, because of the BLINDNESS OF THEIR HEART"
(Eph 4:17-18, NKJV).

Being in "darkness" involves being shut up to futile and pointless thinking--futility, or vanity, of the mind. The result was the obscurement of our understanding, so that we did not know God--a darkened understanding. Consequently, we were separated from God and hostile toward him--alienated from the life of God because of our ignorance of Him.

Whatever position is embraced concerning man's free moral agency, he had to be "CALLED" out of darkness. He could not find his way to God without the Lord Jesus Christ, free will or not! All of this does not negate the fact that we DID respond to the call. The Divine image in humanity has been marred, but it has not been destroyed, praise the Lord! God "called," and we answered; but the glory for the situation goes to God, not to us. The real point of our will is not whether it is free or not, but whether it has any power outside of Christ. The power comes with the call of God. We were "CALLED out of darkness."

His "marvelous light" produces wonder in the heart of those called into it. It captures their attention, and enthralls their hearts and minds. It causes the world to lose its appeal, and sin to become distasteful and obnoxious. We have not been called into a religious system or regimen. We have not been summoned to a new way of life, although new life results from our acceptance of the call. Rather, we have been called into a spiritual realm that warms the heart, challenges the mind, and satisfies the soul. It is a domain dominated by the Living God. His traits and qualities pervade the "heavenly places" in which we have been "made to sit" in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6).


In this "marvelous light" we come to know God, comprehend His love, and learn to discern good and evil. It is "marvelous" because it comes from Him. We have not been called into the light of mere human reason. That is not "marvelous." Rather, God has called us into "HIS marvelous light" where He makes known the things that must be discerned if we are to overcome the world and dwell forever in the house of the Lord.

PRAYER POINT: Father, thank You for Your marvelous light! In the name of Jesus, I ask for a heart to comprehend Your might in increasing measures.

-- Tomorrow: ALWAYS SEEKING TO DIFFUSE HIMSELF --