We are told in the Scriptures that God is both light and love, but the former is sadly overlooked by the majority in these truth-rejecting days, the latter being gladly accepted in a nominal way by most. But if the assertion of the Word of God that He is love is so important that it must appeal to every human heart, how equally important must be the declaration of the Scriptures that, “God is light.”
That He is light can never be contradicted, for He has declared Himself in this very world as being of purer eyes than to behold evil, and unable to look upon iniquity. Do you ask, When and how? Then, take your Bible, and read the touching, yet awe-inspiring account of the work of the cross. Never did God so declare His utter abhorrence of sin, as when His blessed, sinless Son sacrificed Himself under its burden upon that cruel cross. Made sin by a righteous, holy, sin-hating God, the stern hand of His righteous justice in all its spotlessness and purity swept down upon His devoted head, that expiation might be made for sin. If sin, that horrible thing so opposed to the nature of a holy God, was found upon the sinless person of the Christ of God, it must be made the subject of judgment.
Thou Art Holy
Who among the sons and daughters of men shall attempt to fathom the depths of humiliation that such a sacrifice meant for the meek and gentle Lamb of God? Hushed be every voice as that awful hour is contemplated. And what are the words that you hear from the lips of that blessed suffering Man Himself? “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psa. 22:33But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:3)). Never for one moment did He, who was one with the Father, forget the impossibility of sin being able to stand in the presence of God. It must be judged; and because God is light, it was judged and punished in the adorable person of His own Son. All the pent-up wrath of the righteous indignation of a sin-hating God burst upon Him who stood in the sinner’s place and spent itself in sweeping over His thorn-decked brow. What a moment that was for this world! And what a moment it was for my Lord! Well might the darkness close around Him, and shroud Him from the gaze of the heartless multitude that surrounded that cross.
Dare we entertain for one moment the hope that we can ever enter the presence of God with our sins upon us? Then may such a false hope be shattered, for fulfilled it never can be. If there was no escape for Him who, though made sin, was nevertheless sinless, how then shall you escape if that great salvation is neglected which He has secured for you by the sacrifice of Himself upon the cross? That cross stands out as an eternal testimony to the fact that He who is light can never wink at sin.
Free Entrance
All adoration and praise, then, be to Him who has sustained the intensity of the glorious light of the presence of God when sin was dealt with in His blessed person, whereby sin has been righteously put away to God’s eternal glory, and the deep need of the sinner met, who is now freely invited to come, cleansed by the blood of Christ, into the immediate presence of God without a qualm of conscience or an unholy fear lurking in the heart.
Since the Lord when here in this world was God manifest in flesh, He could say, “I am the light of the world.” And is not this the secret reason why the dark, sin-stained heart of man took offense at Him, in spite of all the tenderness and grace shown to His guilty creatures? They remained unsatisfied and ill at ease till they had extinguished the light, by putting to a shameful death Him who spoke as never man spoke.
God Is Love
But “God is love,” and the very scene that demonstrated to earth and heaven that He was light declared also the immensity of the love that filled His heart to the throngs of erring humanity that reveled in their guilty rebellion against Him, and that rolled sin under their tongues with the utmost enjoyment.
God loved such, because He is love. “For God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). But it must be noted that He could never act in mercy at the expense of His righteousness. His love could never be made known to a sinful and corrupt world till it had been faithfully declared that “God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:55This 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)). God has faithfully said to the sinner, “I hate your sins, but I love you. I have punished my Son in your stead, for sin cannot go unpunished. Own Him by faith as your substitute, and I must, in consistency with my own righteousness, bless and save you; yes, it is my delight to do so.”
What a Savior-God
What a Savior-God! Well may we exclaim, “What hath God wrought?” But that blessed Man who, by His death, revealed all that God is, though rejected by the world, and received back into glory, will yet come again as the Son of Man, with all judgment committed into His hands, still further to press home the solemn truth, that sin in all its darkness can never enter the light of the presence of God. While His coming will be without sin unto salvation for those who are looking for Him, yet it will be the occasion for judgment upon the unrepentant sinner, who has dared to spurn God’s rich and gracious provision for his salvation, and who has slighted the compassion and love that prompted God’s ever-blessed Son to offer Himself for the purgation of sin. It will be as great an act of righteousness on the part of God to consign the rejectors of His great salvation to the eternal flames of hell, as it will be to save the repentant sinner through the atoning work of Christ, and have him with Christ forever to the praise of the glory of His grace.
My longing desire is that not a single soul who may read this be among those who, when found not written in the book of life, are cast into the lake of fire. Whoever you may be, you may by faith embrace God’s great salvation, knowing Jesus as your Savior, and Him as your God, who is both light and love.
W. G.