There are some things that you just don’t talk about in polite company. At least that is what I was told when I was much younger. But our world has changed so much that those forbidden, taboo subjects, the ones that used to bring a healthy dose of shame, are now talked openly, boasted about, and reveled in. Four letter words of every off color are used openly in the public arena. In some circles a sentence isn’t complete, even a single word sentence unless there is a swear word. These words are used in place of every possible adjective. They can be both positive and negative, derogatory and commendatory. And so they have really lost all meaning. We might as well substitute the word “bleep” in as a substitute.
But not everything is acceptable to discuss. You can’t talk about the four letter word “sin” without getting the scorning looks coming your direction. Just in case you missed it, “sin” has only three letters, but it is still something you can’t discuss in public without stares and glares. For many its existence is still in question. Or sin is something other people, those people, do, with those people being Jesus-followers who dare to call out sin for what it is. The act of proclaiming truth has now been labeled the forbidden sin.
They give that sin of proclaiming truth the label “intolerance” and “bigot” so that they don’t have to face the fact of sin in themselves. This is why living in the light of the LORD is so difficult, so humbling. His light will illuminate the darkest corners of our soul. He will point out the areas of darkness and ask us to open up and let His light into those dark boxes in the storage shed.
Light will bring us together. This togetherness is called fellowship, fellowship with Him and fellowship with each other. When we live lives that are in line with His will, walking in the light in the same way He walks in the light, then something happens. We can never be in the light in the same sense that He is in the light since He is the source of this moral uprightness. He is the One who created the standard, a standard that lays out the best life possible, a life that is as it was designed to be lived.
When we walk in this arena illumined by the character of God, then we connect with each other in ways never imagined. We support each other as no one else can. But John gets right to the point: sin has gotten in the way of this connection, and sin has to be dealt with when we walk in this light. Sin and light can’t coexist, because sin is darkness.
And John’s stated solution is the blood of Jesus. Jesus innocent life given in the place of our guilty life. We deserved to die for our sins and Jesus voluntarily took our place. He died so that we don’t have to die. It is not that our hearts will continue beating forever, but that our life gets hidden in Him. His life infuses us so that even when our bodies die, we don’t.
So Jesus life poured out on our behalf is expressed in the expression blood of Jesus. There isn’t a mystic holy grail somewhere with Jesus’ blood in it. We don’t have to spend our lives searching for some hunk of metal. Jesus gave His life. His life poured out becomes our source of life received.
And I am glad that His life was powerful enough to take care of my complete list of sins. He took the complete catalog of human sins and purchased the whole order. There is no sin outside of His forgiveness and restoration. The vilest Hussein’s of the world can have their sins forgiven if they are willing to walk in His light. They must be willing to trust His sacrifice instead of their own or any other’s path.
Are you walking in the light?
The Arnold Journey 