Let There Be Light

I grew up going to church.  Correction, I grew up living at church.  Honestly, we probably could have changed our address to 587 Landers Drive.  Anytime the doors were open, we were there (normally always running a little late) and we were most certainly always the last ones to leave.  To this day, it is still a little weird to simply get up and walk out of church after final amen.

Our children’s church probably more closely resembled a course at a local Bible college than children’s church.  No crafts.  No games.  Just a few some cappella songs (Crayon Box song anyone…?), memory verses (For the Word of God is quick and powerful…), and then a sermon.  Between Sunday school, children’s church, “big” church, Awana, youth rallies, youth camps, and discipleship classes, I heard thousands of sermons growing up.  I went to Christian school and a Christian college.  In college, I went to chapel five morning a week and earned a minor in Bible.

With all of this training and knowledge, I should have had a firm grasp on the basics of the Christian faith, right?  I had a lot of knowledge and I even did the right things.  I checked all the boxes; however, head knowledge does not always transfer to heart knowledge.  Despite being given the clear Word of God, I somehow grew up missing a huge piece of the puzzle.  I knew the gospel – the forgiveness of sin through Christ’s work on the cross.  Yet for some reason, I thought after salvation, it was kind of up to me.  I had my list of rules to follow and that if I could keep them, God would be pleased.  This led to perfectionism – the pressure to be perfect in all areas of life.

Sitting in Bible study during my junior year at Cedarville, my Bible study leader pressed me on this issue.  I feebly explained that if I kept all my plates spinning – did everything right – then I would be happy and successful in my Christian life.  I can clearly hear her words to me that day:

“And how’s that working out for you?”

Tears flowed down my cheeks.  I had never had anyone confront me like that.  The truth was, I knew it wasn’t working.  Inwardly, I was drowning in my striving to achieve an impossible standard.  I knew all the right things, but I continued to walk in my own power and strength to try to live the Christian life out of sheer will and determination.

Fast forward five years to 2008.  We were living in Clarksville, Tennessee and were walking through our first deployment. Addison was just over a year old and, at the time, attending small group alone each week felt hard.  My introverted nature takes a while to feel comfortable in a group and some nights I spent all my time making sure Addison didn’t tear their house apart.  One night, our small group leader went around the circle asking what we took away from the sermon on Sunday, which was about the cross.  The Holy Spirit flipped a switch in my heart that night, revealing a truth that would shape me for the rest of my life.

“My whole life I’ve grown up thinking that the cross was just about salvation, however this week I’ve seen that it is so much more.  The cross is our source of power every day because Christ not only took our penalty for sin on the cross, but he took our guilt and our shame.  Through the cross and the resurrection, Christ conquered death and gave us the power to live in freedom.  The cross shows us the love of God like nothing else could.  It shows us a love that we could never earn or deserve.  The cross is our hope.”

 

Dear friends, the message of the cross – the hope of the gospel – is Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).  The cross bears the messages that Christ died for our sins and invites us to accept his gift of salvation, but the good news doesn’t end there!

In Romans 7, Paul tells us that we still wrestle with our flesh.  We live in a fallen world and deal with the painful consequences of our sin and the sin of those around us, but Romans 8 breaks forth in glorious light and hope:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

The hope of the cross brings no condemnation!!  What a sweet relief!!  Jesus went to great lengths to not only free us from the penalty of sin, but from the guilt and shame of it as well!  For years I walked in the assurance of Christ’s power over the penalty of my sin – I knew I was going to heaven.  I knew He loved me, but oh what peace it brought to my heart when I realized that I did not have to carry around the fear and shame of my sin.  I could shed my false sense of security I felt through perfectionism.  God loved me and did not condemn me.

Maybe this sounds “churchy.”  Maybe it doesn’t sound like something relevant to you or your situation, but look what I Peter 2:24 says:

“Who his own self bare our sin in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.”

The life brings more hurt and heartache than we can bear at times, but we are not left to drown in our sorrow.   The cross brings the only hope of healing.

 

My favorite song right now is Let There Be Light (Hillsong).  It’s worth a listen!

I heard it for the first time in church a few Sundays ago.  I’m glad our church is pretty dark during worship, because I had a full-blown ugly cry.  I couldn’t sing.  I just cried out to the Lord from the depth of my soul as the words washed over me:

Good news embracing the poor

Comfort for all those who mourn

For the broken-hearted

We sing louder

Release from prison and shame

Oppression turning to praise

For every captive

Sing louder

Restoring sight to the blind

Breaking the curse of the night

For all in darkness

Sing louder

Proclaiming freedom for all

This is the day of the Lord

Beauty for ashes

Let there be light

Open the eyes of the blind

Purify our hearts in Your fire

Breathe in us we pray

Let there be light

Open our eyes to Your heart

Desperate just to know who You are

Shine in us we pray

Jesus have Your way

 

Friends, Satan is the father of lies.  He wants to keep us in bondage and fear to our sin.  He wants to cripple our walk and keep us from living the abundant life Christ has promised.  For many of us, he is winning the battle.  The fear and shame of our sin has paralyzed us.  But dear ones, the light of the gospel is our hope!  Light is the only thing powerful enough to dispels darkness.  Shining the truth of the Word on the lies of Satan is the only way to defeat his hold on our hearts.

Father, I pray that your truth would be seen, that your light would dispel darkness in our hearts.  I pray that we would know You – to know your hope and power that you give to those who have accepted your Son.  You are our good news.  You are our hope.  I pray that you would “break the curse of the night” in hearts.  Show your glory through us.  Take the pile of ashes in our lives and turn them to beautiful masterpieces of your glory.