In our desire to be
masters of our own destiny, we have strayed from Truth and Love becoming enticed
and captivated by Darkness[1].
As darkness engulfed us, we became slaves to our passions and desires[2],
losing our ability to walk the Way of Peace[3].
Christ comes as a Light[4]
shining in this darkness, offering to free us and to reconcile us to that which
we have lost[5]. Only as He reveals Himself
to us do we begin to recognise His Love for us, which allows us to trust Him
and to step out of darkness into the Light of His Love, recognising our pitiful
state, submitting our lives to Him and becoming recipients of His lavish Grace
and Blessings.
It is the Blood of
Christ which cleanses us from Sin and allows us to enter His Presence to once
again enjoy Fellowship with Him[6].
Because God is spirit[7],
the Holy Spirit aids us in imparting spiritual wisdom and revelation into our
spirit[8],
which we need to enter this spiritual dimension to have intensive fellowship
with Him.
Our spirits become
filled with His Light and as we are obedient to this Revelation, changing our
own thinking and accepting the Truth revealed to us – often about ourselves, then
the Blood of Christ continues to cleanse us from sin[9],
which allows us to have unbroken fellowship with God and with each other. This fellowship
is characterised by Love, Peace and Joy in the Power of the One Holy Spirit[10].
Those who belong to
Christ are one of the numerous parts which constitute the One Body[11]
of Christ on the earth. The dwelling place of God is not longer to be found in
temples or buildings built by men[12],
but in the hearts of those who have become reconciled with Christ, submitting
themselves to His Lordship. It is the hunger[13]
to know Him better and the willingness to allow Him to change and transform us,
which increases our capacity to become carriers of His Glory on this Earth.
The more we walk according
to the Light of Christ which shines in our hearts, the more we will understand
about life and the more we will develop a deep love for all mankind[14].
We will be better men and women and children fulfilling our roles as teachers,
parents and ambassadors faithfully. We will have deeper regard for our brothers
and sisters in Christ and for those who do not believe.
The people
who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the land of
intense darkness and the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined.
Among these we as well as you
once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behaviour
governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh
and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark
imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God’s] wrath and heirs of
[His] indignation, like the rest of mankind.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not
shortened at all, that it cannot save, nor His ear dull with deafness that it
cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your
God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
There it was—the true Light
[was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that
illumines every person. He came into the world, and though the world was made
through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him].
The Spirit of the Lord [is]
upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach
the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered
those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down
by calamity], to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord
[the day [a]when salvation and the free favours of God
profusely abound].
Therefore, brethren, since we
have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the
power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, by this fresh (new) and living way
which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating
curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh, and since we
have [such] a great and wonderful and noble Priest [Who rules] over the house
of God, let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere)
hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by
[a]that leaning of the entire human personality
on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness),
having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and
our bodies cleansed with pure water.
God is a Spirit (a spiritual
Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth
(reality).
[For I always pray to] the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit
of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep
and intimate] knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with
light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you,
and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), and
[so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and
surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in
the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised
Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly
[places], far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every
name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this
age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.
And this is the message [the
message of [a]promise] which we have heard from Him and now
are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no,
not in any way]. [So] if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship
with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are [both]
speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth [which the Gospel
presents]. But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He
[Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all
sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].
If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and
lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us
[does not dwell in our hearts]. If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and
confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises)
and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse
us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in
purpose, thought, and action]. If we say (claim) we have not sinned, we
contradict His Word and make Him out to be false and a liar, and His Word is
not in us [the divine message of the Gospel is not in our hearts].
[After all] the kingdom of God
is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes], but instead it is
righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart]
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. He who serves Christ in this way is acceptable
and pleasing to God and is approved by men.
The cup of blessing [of wine at the Lord’s Supper] upon which we ask
[God’s] blessing, does it not mean [that in drinking it] we participate in and
share a fellowship (a communion) in the blood of Christ (the Messiah)? The
bread which we break, does it not mean [that in eating it] we participate in and
share a fellowship (a communion) in the body of Christ? For we [no matter how]
numerous we are, are one body, because we all partake of the one Bread [the One
Whom the communion bread represents].
“The God who made the world
and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in
temples built by human hands. And he is not served by
human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life
and breath and everything else. From one man he made all
the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their
appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out
for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
And you shall love the Lord
your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all
your might.
Teacher, which kind of commandment is great and important (the principal
kind) in the Law? [Some commandments are light—which are heavy?] And He replied
to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important,
principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour
as [you do] yourself. These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all
the Law and the Prophets.
