The Light of Resurrection - Pt 5

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. (Psalm 52:1-4 ESV).

The darkness is growing; there are only four candles still lit. Thousands of years pass between Noah and Moses. God has kept his promise. Even in the growing darkness and sin, God does not unleash his wrath on mankind again. Instead he begins to reveal the final solution. You see, even before the world was created, God knew that Jesus would be the solution. However, God didn’t just ignore people before Jesus was born. He gave them a way to be forgiven. If they offered sacrifices from a heart of worship, they could renew their friendship with God as they proved their reliance on him. However, no one really could stand before the Lord and claim to have been perfect in their life. Abraham, Moses, David, and all the prophets were simply sinners standing guilty before God. And there was an even deeper problem. Many may have followed the outward ritual, but they didn’t trust God in their hearts. They didn’t love him. They didn’t live lives that reflected his glory. As you extinguish another candle, try to imagine how it must have felt to have come to the end of a day, perhaps a day when you really did everything as good as you possibly could. Imagine getting to the end of that day and still knowing deeply in your mind and heart that you were still guilty before God. Like David writing our Scripture today, you can only cry out for mercy. You can only pray that somehow God would cleanse you from your sin. The darkness is so pervasive that it seems to cover everything in a pall of death and hopelessness. It is indeed a world devoid of any real hope. Death looms closer and closer as your hope slowly fades in the face of the encroaching darkness. You’ve tried. You’ve brought sacrifice after sacrifice; you’ve done your best. However, you know it is not enough. It is into this world that Jesus comes. Here’s how Luke recalls it for us: And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:8-11 ESV). And thirty years later, Jesus proved we have hope. He was raised from the dead having made the final sacrifice, cleansing us form all of our sin! Now, we are “washed thoroughly.” Now the law of love has come to our world and our life.