S183P7 – A life of light: to reach the unreachable
1 Tim. 6:12-16
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
It is a common scene in science fiction movies and TV shows. A bold explorer or an unsuspecting soul, looking for anything or nothing at all, encounters some kind of object or ship or being. This new thing looks incredibly brilliant, perhaps against the backdrop of a night sky. As he approaches, that brilliance just gets greater and greater. He must shield his eyes from its brightness, and he might even feel some kind of heat or energy that makes it difficult for him to progress forward. The picture we get is one of humans encountering something so powerful that it keeps us at bay even without contact. Physically and spiritually, that is how we stand compared to this great light of God’s.
When I read this passage, it reminds me of how little we truly understand of the things of God. This unapproachable light in which He lives is the image of purity, righteousness, holiness and every other good thing that God is. In the natural world, we have an idea of what light is, of what purity is, but only an idea. No matter how pure the light we are able to generate, we also are able to make filters and lenses that allow us to view that light safely, making its brilliance surmountable. We purify water before drinking it, but it never is completely pure. We only can make water potable. This light of God’s that is pure light is so far removed from what we are that we cannot imagine it, let alone think to approach it. Yet, it is this light that He now has living inside us.
God’s light lives within us. God’s kingdom resides within us. God’s Spirit dwells within us. All of these which we cannot think to access on our own because of our fallen nature become completely accessible to the children of light. The gap has been bridged, and we have become vessels containing such wonderful mysteries. That unapproachable light has transformed our nature and become a part of us, living in and through the saints. It is only by the grace and power of God that we are able not only to stand in this light but to carry it. Father, reveal to us more of these mysteries, that we would have a better understanding of your light and your purity and your goodness.