We recently did a study on how God is Light, and the Father of it, and it is absolutely true. The plain and simple analogy here is that without Him you can’t see anything clearly (or at all!). It is certainly true that He is Light – but that is not all that He is!
You may think that this is an obvious statement, but let me tell you that back in the days when I was entrenched in legalism and the religious performance mindset, I never really saw God as anything other than light. Oh sure – I knew of the scriptures which stated that He was more, but for myself personally on a daily-basis, I never factored-in anything other than God merely being a source of spiritual light. And there are a great number of people today who are still in that exact same place.
The implications of this are widespread and quite damaging to our relationship and union with Christ. For example, seeing God as only a light to point you in the right-direction, which you then must strive for through your effort and work, can actually totally negate the finished work of Jesus Christ.
So what I want to share with you today in this study, is the fact that God is so much more than light. He’s not just a pointer to salvation; but rather He is salvation.
Now I made a point to mention that very specific detail, that God is not just a pointer to salvation. He’s not just a road-sign or a map saying “That’s the way to salvation, now get going!”. Instead, He is salvation… and that’s actually a large distinction; a distinction that can change your entire perspective if you take the time to see it – He doesn’t just send you in the direction of salvation and then cross His fingers and hope that you make it there. That’s the position that many people actually hold, that God tells them the directions to salvation, and then sends them off and waits to see if they get there.
That position paints a very dim picture of God, as one who is rather indifferent to the well-being of His creation which He claims to care so much about. It really doesn’t match-up with the view of God in the scriptures, especially considering the reality of the New Covenant of Grace in Christ Jesus.
So first of all, let’s establish that what I am even saying is true… as I always make clear, I never want you to just blindly accept what I (or anyone for that matter) tells you, without verifying it for yourself in the scriptures.
So let’s take a look at Psalms 27:1:
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
And I love the fact that right at the start, this one verse makes it absolutely clear… The LORD is my light and my salvation. He is not merely one or the other, He is both!
Yes, He is absolutely your light, but He doesn’t use that light to show you works to perform to attain salvation. Nor does His light expose your faults or your sins (that is what the Law of Moses was given for, Romans 3:20).
Instead, His light allows you to clearly see Himself, His light enables you to look upon Him and to see His salvation for all that it is. To see a Jesus who does not merely cover your sin as the sacrifices of the Old Covenant did, but to see the absolute removal of your sin by the finished work of Jesus Christ – because as we see, here He is your light and your salvation.
Then, in the rest of this chapter, David goes into some amazing detail about the different ways and areas that God is indeed salvation, because in both Hebrew and Greek, the word “salvation” means a whole lot more than just being saved from all to heaven in the future. In short, salvation means to be preserved, protected, delivered made whole, and healed… in every sense of those words. It is a very rich and abundant thing to have “salvation” in the biblical sense of the word. And I would encourage you to read some of the ways in which David was trusting God for salvation in this chapter alone…
As a brief overview, right in verse 1, we see that the salvation of God is quenching his fears – that alone would be life-changing for many people! There are countless people being absolutely crippled and bound by fear every single day.
In verse 2, he mentions that the salvation of the LORD brings him physical deliverance for his flesh. This is a form of healing and protection; don’t be afraid to acknowledge it, or too timid to claim it, my friend – it is part of His salvation for you!
Verse 3 sees David mentioning that his heart shall not fear. This is your mind, and thoughts as we have studied numerous times before. The many worries and cares that we encounter each day, will melt away when faced with the salvation of the LORD. Again, don’t shy away from this because it is exactly what Jesus Christ suffered and died to bring; it is all encompassed in the completed work of His salvation.
So how exactly do we avail ourselves of this? Well, take a look now at Psalms 62:1:
“Truly my soul waits on God: from him comes my salvation.”
It’s specifically the second-part of this verse that is of note here… from him comes my salvation.
Now on the surface, this appears to be a contradiction: If God is salvation, as we read in chapter 27, how can salvation also come from him?
Good question! And while David may or may not have realized the incredible reference and prophecy that he was writing at the time, it is no contradiction at all. Because this is a reference to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ! Because Jesus made multiple references in the scripture to the fact that He had come from the Father; He had come from God… such as in John 8:42 and John 14:3.
There is only one way to receive and experience the salvation of God, and it is not through your efforts or your performance, but it is through Jesus Christ alone. This is made abundantly clear in Acts 4:10-12:
“Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at nothing of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
As we can plainly see in these verses, there is no other name by which we must be saved. It has nothing to do with your efforts, your service or your sacrifice. It’s not about you striving to reach a goal, but about whose name you are in. And that name is Jesus Christ. The anointed one of God.
I encourage you today to receive all that He has given to you, and everything which His salvation offers to you. In Him, is found every good thing. It all comes as a free gift with Him.
For more on the amazing provision and protection that comes in Christ, check out our three-part study on Psalms 91.
Be blessed.
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