Our God Comes To Dwell In Darkness
Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he dwells in thick darkness. (1 Kings 8:12)
As David grew old, he looked around at the beautiful palace that he lived in, and he saw the tent that was the dwelling place of God, the place where God’s people went to meet with him. David wanted to build a beautiful dwelling place for God, a permanent place where God’s people could go to offer their sacrifices and offerings to God. David gathered many of the materials, but Solomon was the one who built the temple.
And as Solomon dedicated the temple to God, God filled the temple in a cloud. The cloud was so thick that the priests could not finish their work. God had once again come down to dwell in this place with his people. This would be the place that they would offer their sacrifices that would point them ahead to the one who would sacrifices himself once for all people.
On Christmas Day, we heard these words come true in the person of Jesus. God became man and entered into this world of darkness. Sin brought with it darkness and hopelessness into this world. But Jesus was the light that drove away that darkness. He destroyed sin and drove out the darkness and hopelessness. When God came to dwell in thick darkness, he destroyed that darkness in us. He gave us a light that shines in us. He gave us hope in him. Amen.
Our song for today is “The Light of the World is Jesus” by The N Crew