The Holiness of God

1 John 1:5
“This then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

“The tendency for most is to approach the whole subject of religion, to approach God, and Christian Truth, and everything else in terms of my desire and demands. ‘What has He got to say to me and to give to me?’ ‘What can I get out of this Christian faith?’ ‘Is there something in this that is going to ease my problems?’ But that, according to this verse, and indeed, according to the whole of the Bible, is the root source of error. It is the initial fallacy. The first answer of the Gospel can always be put this way: ‘Forget yourself and contemplate God!’

There is only one way to true and lasting joy, and that is to start with the holiness of God. If I start there, I shall be delivered from every false peace, from every false joy. I shall be humbled to the dust. I shall see my true unworthiness and that I deserve nothing at the hand of God. I shall come to the only one who can deliver me, the Lord Jesus Christ. And if I receive joy from Christ, it is a true joy, a real and lasting joy.”