LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Separation: God's Standard
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was [became] without form and void… And God said: Let there be light; and it was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness" (Gen. 1:1-4).
God's original creation may have become corrupted, becoming disorderly and empty. In the six days of creation, which we read about in the first chapter of Genesis, God reordered the earth. His first action was to create light, and thus he separated the light from the darkness. On the second day, God separated the water above from the water below. On the fourth day, God again separated the light from the darkness.
Just as creation became disordered, man, as a consequence of sin, also fell, "disordering" spiritually. The heart of the natural man is disordered by sin, it is empty of the presence of God and, therefore, it is in darkness. But how does the word of God refer to the moment in which he, by his Holy Spirit, comes to dwell in us who believe? "God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, he it is who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).
Isn't it curious that both when reordering creation and when reordering the sinner's life, God's method is the same? He makes the light shine from him and thus separates the light from the darkness. 'Separation' is the blessed divine method.
When considering 'separation', the human tendency is to focus attention on that which is separated from. When we separate, the most important thing is to note that God's goal is not separation itself, but union with himself. Separation is necessary for us to be united to him and through him.
One of the clearest types of the conversion of a sinner is the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt. That move of God was also characterized by separation. Initially, God separated the boy Moses from the waters of the river (from death to life). He then separated Moses from his people to be raised in Pharaoh's palace. As an adult, Moses was separated from Egypt for the desert of Midian and, forty years later, God separated him from Midian for his people. Finally, God separated his people from Egypt to serve him as a kingdom of priests.
Thank God, this is also the case with those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the Father "has delivered (separated) us from the power of darkness, and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved Son" (Col. 1:13). What a blessed parting! What a high and eternal destiny!
It is essential to realize that God's standard is to separate us (from the world, from sin, from things, from ourselves) so that we are totally his. Realizing that, let us not resist his call and let him continue the blessed work of separation.