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Light in the Darkness
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. - Gen 1:1-4 NKJV
When I was in college, one of the brain teasers that went around was calling light bulbs "dark suckers." The goal was to try to shift your mental understanding of light as the thing that encroaches upon darkness into a paradigm in which dark is the thing that encroaches upon light. When you turn on a light, you're not producing light to chase away darkness, you're simply turning on a sort of "vacuum" to pull darkness out of a place leaving behind the light.
While it may be an interesting mental exercise, we know that's not how light and darkness are described by God. Light is the created thing that shines in darkness. In the Genesis account, light is the "thing" created, and darkness is more of a state rather than a "thing": the state of being without light.
It's also interesting that God has preserved for us the statement "and God divided the light from the darkness." Light and darkness aren't two of a kind that mix. You don't have to shake darkness out of a bulb to make it work. Light doesn't get "contaminated" with darkness. It's separate. And, while our eyes may not pick up on small amounts of light, light is either present in darkness or not present. Light can't be hidden by darkness. When the two come head to head, light always wins because, again, darkness isn't a "thing" as much as it is a state.
I think it's appropriate that God introduces Himself to us by telling us that He defined and created light, separating it from darkness. He uses the contrast from start to finish in His word ["Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there)." Rev 21:25; "There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." Rev 22:5]
Even though light and darkness, in the physical sense, carry no sense of good or evil, right or wrong, God uses them to describe those very things. I suppose that's why I don't like the idea, even as an exercise, of the "dark suckers." The properties of light are meant to teach us something about God. Take these passages from Isaiah, for example.
The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. - Isa 9:2
I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them. - Isa 42:16
These prophecies talk about what God will do for people describing it as light in darkness, even in blindness. Have you ever been in pitch blackness? I have once or twice, and it's really unnerving. The darkness was so complete that it almost felt like I was immersed in it; as if it had been poured over me and it was actually keeping out the light. Even the air I was breathing felt heavier, like I was having to heave the darkness itself into and out of my lungs.
And then someone hits a button on a watch or a cell phone.
In an instant, you realize, again, what you've known all your life: darkness isn't something that keeps out light, it's just the absence of light.
That's what God wants us to understand about what He has done for us.
In Matthew 4:13-17, Isaiah's words are stated as being fulfilled in Jesus:
And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”[f]
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
John has SO much to say about Jesus being light:
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. - Jn 1:4,5
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” - Jn 8:12
I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. - Jn 12:46
Spiritually, Jesus is the one Light. He's not one of many. He's not a founder of one religion competing among many for popularity. He is the only Light, and apart from Him, we are in total spiritual darkness:
- We can't see the right way to go.
- We can't see the dangers around us.
- We can't see how filthy we've become.
- We are tormented by imagined fears.
- We become spiritually paralyzed, unable to act, OR
- We blindly act based on human wisdom.
Now, however, Jesus is shining. The Light has come. We know the way, we can see the dangers, we don't have to imagine fears in the unknown. Those are all great! But, we also see our filthiness. That's not so great. That's the thing about light. It doesn't bend its will to ours, showing us only the things we want to see. It shows the whole truth.
His light shows us that our 'think so's' and 'I don't like's' and 'I want's' aren't leading down the right path. In fact, following any part of self takes us further and further from His light. For many of us, that's exactly where we want to be: far away from His light. Did you know that Jesus refers to that act as judgment? It's fascinating, but Jesus basically says that when we do that, we are, essentially, offering ourselves up to His condemnation.
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. - Jn 3:19,20
Do you understand the ramifications of that statement? If you reject Jesus, on any level, you mark yourself as one who loves darkness because your deeds are evil. I'll just tell you that I have a hard time fully understanding that, though I accept it as truth because God has spoken it. In other words, it doesn't matter what the world thinks of your deeds. It doesn't matter what you think of your deeds. If you refuse Jesus, then there is something evil in your life that you are not willing to give up. The closer and closer you get to Him, the more apparent that thing (or things) will become.
Are you afraid to know what His light is going to expose in your life? Do you kind of have an idea in the back of your head, but you don't want to confirm it? Do you excuse yourself because you're surrounded by much "worse" people? Do you blame hypocrites for discouraging you? Are you following some other teaching because it doesn't offend you as much as His light does?
Maybe it's not fear or open rebellion, but it's a sense of inadequacy or shame. You're ashamed of the filth on you, and the closer you get to His light, the more of it you see. That's where the light/darkness analogy breaks down, because Jesus also possesses the power to remove the filth. Do you want it removed? Do you want the death hanging over you destroyed?
You see, Jesus' light isn't just a light that points at you and says, "Hey, you're gross!" It's a light that says, "Hey, I see every last imperfection, and I can make up for every one. Let me do that!" Is that what you want? Pick up a Bible. Read the gospels. Read the Acts of the apostles. You'll discover from God Himself how to approach Him, receive forgiveness, and live the life He designed you to live in the first place.
Jesus only describes two kinds of people: those who come to the light and those who don't. Which one are you?
