Light and Darkness
Introduction. When God “called you by our gospel,” He also “called you out of darkness,” “delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” God also “qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” (2Th. 2:14; 1Pet. 2:9; Col. 1:12-13). This is one of the greatest of “every spiritual blessing” God gave when we were “baptized into Christ and put on Christ” (Eph. 1:3; Gal. 3:26-29).
Light and Darkness. Since “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1Jn 1:5-7), we had to be “called out of darkness” and “delivered from the power of darkness” to have fellowship with Him. Because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” everyone must be led “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18). After the “god of this age has blinded” our hearts, God “commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light.” (2Cor. 4:4-6). Thus “through the tender mercy of our God,” “He gave light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death” (Lk. 1:78-79). God was calling us to enter His marvelous light so we could “escape from the snare of the devil,” after “being captured by him to do his will” (2Tim. 2:26).
God’s Word is Light.
In the same way as dawn in the material realm brings an end to darkness as the sun the rises in the sky, so also “the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Pr. 4:18). As we walk the path Jesus forged, we see more and more clearly the truths He revealed. “Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new.” (2Cor. 5:17). But we must always beware. “Those who leave the paths of uprightness walk in the ways of darkness” (Pr. 23:13). So we must heed Jesus words. “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (Jn. 12:36).
Though we are “called out of darkness,” we live in the midst of “those who call evil good, and good evil, put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isa. 5:20). We work with those who “love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil, and everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
Jesus Warned of Danger.
Those who ignore these warnings will eventually return to darkness. It has already happened to multitudes who “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:20).
Conclusion. We live in the midst of two realms. Since “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1Jn. 5:19), we must be careful that we “no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” Those who are walking in the light “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man” (Eph. 4:17-24). The difficulties are great. It is no easy matter to always stay in the light, but the rewards are great. For “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn. 1:7).
Light and Darkness. Since “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1Jn 1:5-7), we had to be “called out of darkness” and “delivered from the power of darkness” to have fellowship with Him. Because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” everyone must be led “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18). After the “god of this age has blinded” our hearts, God “commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light.” (2Cor. 4:4-6). Thus “through the tender mercy of our God,” “He gave light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death” (Lk. 1:78-79). God was calling us to enter His marvelous light so we could “escape from the snare of the devil,” after “being captured by him to do his will” (2Tim. 2:26).
God’s Word is Light.
- “For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light, reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” “Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path” (Pr. 6:22; Ps. 119:104-105).
In the same way as dawn in the material realm brings an end to darkness as the sun the rises in the sky, so also “the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Pr. 4:18). As we walk the path Jesus forged, we see more and more clearly the truths He revealed. “Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new.” (2Cor. 5:17). But we must always beware. “Those who leave the paths of uprightness walk in the ways of darkness” (Pr. 23:13). So we must heed Jesus words. “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (Jn. 12:36).
Though we are “called out of darkness,” we live in the midst of “those who call evil good, and good evil, put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isa. 5:20). We work with those who “love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil, and everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
Jesus Warned of Danger.
- “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness” (Lk. 11:34).
Those who ignore these warnings will eventually return to darkness. It has already happened to multitudes who “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:20).
Conclusion. We live in the midst of two realms. Since “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1Jn. 5:19), we must be careful that we “no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” Those who are walking in the light “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man” (Eph. 4:17-24). The difficulties are great. It is no easy matter to always stay in the light, but the rewards are great. For “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn. 1:7).