(1John 1:5) “…that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
Light and darkness both have their own attractions. I have heard reports that some say that they were declared dead and then brought back to life but during that transition some have explain a tunnel with a light at the end of it. Whether this is fact or fictional is not that relevant, my thought this morning is how everything in life somehow relates to light or darkness. It obviously could never be any other way. Why? In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth without form and it was void. Actually quite convoluted to picture with the mind’s eye, but that is what is recorded. It was surrounded by darkness and waters, quite a scary sight, horror movie directors would love to recreate such a scene for dramatic effect. But until the next event took place it would have remain a dreary place full of darkness, a place most would consciously look to avoid. “Darkness” is the domain of Satan, where he rules and he wields his power; it is what keeps people from finding forgiveness and this is why the Lord Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice as He laid down His life to set sinners free from the realm of darkness and enable them to live in the light; “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power Satan to of God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Act 26:18)
I remember at times as a child being scared of the night, why? It was filled with shapes and many unseen objects that tricked me into believing they could possibly be something they were not. But soon as the light switch was flipped it settled my uncertainty. This is what the bible teachers on darkness; it blinds us from the light, it keeps us from the truth, it hinders a relationship with the only true God, and whatever is done in private is a form of darkness, we hide those secrets as we think we get away with acts of darkness, yet only for a time, for all will eventually be exposed as God who lives in the light will uncover them and He will use His light to do it; “Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.” (Luke 12:3)
Darkness symbolizes a hidden agenda which we all have as sin has taken all captive, but God now introduces the light, praise His name!
What keeps people from turning to the Lord Jesus and seeking out His forgiveness? The Apostle John understood it and so records the reason; “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:18-19)
Let us now go back to the beginning; “And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:3-4)
Light is good and therefore needed to be separated from that which was poor, the darkness!
The objective now for every living creature is to search out this Good light (the Lord Jesus), who will open our eyes to see clearly; “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1John 1:5)
“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
- Gen_1:4
Light might well be good since it sprang from that fiat of goodness, “Let there be light.” We who enjoy it should be more grateful for it than we are, and see more of God in it and by it. Light physical is said by Solomon to be sweet, but gospel light is infinitely more precious, for it reveals eternal things, and ministers to our immortal natures. When the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual light, and opens our eyes to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we behold sin in its true colours, and ourselves in our real position; we see the Most Holy God as he reveals himself, the plan of mercy as he propounds it, and the world to come as the Word describes it. Spiritual light has many beams and prismatic colours, but whether they be knowledge, joy, holiness, or life, all are divinely good. If the light received be thus good, what must the essential light be, and how glorious must be the place where he reveals himself. O Lord, since light is so good, give us more of it, and more of thyself, the true light.
No sooner is there a good thing in the world, than a division is necessary. Light and darkness have no communion; God has divided them, let us not confound them. Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of darkness. The children of the day must be sober, honest, and bold in their Lord’s work, leaving the works of darkness to those who shall dwell in it for ever. Our Churches should by discipline divide the light from the darkness, and we should by our distinct separation from the world do the same. In judgment, in action, in hearing, in teaching, in association, we must discern between the precious and the vile, and maintain the great distinction which the Lord made upon the world’s first day. O Lord Jesus, be thou our light throughout the whole of this day, for thy light is the light of men. (C.H.Spurgeon)
Signing off
Tyrone
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