Light & Darkness
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Introduction
Introduction
The Bible uses the opposites of light and darkness to illustrate many meanings.
Light portrays:
Life
Intelligence
Reasoning
Truth
Blessing of God
God’s glory and royal splendor
Darkness portrays:
Wickedness
Ignorance
Impurity
Immorality
Evil
Suffering, death, & decay
God’s divine wrath and judgment
Darkness
Darkness
Christ, the Light of the World
Christ, the Light of the World
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Jesu
Why does Christ proclaim to be the Light of the world?
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And gross darkness the people: But the Lord shall arise upon thee, And his glory shall be seen upon thee.
What is this darkness that covers the people?
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Immoral, wicked, disobedient living:
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, Understanding shall keep thee:
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, From the man that speaketh froward things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked, And they froward in their paths:
Pro 2:
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness;
To be in darkness also means to be in unbelief.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:5-7
How is it that a man who doesn’t believe in Christ as His Saviour will live in darkness and be disobedient?
Col 3:
Because in him is no strength to resist evil nor even the desire to resist, whereas the man that believes in God has the desire to please Him and resist evil and also the grace to do so. Therefore the one believes lives in the light while the one who doesn’t lives in darkness.
To be in darkness means to be void of understanding and knowledge of God.
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1
Before God created everything good that exists in the world, the earth was void and in darkness.
The word void means to be empty and in waste.
The world was like this until God intervened and decided to make His presence known.
Once God spoke the words, “Let there be light,” He made His face to shine upon this world, and the whole earth was lighted.
With God is light.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5
I believe that this account is not only a literal description of the earth’s beginning, but an illustration of the work of God in a sinful world.
Before one experiences the presence of God in his life, he sits in darkness and has no life in him while he remains void of the knowledge of the glory of God and of Jesus Christ whom He sent.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
It is for this reason that Christ came to open the blind eyes, to bring out them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
7 To open the blind eyes, To bring out the prisoners from the prison, And them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isa
To be in darkness is to be under the power of darkness.
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Acts 26:
It is the purpose of the god of this world to blind the eyes of people lest they should see the glorious light of the gospel of Christ.
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
To sit in darkness is the result of rejecting the wisdom that God offers in His word.
10
10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, Being bound in affliction and iron;
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, And contemned the counsel of the most High:
And so just as God commanded the light to shine out of darkness at the beginning of this world, so He is able to do so in our lives.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
6
Lk 1
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord To prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people By the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; Whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.
It’s in this light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that we find eternal life.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life: In thy light shall we see light.
The apostle John uses the language of to describe how Christ is to us Light and Life.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-
How is Christ still the light of the world, when He is not in it physically today?
He is that enmity in our conscience that supplies us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
But as well as that, Apostle John said that Christ is the Word, and that the Word was God.
Christ is a light to the world through the word of God.
105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.
Ps
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 To the law and to the testimony: If they speak not according to this word, It is because there is no light in them.
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple.
Why will majority of the world not receive Christ that they might have life?
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
17-20
The wise man will gain life because he was willing to lose it in order that he might please God, but the fool will lose his life because he strives to save it, in the sense that he is not willing to lay down the pleasures of sin for a season.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
He not only calls to come out of darkness into marvelous light, but He also calls us to “walk in the light.”
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:
Life is short and we are not to dawdle with time.
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col
Light in the Bible is depicted as