Have you ever gotten up early just to go outside and watch the sun rise? It’s inspiring, beautiful, quiet and peaceful. There is also an amazing, somewhat tangible, sense of hope. Why is that? It’s because the darkness has been overtaken by light. Have you ever wondered why we were afraid of the dark as children? Or maybe you still are. It’s the fear of the unknown. We are afraid of what might be there, not necessarily what actually is there. And how do we solve this problem? It’s simple, if you’re inside all you have to do is turn on the light. If your outside, you just have to wait for dawn. Psalm 30:5 “...weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” This morning, if you feel like you are on the outside...in a dark place, hold on the dawn is coming. Isaiah 9:2 “2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” The bible is full of references about darkness and light. As a matter of fact, in the very beginning, in Genesis, darkness is the word used to describe how things were before God began to speak the creation into existence. Genesis 1:1-2 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” So there was only darkness at the beginning of creation.
Genesis 1:3-5 “3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” “Let there be light.” These are the first words that we have recorded that God spoke in the creation. And He used them to defeat darkness. Right from the beginning of creation God has illustrated His desire for us to not be in darkness. Did you notice what God said about the light that He didn’t say about the darkness? He said it was good. He then separated the light from the darkness. The sun and moon are not created until day four of creation. So where did this light come from? We are given some insight to this in later scriptures. This what Jesus told His disciples. 1 John 1:5 “5 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.” Revelation 21:23 “23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” Revelation 22:5 “5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Today we will look at the difference between darkness and light. I know that sounds like a simple concept and not very spiritual, but as we dig in today we will discover how God views darkness and light and how that should affect our view of them.
If we are going to define light and begin to answer how God sees it from the spiritual side, we have to start by looking at the opposite or enemy of light. Which is darkness. In the film world I came from, when we lit a scene, if it was too bright, we didn’t just add some darkness in order to lower the light level...because that’s not possible. All we could do is turn down some of the lights. We controlled the darkness by adjusting the light. The more light you have, the less darkness. What is darkness? Darkness is simply the word we use to describe the absence of light. Darkness doesn’t really exist on its own. There is no such thing as actual darkness, there is only the absence of light. You can’t add darkness to light in order to dim the light...but you certainly can add just a small amount of light and totally eliminate darkness. Because when light is present, darkness by definition cannot survive and therefore is destroyed. Darkness is best described as a situation, which is exactly how Genesis uses the word. At creation, the situation that the world was in, was the absence of light. It works the same way that cold doesn’t actually exist on its own. Cold is simply the word we use to describe the absence of heat. Temperature is the measure of heat as energy. The more energy produced by the moving molecules in an object, the more heat is measured. The slower the molecules move the less heat is generated, thus making it measure a lower temperature.
Your refrigerator just removes heat from the air inside of it. Your freezer removes even more heat than your refrigerator does, thus things in it measure a lower temperature. It is a true statement to say that in our physical world, darkness and cold do not exist. That’s why darkness can never defeat light. Scripture teaches us this. John 1:4-5 “4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Satan is known as the prince of darkness, but Jesus is The Light of the world. Satan has no power that Jesus can’t overcome. The power that Jesus gives us to overcome the darkness of Satan is all we need. As we look at scripture we will see that, Darkness doesn’t just mean nighttime. Darkness represents ignorance. Also, Light doesn’t just mean daytime. Light represents knowledge. You’ve known this and have been saying it for years, but maybe you didn’t even realize it. Have you ever said the phrase: “It just dawned on me.” What did you mean? Did the sun really just rise? What is dawn? It is the emergence of light out of the darkness...or in this case, the emergence of knowledge from the darkness of ignorance. Mankind has understood this for thousands of years. The dark ages were known as a time that Europe plunged into darkness from lack of scientific and cultural advancement.
The dark ages were considered to be from the fall of Rome in about 500AD until the Italian Renaissance period began about 1,000 years later in 1,500AD. The Roman Empire was known for great advances in science, government and architecture. They were able to greatly advance human knowledge, and it was under this background that Jesus entered the scene. The very first emperor of the Roman Empire was Caesar Augusts. You may remember him from the Christmas story in Luke. It was he who made the decree that all the world should be taxed, which is why Mary and Joseph traveled back to Bethlehem. Jesus was born, just as the Roman Empire began to control the known world. Their system of colonization was the perfect backdrop for Jesus to teach us about the kingdom of God. The knowledge of His kingdom is the light that destroys the darkness. Before Jesus started His ministry, there was another man who announced His arrival. It was John the Baptist, His cousin. His job was to let people know that someone was coming who would shine the light of kingdom knowledge for everyone to see. John 1:6-9 “6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” If Jesus is the true Light of the world, then John was kind of a night light, to help us see enough to get to the main light switch.
His message was for people to repent, because the kingdom is near. In other words, get ready, because the light is about to be turned on...and you’re about to be exposed. This was a problem for the religious leaders, because they were not interested in this light. They thought they had all the illumination they needed. They were wrong. Look at how we as believers are described in the New Testament. 1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Everyone who hasn’t come to the knowledge of Jesus as The Light walks in darkness. John 3:19 “19 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.” The Bible is very clear about how we are supposed to deal with those who love the darkness. It provides a warning to us. 2 Corinthians 6:14 “14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” Those who walk in the light and those who walk in darkness are not equal. Those of us who walk in the light have a huge advantage, because we can see where we are going.
This warning applies to dating, marriage, business and any other binding relationship. Those who are walking in darkness and do not have thew light of the kingdom guiding them, should not be allowed to have an influence over our life. John 8:12 “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” The Word of God, Who is Jesus, according to Revelation 19:13, gives us light so we can walk according to the light. Walking in the light...which is an action, requires your mind to be renewed, so that you have the knowledge to make the right choices...and act on them. Ephesians 1:17-18 “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened...” If your spiritual eyes are not enlightened...you cannot walk according to the light. Remember when we said that satan was the prince of darkness and in this context meaning the prince of ignorance? We need to understand that any area of our life where we are lacking kingdom knowledge, is an area of ignorance and we are giving satan power in that area of our life. If you are ignorant of what the word says about finances, you are vulnerable in that area of your life for satan to attack. If you are ignorant of what the word says about your marriage, you are vulnerable in that area of your life for satan to attack. He will use any area of darkness against you.
As soon as you have your eyes enlightened with the knowledge of the kingdom, you can walk according to the light and rule that area of your life the way God intended you to rule. And this now causes an issue for us. We can see from the word, the path we are supposed to walk. But what if after having the light of salvation, we willingly choose to continue to walk in darkness. This is not the ignorance of darkness it is the willful choice to ignore then light. The light has been turned on for you, but you keep tripping over things that Satan puts in your path, because you refuse to walk where the light is showing the way. You keep allowing your flesh to veer off the lit path and wander around in the darkness. You begin to wonder why God has allowed this bad stuff to happen to you, when it was your willful decision to ignore what the word says. But it doesn’t have to be this way. This is what happens we we accept God’s gift of salvation. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside us and begins to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom. He enlightens our eyes so we can understand spiritual thoughts and words. 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 “12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”
We are able to understand through the power of the Spirit what the Word of God is saying to us. It’s no longer a mystery to those of us who are seeking first His kingdom and righteousness. Consider this for a minute. Why is there a fear of death? It’s actually the same reason that we fear the darkness. It’s just the fear of the unknown. If we as believers, fear death, we are ignorant of what the kingdom says about death. That area of spiritual ignorance allows the devil to attack us using fear as the weapon. Hebrews 2:14-15 “14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” There is no reason for us to fear death. It should actually be the opposite. Death for a believer is graduation day. It’s the day we finally get to be in the presence of the Lord. When our mission on earth is done and God calls us home, it should be a celebration over the victory that has been won. Yes, of course, we miss those we loved while they were here, but we have to see it from an eternal perspective and understand that if they were walking in the Light, they just crossed the finish line before we did. If someone I love wins a race, I celebrate for them.
So how about you? Are you free from the fear of death, or are you still lacking the kingdom knowledge that will free you from that fear? 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 “54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have been set free from the bondage of the fear of death through the resurrection of Jesus. Because of His work, we no longer need to fear death, because we know that death has been defeated and holds no power over us. In order for His work to be applied to you, all you need to do is act on what He said. And He said to repent and accept His gift of salvation. The alternative, if you reject His gift, is darkness. Parable of the Wedding Feast: Matthew 22:13 “13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Parable of the Talents: Matthew 25:30 “30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ There are many more Biblical references to an eternal hell being a place of darkness because it is separated from the Light of God.
2 Peter 2:4 “4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;” So, I’ll ask again. How about you? Are you free from the fear of death, or are you still lacking the kingdom knowledge that will free you from that fear? 1 John 1:6-7 “6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Are you walking in the light of the knowledge of God’s kingdom truth? Jesus is that light. His word is our lamp and we must walk according to it.
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