It was a blackness that made even the possibility of vision out of the question. We were in the bowels of the earth, exploring Mammoth Cave, and although it was many years ago, I still remember the feeling when the guide extinguished every light in the cave. The darkness was suffocating.
The universally accepted definition for darkness is, “the absence of light.” This clarity shines a profound spotlight on the many references in the Bible to darkness… not only as an environmental condition…
“darkness was over the face of the deep…” ~ Genesis 1:2
but as the perfect picture of the non-believing soul…
“for at one time you were darkness…” ~ Ephesians 5:8a.
God’s diagnosis of the human condition was summed up as: lightless, a Mammoth Cave kind of dark. Enter Jesus. The fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s prediction that:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” ~ Isaiah 9:2
The absence of light met the absence of darkness…
“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” ~ 1 John 1:5.
Evil met righteousness. Sin went toe to toe with perfection. And every time, without exception, where light is introduced, even in small proportions… Light wins!
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” ~ John 1:5
That is why the second half of Ephesians 5:8 says:
“…but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
The grand exchange is on. I trade absence for presence. I swap stumbling blindness for illuminated travel. Mammoth Cave for a mountain top midday.
“I am the light of the world.” – Jesus
“You are the light of the world.” – Jesus
Do you get the picture? Jesus, the pure light, now in the heart and life of His followers so that we may be
“…blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” ~ Philippians 2:15
God is light… Jesus is the light of the world… we are His light in our world… and without stuttering God declares:
“Light wins!”
To the glory of God. This is how, and this is why.
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