“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3
“It’s always darkest before the dawn”, the saying goes. And it seems like from the beginning of time, that’s been true. When the despair of deep darkness seems too deep to penetrate, God’s light breaks through and changes everything. Sometimes it comes through with lightning speed and brilliance. Sometimes it shows up like that flicker that offers hope at the end of the tunnel. And sometimes it shows up like the rising sun, turning dead of night into dawn.
That’s because darkness is, by definition, the absence of light. So when God is present, or rather, when we RECOGNIZE His presence, things can’t help but change. Because He IS light. True darkness can’t exist in His company.
Every story in the bible, both Old and New Testaments, shows the difference that the Light makes in a dark world. Think of Joseph who’d been thrown in a dark well, a dark prison and a dark potential future. But he trusted God’s presence in his life. He knew that his world, as dark as it seemed, was not without Light and hope. And God burst in and showed up through the faithfulness of Joseph’s character and reputation, through his God-given gifts and abilities, and changed his circumstances. Light entered that dark room and changed not only Joseph and his family, but an entire nation.
What about David? He faced a giant, a symbol of the darkness of fear and dread for the nation of Israel, and with a stone propelled by the light of his faith in God, shattered that darkness and killed that giant. Darkness was again overcome by light.
Every time Jesus healed someone, He took them from the darkness of despair and offered them a new life of wellness. Every time He encountered a person struggling with the darkness of sin, His light offered them a new life of forgiveness and a fresh start.
When His friend Lazarus died, Jesus was in another town. Lazarus’ friends and family were devastated by the darkness of his death. But then Jesus arrived on the scene and changed everything. He raised Lazarus from the darkness of the grave by the light of His power, and the miracle of a mummy coming to life walked out of that tomb.
Jesus Himself experienced our darkness. On the cross He experienced the darkness of sin, shame, rejection, separation from God, pain. In the darkness of the grave He experienced death.
But three days later….there was light! He rose from the darkness of the grave and brought light and life to the world. Even the darkness of death could not overtake the lightness of God.
We live in a world permeated by darkness. It affects us. Sometimes in “small” ways and sometimes in heartbreaking, hopeless feeling ways. We experience the darkness of loneliness, brokenness, guilt, depression, disappointment, devastation. But if we know Jesus, we are not consumed by the darkness because we are never without Light. Sometimes that light will come crashing through our circumstances and sometimes it will just glimmer in the corner reminding us of its presence and hope. But Light is there. Jesus is there.
One day, we will experience that Light in its absolute fullness. Heaven. We will see Jesus, our Light, face to face. Darkness will be gone, without a trace. Hope will be transformed into reality. And there will be light…
2 Corinthians 4:6 – For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Revelation 21:23 – The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Revelation 22:5- There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
