This week in my journey through day to day reading and experiences I have been bumping into the constant tension there is between darkness and light in the world and our experience. From literally getting around the house at night with nightlights (even one lighting the toilet bowl in the night), to metaphorically seeing that tension in the news of national politics, from reading a friends manuscript of a new book and several mentions in online posts of others, to driving to Calabash in the daylight and driving home in darkness and sometimes being blinded by oncoming lights. The Holy Spirit has seemed to keep bringing up the subject. I am not sure I have any deep understanding to shed on the subject of that tension, but it is before us everywhere, literally and metaphorically.
One thing I do know for sure is that our God exists/dwells in unapproachable light. Paul in charging Timothy writes:
[1Timothy 6:13-16 NASB95] 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He will bring about at the proper time–He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him [be] honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
No man has seen, or can see, Him for the light of His glory is unapproachable and blinding. Yet we do see, and have seen, Him and have come to know Him in Jesus and, as we are the Body of Christ, in one another.
James writes concerning the lack of darkness or any shadow at all in Him. In doing so he calls Him the Father of lights who has by His will brought us forth as certain first fruits of His creation:
[James 1:17-18 NASB95] 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
I remember about twenty years ago I was working with a young man who called himself atheist, but like most that do so was really just a skeptical agnostic. He asked me about believing in a Biblical worldview, and queried me confidently saying “OH! Then you must believe in a young earth theory”. I told him I did if that meant I didn’t necessarily believe things evolved over millions and billions of years. He explained to me how foolish I was telling me “Well you know that there is light just now reaching us that has come millions and millions of miles through space taking light years to just reach us now!” My response took him by surprise when I said “Hmm … Isn’t it interesting that before anything else was created, the very first thing God said was “Let there be light!?” He was dumbfounded.
[Genesis 1:2-4 NASB95] 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
I don’t know just how scientific my argument was and, frankly, I don’t care. What I do know is that all that exists finds its source in Him and His word. His word is creative! He spoke all into existence. And the first thing we find His creative word, and finger if you will, doing is bringing light and separating light and darkness. He still does so.
I believe He does so for the benefit of His creation, not Himself, and for man in particular. For you see, darkness creates great limitations and hindrance for us. But there is no darkness that hides anything from Him. Darkness and light are the same to His eye and understanding
[Psalm 139:11-12 NASB95] 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike [to You.]
The Psalmist makes it clear that His sight literally goes beyond darkness. No need for Superman xray vision.
And Daniel shows us His ability to deal with the metaphorical darkness of the mind and hearts of men, and politics, that so often worry us. When Daniel and his friends sought the compassion of the LORD, in understanding a matter for the King:
[Daniel 2:19, 21-23 NASB95] 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; … 21 “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. 22 “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. 23 “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
No matter how enigmatic the mystery, or the hiddenness of a man’s dark mind or heart, His light reveals it and He knows it.
Think about it “Darkness and Light are alike to you”, “He knows what is in the darkness…”
It is truly awesome to consider the nature and character of our God in Light. And, in the light of that, to consider and try to comprehend Him giving us charge, as His own, to be light in a crooked and perverse generation.
[Philippians 2:14-15 NASB95] 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
[Matthew 5:14, 16 NASB95] 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; …
16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
[John 8:12 NASB95] 12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
[2Corinthians 4:6 NASB95] 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
[Ephesians 5:8 NASB95] 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
[Cololosians 1:12 NASB95] 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
[1Thessalonians 5:5 NASB95] 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;
[1Peter 2:9 NASB95] 9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [God’s] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Those that know me will have heard me talk many times about John 3:17 and 18. Expounding how everyone knows John 3:16 regarding the gospel of salvation in a verse, but few know the verses regarding judgment that follow it. Verses 17 and 18 make it clear that men are not facing judgment for things they have done, but for the one thing they have not done, “believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” This makes it clear that men are not facing judgment future, but that they are standing under judgment already, and that Jesus came not to judge the world, but to bring, or make, a way out of judgment.
[John 3:16-18 NASB95] 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
For today’s purpose regarding light and darkness, however, lets go beyond all that to the next few verses and look at just what the judgment is and what it concerns:
[John 19-21 NASB95] 19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
The judgment men live under is based in the separation of light and darkness. Astounding thought is it not? Look at it again. 19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light. The light has come into the world. God is the source of light and has provided it. Jesus is the light. And now, we as His Body, carry the light. But men love darkness rather than the light. So, although there is light, they prefer, they choose…. NO! they LOVE.. darkness instead.
These are Red Letter, they are the words of Jesus! Mark them. Also note, that He says those who love evil do not go to the Light for they do not want their deeds exposed. Darkness hides things. And when we do or love evil things we want them hidden from others, and laughably from God.
What was Adam and Eve’s first response to comprehending sin in themselves? To cover it and hide from the presence of God. Keep in mind they had before been comfortable enough with Him, familiar enough with Him, to know the sound of Him walking in the garden in the cool of the evening.
This desire to keep things hidden in darkness, I believe, to be one reason there are so many “loners” in the world. But remember there is no darkness to Him. Darkness and its covering will not hide you. He sees all things, even that which is hidden in the dark. And He desires us to come to the light, to be exposed to His light. He also knows and said it is not good for us to be alone, and desires for us to experience community and fellowship.
And, furthermore, I will meddle in the business of some believers here; I believe the desire to hide in darkness is a primary reason people avoid fellowship in Christian community. Please note: I said in Christian community. You can “go” to most traditional Christian “church services” and “do” your duty and “put in your time” and stay hidden and covered. But if you are to “be” a part of an open and participatory gathering, and an expression of His body; a community committed to one another and moving in relationship to one another through the Head, Jesus, His light will come to drive out darkness and sometimes uncover our secrets. You see He is still separating darkness and light! And, we are in the world as lightbearers, not only to the world, but sometimes for and to one another
If you are like me, and many others. It is a real challenge at times to see, or understand, yourself as being a bearer of light, because you still find so much darkness in yourself. Yet, the truth is we need each other. He has designed us to need fellowship with one another in order to be exposed to HIs light. This was pointed out to me again this week as I read a segment of a book my friend Art Mealer is writing called THE COMMUNITY OF SERVANTS Experiencing The Promise of Ekklesia which addressed this. I share a few sentence excerpts here:
The process of God revealing Himself to us and revealing to us our worst selves has a participative nature, not just between God and us in our prayer closet. We need one another to help us discern between God’s voice and our vain imaginations. This process is personal but it is not private. With the help of one another, we can welcome His light intruding into the recesses of our hearts to expose our faults. A permission-giving life of “yes,” answering each new exposure with acceptance and confession brings shared joy and peace. This cleansing teachableness that brings peace is the tension of ongoing sanctification: the universe of the “one another’s” of the community are brought to bear, building each other up to wholeness.
If we refuse, He will let us turn away. We must not let hiding become the pattern of our lives. We must guard one another from fear. Like children, thinking if we can’t see Him, He can’t see us. But there is no darkness in which we can hide. Instead of a grateful string of obedient yesses, our life can degenerate into a bitter and unending “no” to His advances. We must not resist being humbled and corrected, be willing to give in to Him, and admit to others how deeply sin has a grip on us.
Against this love of darkness is our willingness to be exposed to light, our desire to be stripped of another layer revealing treasured sins, and our twisted love of self. We assist others in stepping out of the shadows into His light, removing another layer of resistant sin from their shoulders. Jesus described this shadowed heart as the fatal flaw of the lost:
“AND THIS IS THE CONDEMNATION, THAT LIGHT IS COME INTO THE WORLD, AND MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. FOR EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, LEST HIS DEEDS SHOULD BE REPROVED.” —Jesus, John 3:19-20
The light exposes my ugliness both to myself and to others. Light wounds my pride and kills the enjoyment of lust for power, pleasures, and possessions. Like nothing else, light also heals my troubled heart, making me clean again, standing close to Him. With an eternal perspective, our temporary embarrassment means little. We are seated safely in the heavens. He puts in us a desire for Him, and with each embrace of His piercing light, we also find His comforting presence. Let’s encourage one another as we—though presently misshapen, though imperfectly understanding—together conformed to the image of His dear Son who loves us and gave himself for us.
Wow! How He moves in us, even as imperfect lamps, to show His light, and to shed the light His glory, to each other and the world around us; and to drive back the darkness. Let us be given to being open and honest before Him, for He sees in the dark anyway. And, may we be open to receiving light through one another to drive back darkness, or shame, that would cause us to hide from His presence, or forsake assembling with one another in Him.
Let us never draw back from light, or cover it, or withdraw from sharing it.
[Isaiah 5:16-20 NASB95] 16 But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. 17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy. 18 Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes; 19 Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see [it;] And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know [it!]” 20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
[Isaiah 60:1-3 NASB95] 1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. 3 “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.