The Light of the World

Introduction

If there is any place where darkness has set up its throne, it is in the heart of man and his realm; for sin rules in the heart of man — it has permeated every fiber of his being. On the other hand, the prince of darkness, the demonic spirit who presides over the evil world system, relentlessly carries on in the realm of man a diabolic enterprise. By his activity, Satan further darkens man’s understanding and blinds his eyes. The heart of man and his realm used to be a place of no darkness, a place where there was no wickedness at all, until the coming of the prince of darkness. In the beginning, when the LORD made man, He gave man “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Moreover, the LORD Himself planted a garden in Eden and placed the man there to work it and to keep it; and He commanded the man, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). 

     Man walked obediently and perfectly ruled over the earth, being submissive to God’s rules and authority, until the coming of the prince of darkness, the destroyer. Before the prince of darkness’ intrusion into the abode of man, man was a son of Light: he belonged to the Light, loved the Light, walked in the Light, was controlled by the Light and delighted in the Light. In other words, man was a child of God and God was his only object of love and joy; man lived in perfect obedience to God, he lived for the glory of the LORD and enjoyed His blessings. But darkness struck man and overtook his realm when the prince of darkness made his way into the garden of Paradise, after he and his demons had been thrown down to earth as a result of their rebellion against God. 

     The prince of darkness failed in his attempt to exalt himself above the stars of God; he failed to make himself like the Most High (cf. Isaiah 14:13-15). His rebellion against the Most High cost him his original divinely assigned position of authority (cf. Ezekiel 28:16-17 & Isaiah 14:12), and he “has come down to [earth] in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12). He went from being a covering cherub to being the most cursed of all fallen beings – for he was cast down to the ground (cf. Genesis 3:14-15). Then he set in his heart to pit man – God’s image bearer, against his Creator, in order to destroy him. So when he came to the woman in the garden of Eden, he disguised himself as an angel of light and seduced her by raising into question the goodness of God. He also denied the truthfulness of God’s threat of death in case of man’s disobedience and distorted the meaning of God’s prohibition, saying to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). 

Man Forsook Light and Became Darkness

God made man the jewel of His creation, vesting him with the unique prerogative of being God’s deputy regent on earth and bestowing upon him unfathomable blessings. But the prince of darkness came to man in the garden of Eden and made him believe otherwise. Nothing was further from the truth than what Satan said to Eve concerning man’s forbidden enjoyment of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan’s assertion was just a heinous idea intended to cast a shadow over the goodness of God. He claimed that the reason God would not let her and Adam eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was to keep their eyes closed, so they would not be like God. In other words, Satan insinuated that God was selfishly keeping Adam and Eve in the dark while He Himself was in the light. But the true intention of the heart of this malicious being was to pull the man and his wife away from God, the Father of lights; he desired to suck them into darkness so as to hold them captive. He craftily disguised himself as an angel of light and tricked the woman into believing that she and her husband were living in darkness and that it was time for them to break free from it. 

     From the day God created them to the moment of their encounter with the devil, Adam and Eve had a blissful life – because the light of the LORD shone in and through them. But the devil came and made them believe that what they thought was light was actually darkness and that darkness was light. Through his false claim, the devil caused the woman and her husband to doubt God’s goodness and to have a distorted view of God and a misunderstanding of God’s designed purpose for mankind. The LORD, the Holy One, the One who is perfect in all His ways, whose deeds are righteous and in Whom is no darkness at all, was now seen by the man and his wife as an enemy and oppressor, unworthy of trust. They were brainwashed by Satan’s lies and they resolved in their hearts to rebel against the LORD their light and life. They resolved to “break free” from His control. They raised themselves against the LORD, desiring to live independently of Him, outside of His rules and authority; for God’s perfect rules seemed unjust to them. They viewed God’s prohibition as a trammel, that is, something that the LORD designed to prevent their deification – as the devil claimed. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6). 

     Hence through lies, the devil drew man into darkness. As God’s deputy regent on earth, man used to exercise his dominion as God Himself would and God’s glory shone in him; for his conduct was holy and he was without blemish. But the prince of darkness ensnared and captured man to do his will. Therefore man – he who once was a son of Light, lost his moral purity and beauty; for the evil of sin gained control over his heart. Enticed by the prince of darkness, man desired to be like God and to know good and evil the way God does. But once he disobeyed God’s command and ate the forbidden fruit, his heart instead grew dull and his understanding darkened. His sin caused him to forfeit the light of the knowledge of the glory of the LORD. Although man's eyes were opened after he ate the forbidden fruit – as the devil had said, yet they were blind; they had no light. Genesis 3:7 tells us, “The eyes of both [Adam and Eve] were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” 

     Thus man lost his sight the very moment his eyes were opened; he became spiritually blind. Darkness now fills him inside and out. Man has no light; he no longer has discernment but continues to be drawn by evil. He despises what is good, hates the Light and loves darkness; for he has become a son of disobedience, a child of darkness. Therefore he arrogates to himself the right to define what is good and what is evil, according to the lusts of his flesh, trampling underfoot the standard of goodness, which is God’s own character. He calls evil good, and good evil – following in the footsteps of the prince of darkness whose son he has become. 

     Moreover, God’s threat of death in the event of man's disobedience – which the devil claimed was only an empty threat intended to prevent man from becoming like God, came to pass. The devil lied to the woman, telling her that eating the forbidden fruit would not lead to death but would make her and Adam become like God. But God’s word came true when the man listened to Satan’s lie. Adam died and condemned to death the entire human race, for his sin was imputed to all men, since he was the representative head of mankind. Therefore all those born of man are also held captive by death. As it is written, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

     The man and his wife betrayed the LORD their God and sided with the devil. They rallied to the prince of darkness in his hatred and rebellion against God and, from that moment, severed themselves and their posterity, that is, the entire human race, from God the Light. They gave themselves over to the prince of darkness, and the same corruption that characterizes him now defines all sons of men. In fact, since the fall of Adam and Eve, the sons of men have become sons of the devil. For by nature they love what the devil loves (evil) and hate what he hates (God and the things of God). Men used to be more like God; they were holy as the Lord Himself is holy. But men’s deference to the prince of darkness has utterly transformed them. “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity” (Ephesians 4:18-19). To  borrow the words of Deuteronomy 32:5, “[Men] have dealt corruptly with [God]; they are no longer His children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.” 

     Men are no longer children of Light because they now have a corrupt nature. They hate God and the things of God but delight in darkness; for the prince of darkness has captured them to do his will – he “now works in [them]” (Ephesians 2:2). Since the fall of Adam and Eve, there is no longer light in the heart of man but darkness, and his realm is besieged by the spiritual forces of evil. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 John 5:19, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” 2 Corinthians 4:4, “the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” So the hearts of the children of men are ruled by sin and they live under the blinding influence of the prince of darkness, the ruler of the evil world system, who has captured them to do his will.

     Man’s own sin nature and the blinding influence of the devil conjointly bring about man’s ruin and destruction by hardening his heart against the LORD. By nature, man desires to do evil. He freely gives himself as a slave to sin, being charmed by its pleasures. Satan, the king of darkness, seizes the opportunity to carry on his dirty work: he constantly flaunts before man’s eyes the glory of worldly wealth. Since he hates God and desires to destroy man (God’s image bearer), the devil takes advantage of the fact that man’s own heart is not inclined to the LORD but hates Him. He uses lies and deceptions to ensnare man and tempts him to sin against God. By his activity, Satan widens the gulf between God and man, deepens the darkness that overwhelms man and heightens the hardness of man’s heart against God, in order to bring about the destruction of man.

     Thus, the sons of men are in the grip of darkness because of the wickedness of their heart and the activity of Satan and his demons. On the inside they are filled with sin; their “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9a). And on the outside, they are hemmed in by the forces of evil – purveyors of lies and deceptions and emissaries of death. Therefore, children of men are without light; they are sons of darkness, who love darkness, walk in darkness and are overcome by darkness. They are all under the grip of wickedness, slaves to sin and Satan – “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18). 

     These verses depict with unparalleled precision and stunning imagery the evil nature of mankind; they expose the darkness, the wickedness that characterizes the heart of every human being. None is conceived in the Light, none is born a child of Light, none is born who essentially loves the Light, none is born who fears God. We are by nature sons of disobedience, children of darkness; there is no light in us. Therefore, we hate God and the things of God; we hate righteousness and love wickedness. Simply put, we hate the Light and love darkness. Because of our moral corruption, by nature we despise God’s rules and spurn His authority. We constantly raise ourselves against God and violate His commands. As the Lord Himself puts it in Genesis 8:21, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Human history and the current state of affairs in our days bear witness to this divine truth. For we constantly turn away from God’s commands and commit evil against God and  against one another. 

     Man was made for God: to bring God glory and to rejoice in Him forever. In the beginning, God chose him as His deputy regent, to rule over the earth. But man forfeited his own position of authority in his desire to be like God. The Lord gave him “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). But he listened to the evil one and disobeyed God his Creator and Master. Therefore his mind has become dull and his heart is hardened against the Lord; his ears are stopped and his eyes blinded. He is darkened in his understanding. Now instead of worshipping God, man worships the creatures over whom he has been given dominion; he worships himself and the works of his own hand. Man has “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). 

     Although man was chosen by God to reveal God’s glory on earth, darkness has taken hold of him and he now falls short of the glory of God; for he has strayed from the path of righteousness. He has abandoned the Light and embraced wickedness – to the peril of his own soul. Man has become God’s enemy and the penalty for his rebelliousness is death. He willfully threw himself into the arms of the prince of darkness and forfeited his freedom in the LORD. He is therefore under the yoke of slavery, held captive by darkness. He cannot resist any of his captors and slayers – namely sin, the flesh, the world and Satan, for they always seduce him with what his sinful heart desires. Having become a slave to his own flesh, to sin, to the world and to the prince of darkness, man is now unable to free himself from the control of these fierce destroyers who concomitantly bring about his death. He is taken “captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8), and ruled over by the evil one. He indulges in the sinful passions of his flesh, for he is a slave of sin. As the Lord Jesus Himself says in John 8:34, “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” Such then, from conception, is the condition of everyone born of Adam: it is dark, debased, empty, and all he deserves is death. 

‘The People who Walked in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light’

  In Adam we traded beauty for corruption, and life for death; we all became darkness, a race of evildoers, in Adam. Yet “[the LORD] does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalms 103:10). For even though we have chosen darkness over the Light, instead of wrath, the LORD has shown us mercy. He has determined, according to the counsel of His will and the riches of His grace, to deliver us from darkness. Had the LORD decided to abandon us in darkness, He would still be absolutely righteous. But in a manner that surpasses human understanding, the LORD has committed Himself mercifully to rescuing us from the darkness that prevails in our hearts and surrounds us on every side. In the fullness of His grace, the Father sent His Son into our realm to enlighten us. He who came from above, i.e. the Son, is the Light. About Him John writes, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it” (John 1:4-5). 

     Jesus Christ the Son of God is Light and Life. He is the Light that shines in darkness and brings forth life. At creation, before He creates the luminaries on the fourth day of His work of creation, the Lord Himself is the ultimate source of light that dispels the darkness that overshadows the formless and empty earth and the heavens that He initially created. Genesis 1:2 reads, “darkness was over the face of the deep” – that is, over the shapeless, void and submerged earth initially created by the LORD. And the LORD said, “Let there be light”, and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). This light then begins to shine and alternates with darkness before the LORD makes the luminaries on the fourth day. And as the Bible tells us, everything that the LORD God made “was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The man and the woman were children of light – for God is Light, and they walked blamelessly because they were holy. They kept the Word of God and were therefore united with Him. But when men disobeyed God and lost their moral purity, their hearts became darkened and their realm succumbed to the forces of darkness. 

     Nevertheless, it pleased the Father of lights, according to the riches of His steadfast love, to shine the light of His grace on men. Despite our rebelliousness, the LORD did not hide His countenance from us forever. In Genesis 3:15, the LORD promised the coming of the Seed of the woman, the One who would crush the head of the prince of darkness and set free the sons of men. God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” The serpent captured man to do his will; but the Seed of the woman will come and oppose the works of the serpent. Therefore there will be enmity between the Seed and the serpent, and between the sons of the serpent and the Seed.

     The works of the serpent and his offspring include among others: propagation of lies and deceptions, misrepresentation of man and validation of his lascivious desires and vicious appetites, subversion of God’s instituted order, denial of the existence of God and hell, misrepresentation of God and His works, rejection and misinterpretation of God’s words, and misconstruction of God’s motives. Through these schemes, the evil one extensively blinds the eyes of the sons of men and hardens their hearts against the LORD, thereby keeping them captive. But the Promised Seed of the woman came to bring to nothing these diabolic devices and to destroy their author, the serpent. The Seed who is the Light came from the Father to set men free. 

     The Promised Seed is from the Father and He speaks for the Father and is one and coequal with the Father. “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). And as we read in John 1:14-18, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of Whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.’” For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.” 

     Unlike the first Adam – in whom the entire human race became darkness, Christ, the last Adam – the One who alone is Light, came so that all those who turn to Him may become like Him. Concerning Him, 1 Peter 2:22-24 says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” 

     Christ the Son of God is completely distinct from the children of men; He is everything we are not, our exact opposite. Christ is the Light and we are darkness; for we lack moral purity and reject the truth. Although Christ had two natures – the divine nature and the human nature, He was not tainted by sin. Because of His virgin birth Christ did not inherit the sinful nature of man. He was sinless, though fully human, because He was holy. And while He walked upon this sin-filled planet, just His sinlessness and perfect obedience to the Father set Him apart from the children of men. 

     The glory of Christ contrasts with the darkness that rules in men’s hearts and exposes their spiritual corruption. All children of men are sinners from conception, they are by nature sons of darkness because of the sinful nature they inherited from Adam. As already quoted, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18). 

     Man has an innate inclination for evil and all his ways are corrupt. In fact, he is darkness – the antithesis of Light. For where sin is, there is darkness. And the climax of man’s wickedness is his lack of fear of God: man does not give God the glory due His name; he does not and cannot submit to God. He “hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:20). 

     Man is fundamentally lost, devoid of spiritual insight. In our natural state, we do not know what is true, what is noble, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable, what is excellent or praiseworthy (cf. Philippians 4:8). True knowledge is alien to us because of the alteration of our faculties by sin. Spiritually speaking, we are unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, we do not know what is good or what is dangerous for us, what direction to take, what to do in every given circumstance and how to do things in a constructive way. We lack understanding of spiritual realities and have a completely distorted view of God and of ourselves. 

     Our conduct is by nature unholy and great are the consequences that issue from our hardness of heart and willful disobedience to God. Yet we never hide ourselves when we see danger, but persist in our stubbornness and suffer for it. Because we are naturally driven by evil desires, we despise the path of life and delight in the path that leads to destruction. We disregard God’s standard and conform to the world’s standards, thereby choosing death over life, wrath over grace, enmity over peace, sorrow over joy, hell over heaven, darkness over Light. We are hostile in mind, for we are of the flesh and are controlled by the flesh. “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8). But God sent His Son into the world to break down the wall of hostility that separates us from Him, that we may know Him. Christ the Lord came to transfer us from darkness to His marvelous light, “in order to present [us] holy and blameless and above reproach before Him” (Colossians 1:22b).

     Christ’s coming into the world is synonymous with the advent of light. For Christ shines in the hearts of the children of men and delivers them from the gloom of sin, from the shadow of death and from the blinding influence of the prince of darkness - just like a lit light bulb dispels darkness in a dark room. In Adam, the sons of men fell under the grip of darkness, but Christ the Light came to deliver them. Just as He shone in the beginning at creation and dispelled the darkness that was over the face of the deep, the Lord has visited us from on high to enlighten our tenebrous hearts. He is the Light of redemption that saves us from darkness’ destructive power. He came to destroy the works of the prince of darkness. As 1 John 3:8b says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Man rebelled against the LORD because of the devil’s deception and has become a slave to sin. Once a child of light, man has become a son of disobedience, a child of the devil; for the devil has taken him captive to do his evil will. Christ was sent by the Father to put an end to Satan’s diabolic enterprise and to restore the sons of men to light. 

     Through Christ His Son, God has destroyed the sting of death which is sin (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:56), and crushed the head of the serpent. Christ conquered sin and death at the cross and triumphed over the prince of darkness and his minions, thereby setting free from the reign of darkness all those who would ever put their trust in Christ. As Isaiah 9:2 says, “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.” These words of the Spirit of God, spoken by the prophet Isaiah in his days to announce the coming of the Messiah, were later quoted by Matthew in the NT. The previous verse (Isaiah 9:1) reads, “But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.” This prophecy announces God’s gracious deliverance in the latter time of the tribes of Israel, whom the LORD thrusted in the former time into thick darkness and clothed their hearts with anguish and sorrow, by delivering them into the hand of their enemies, because of their sins against Him. This promised deliverance of the people of Israel, which fulfillment awaits the second coming of the Messiah, will terminate the gloom of their invasion and oppression by their enemies.

     However, the NT, referring to the spiritual deliverance of those who were once overwhelmed by spiritual darkness, applies this prophecy to Jesus’ first coming to speak of Jesus’ ministry in the region of Galilee.  We read in  Matthew 4:12-16, “Now when [Jesus] heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth He went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

The Distinctive Nature and Works of the Light 

  Where darkness prevails, there is pride, evil, separation, falsehood, willful ignorance of the Truth and disobedience, hatred, violence, hostility, injustice, wickedness, greed, covetousness, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander (cf. Romans 1:29-30). Darkness contrasts sharply with the Light in every way. But despite its destructive power, darkness never supersedes the Light. For wherever the Light shines, darkness is driven away; darkness never prevails over the Light. The Light is the Fountain of life and blessings. As it is written, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). Christ the Light is clothed with majesty and beauty, the scepter of His kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. He rules with justice and integrity; everlasting life is in His right hand, and in His left hand are riches and honour. His name is Faithful and True, His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace. In Christ the Light “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”, and healing is in His wings. Love, grace and righteousness never depart from His heart, nor does truth from His lips. He bears “righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He [puts] on garments of vengeance for clothing, and [wraps] Himself in zeal as a cloak” (Isaiah 59:17). Holy is Christ the Lord, the Light of life! 

     Christ is everything the children of men are not. He came into the world and lived the perfect life that we should have lived but are unable to, because we are overcome by darkness. He hallowed the name of the Father and perfectly kept all His commands on behalf of His people, that is, God’s elect. Then He gave Himself up as a propitiation for our sins. As 1 Peter 2:24 puts it, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” By His active righteousness, that is, His sinless life, and His passive righteousness, namely His substitutionary death on the cross, Christ has granted us deliverance not only from inherent darkness (sin) but also from external darkness, namely the spiritual forces of evil presided over by Satan. And so Paul writes in Colossians 2:13-15, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame.” Thus Christ conquered sin and its penalty at the cross and crushed the head of the serpent and his minions.

     Christ’s coming into our realm is truly the advent of a great light. For sin and Satan keep the children of men in darkness, away from the knowledge of God. But with Christ comes light and life, instruction and knowledge. “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17). Sin and the prince of darkness blind the eyes of the sons of men to keep them from seeing the beauty and excellencies of the LORD; they lead them to perdition. But the Son of God comes to remove the scales from their eyes so they may see the glory of God and escape the corruption that is in the world. Jesus came to lead us the way we should go. “In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Christ enables us to understand and know God by shining His light in us. He fills us “with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that [we] may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).

     The Son of God – the eternal Creator, King of heaven and earth and Sustainer of all creation, is the Savior of the world, its light. For grace and truth came through Him. Christ comes to us despite our waywardness and freely bestows on us His unmerited favor whereby we obtain full pardon of our sins and peace with God, and He transfers us from darkness to light, making us partakers of His divine nature and heirs of His glorious and eternal Kingdom. He teaches us what is true, what is noble, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable, what is excellent or praiseworthy, what is good for us and acceptable to God. Christ gives us understanding of spiritual realities and of the future; He shines in our hearts the light of divine wisdom. Christ gives us true knowledge of God and of ourselves and rescues us from pride; He teaches us the way of righteousness, how to honor God, and enables us to forsake the ways of evil and to pursue the things of God; He reveals to us the destructive nature of sin and helps us understand the purpose of our life. Christ frees us from the domain of darkness and death. There is no light or life apart from Jesus. “For with [Him] is the fountain of life; in [His] light do we see light” (Psalms 36:9). 

     Christ the Light came so that we might see in His light. He came to enlighten and revive all those who turn to Him. He came to remedy our spiritual deficiency, to set us free from spiritual darkness and deadness. “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”, declares our Lord Jesus in John 8:12. We are by nature held captive by sin and “by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world” (Colossians 2:8). These are darkness’ collective devices that keep the souls of men under the grip of death. Whoever follows Christ stops whoring after these empty things – for the light of Christ exposes their emptiness and sets him free from their destructive influence. Moreover, he is made alive. For his love for darkness is replaced by the love of God poured into his heart by the Spirit of Christ. Christ the Light shines in him and delivers him from spiritual darkness and deadness. He turns from darkness to light and passes from death to life. 

     Christ is the Light that dispels darkness from our heart and softens it. For by nature we have a heart of stone. He gives us eyes to see His magnificent and transcendent beauty. He also unstops our ears so that we may heed the sweet words of His mouth. No man can dispel darkness from his own heart or have victory over the prince of darkness except by the power of Christ the Light. No one can overcome darkness and its destructive power by his own effort. Victory over darkness is attained only by the work of Christ and His Spirit. Until the heart of a man is circumcised by the Spirit of Christ, he remains in darkness, enslaved to sin, to his flesh, to Satan and to the world. And had Christ not come into the world, the world would be without light and darkness would prevail within us and in our realm forever. Christ is the Light that shines in the world, the Light that exposes the demonic activities of the prince of darkness and his agents (who are now at work in the world) and tears down their lies and deceptions. He wages war against them and brings to nothing their power. 

     Moreover, when Christ shines in us, He breaks the power of sin and frees us from its deceit and entanglements. He makes known to us the ugliness and the destructiveness of sin and enables us to present our members to God as instruments for righteousness. In Christ we die to sin and are made alive to God. His Spirit empowers us for all good works to the glory of God. Christ radically changes our hearts, He gives us a new nature and makes us children of light. He makes us like Himself. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4). Jesus is “the true Light which gives light to every man”, as John 1:9 tells us. Paul writes to the believers in Ephesus in Ephesians 5:8, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” The Lord Himself declares in Matthew 5:14, concerning His disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” The Apostle Paul, in his  first letter to the believers at Thessalonica, writes, in reference to their new life in Christ, “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

Christ the Light is the Singular Source of Life and Light

  Christ is Light and Life and the only Source of light and life. In other words, from Him alone comes light and life. There is no life apart from Christ and in Him alone light is found. In the beginning, to give life to the primitive, unformed and empty earth that He had initially created, Christ the Lord first provided light to shine in its blackness. Genesis 1:2-3 tells us, “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. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Just as in the beginning, where Christ provided light to the deep and brought forth every living thing, Christ must shine the light of life in men so that their dark and dead souls may be enlightened and quickened. 

     Unless Christ shines in the dark and dead hearts of sinful men, they will never see the light, they will never attain the knowledge of the glory of God, they will never cease to love and walk in darkness. Christ is our light and life. No one can be set free from darkness if not by Christ. And so Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:5-6, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 

    Christ the Light has come from above. He came to expose the wicked deeds of darkness, to turn our darkness into light, and to set us free from the dominion of darkness. “He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:22). Psalms 139:12, “Even the darkness is not dark to [Him];  the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with [Him].” 1 John 1:5, “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” He who wraps Himself with light as with a garment left His throne on high, took on flesh and entered the world to be its light. “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness,” declares our Lord Jesus in John 12:46. 

     The Lord Jesus is “the Bright Morning Star” who shatters the darkness that overcomes men, and imparts to their souls life and light. He is the only Light there is, the Light that gives life and sets sinners free from the grip of sin and death and from Satan’s dominion. By the power of His Spirit, He puts out the darkness within us, that is, the sinful passions of the flesh, and brings to nothing the destructive influence of the spiritual forces of evil at work in the universe. Jesus Christ is “the Sunrise [who has visited] us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79). Jesus is “the Sun of righteousness [that has risen] with healing in [His] wings, [so that those who fear His name may] go out leaping like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2). Anyone who believes in Christ is delivered from spiritual darkness and transferred into Christ’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of light; he is brought from death to life.

     The Lord alone is our guide and shield. He alone enlightens the path and preserves the life of His people. He leads them on the “Way of Holiness” and protects them from harm and destruction. The Lord’s leading of the people of Israel out of slavery in the land of Egypt into the Promised Land was a physical picture of the spiritual deliverance of the redeemed of the Lord from slavery to sin, Satan, the world and the flesh. The Lord powerfully and graciously works in saving and preserving the lives of His children from the power of darkness and death, and patiently shepherds them on the road to the heavenly Jerusalem. As the Light of the world, the Lord guides and guards His people in the midst of spiritual darkness, He guides and guards His people throughout their time of wandering in this sin-filled world. The Psalmist writes, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalms 119:105). 

     No one except the Word of God can enlighten us. During the departure of Israel from the land of Egypt, “the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people” (Exodus 13:21-23). In the like manner the LORD is always with His spiritual children; He leads them by day and by night so that they may not fall into the pit or into the hand of the enemy. He constantly watches over the way of His saints; He makes straight their paths because they are His delight; He keeps them as the apple of His eye, and “Hide [them] in the shadow of [His] wings” (Psalms 17:8). “I am with you always, to the end of the age”, declares the Lord in Matthew 28:20b.

     When Pharaoh and his chariots came pursuing Israel in the wilderness to overthrow them, after they had left Egypt, Exodus 14:19-20 tells us, “the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.” 

     The LORD did not simply lead Israel through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. He also protected them from harm, notably from Pharaoh who pursued them to kill them. So when “the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea” (Exodus 14:27), the people of Israel praised the LORD for His leading and protection, saying, “You stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them. You have led in Your steadfast love the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them by Your strength to Your holy abode” (Exodus 15:12-13). In the like manner the LORD preserves His spiritual children from willful and unwillful sins (cf. Psalms 19:12-13), and from the flaming darts of the evil one (cf. Ephesians 6:16). Christ shields those who seek refuge under His wings from the blinding influence of the spiritual forces of evil. He leads them and is by their side, even when they walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He is His children’s light and life, their salvation and shield. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand”, says the Lord in John 10:28.

      Christ has rescued us (His elect) from the realm of darkness characterized by falsehood and impurity and ruled by Satan, and has brought us into His glorious kingdom of light, a kingdom anchored in divine truth and moral purity. He has raised us from the dead and imparted life to our souls. Without Christ no one can pass from death to life or be transferred from darkness to light. For access to life and light is graciously granted by God, exclusively on the basis of the person and work of Christ, in Whom we receive forgiveness of our sins and attain the knowledge of God. The Father has qualified us “to share in the inheritance of the saints in light [through His Son Jesus Christ]. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14). 

     Christ is indeed the Light of the world, the Light of life. And He is our light not only in this world but also in the world to come. For in the life to come, Christ’s radiant glory will illuminate the new heaven and the new earth. Not only will the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God’s people, have no physical temple, but it will also not depend on the sun or moon to be illuminated. “For its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 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. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,  and its gates will never be shut by day – and there will be no night there” (Revelation 21:22-25). So Christ is the only and eternal Light of the world. 

The Price of Rejecting the Light

Christ is the Light of the world, and there is no other. Whoever is without Christ walks in darkness and does so to his own hurt. For man’s journey on earth is a perilous journey. Since there is darkness within and all around us, it is a very great danger to be without the Light of life. The Lord Himself says in John 11:9-10, “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the Light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the Light is not in him.” 

     Whoever turns to Christ the Light is delivered from darkness, crowned with life everlasting, and made a child of light. But all those who reject Christ shall perish. “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 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. For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:18-21). 

     Friendship with darkness is enmity with the Light of life. And no deed of darkness remains hidden from the sight of the LORD, the Father of lights. For the LORD knows all things and His eyes search the hearts of the sons of darkness, to inflict upon them destructive judgment. Thus declares the LORD by the mouth of Isaiah the prophet, “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, and their works are in the dark; they say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us? You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?” (Isaiah 29:15-16). 

     You who say, ‘I have no need of Christ’, if you persist in walking in darkness, how great a darkness shall your end be! Because you have rejected the Light of life, you will be cast into the outer darkness, into the place of torment and wrath prepared for the devil and his disciples. Oh, that the LORD would make you understand your dire need for Him! May He remove the scales from your eyes now and shatter your heart of stone, that you may behold the glory of His Son Jesus Christ and cry out to Him for deliverance from darkness. May He shine “in [your heart] to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Then, like David, you shall say, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalms 27:1); and also, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalms 119:105).

     Those who do not turn to Christ the Light remain engulfed in darkness. Therefore, the day of God’s wrath, the day of His vengeance spoken of by Isaiah, will come upon them. The day of the Lord will suddenly overtake them. “While [they] are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). But the children of light, that is, all those who have not rejected Christ the Light in this life, will be with Him forever. They will dwell with the Lord in the New Jerusalem, the City of God’s people, where the glory of the Lord will shine forever “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” (Revelation 22:5).

     Dear reader, my question to you today is this: Will you be part of the City of God’s people? Your admission into the New Jerusalem lies upon your choice in this present life. In the day to come, the Great King, the Father of lights, will grant or deny you access to His city, depending on whether you have abandoned darkness or not. For those who love darkness are enemies of the Great King; those who walk in darkness can never enter His glory. I urge you to choose today the Light of life, Christ the Lord, that He may wash you clean and bring you into His glorious presence. For “Nothing unclean will ever enter [the City of God’s people], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). 

     Are you still groping in the dark? I plead with you to come to the Light now. Repent of your sins and put your trust in Christ the Light of the world, lest you be thrown into the bottomless pit in the age to come. Only those who walk with Christ in this life will enter His presence. Come to Him now! Please, do not delay! Come to Christ, and He will make you a child of light and you will enter and dwell in the City of God’s people, in God’s glorious presence forever. Come to Christ now, lest you perish without Him in the life to come. Today is the day of salvation. Christ is calling you to turn from your sins and come to Him. He is offering you rest for your soul. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of Light.” (John 12:36a). For the day of gloom and wrath, of fury and torment is coming, when God’s gracious offer of salvation will no longer be available. Whoever clings to his sins, whoever loves darkness, shall have a portion with the prince of darkness. Whoever rejects the Light in this life shall perish without Him in the life to come. He will be cast “into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13).