Walking in darkness
I remember a time in the past when my little hometown in the Philippines would have regular schedules of a blackout. It became part of everybody's daily living when, on certain days of the week, the lights just won't turn on and entire neighborhoods would start the nights out really dark.
There's nothing much that anybody can do in the dark. Even with the luxury of owning a source of emergency lighting such as some flashlights, rechargeable lamps (which is what we mostly used at home) and some candles, the dark will still pretty much debilitate us. It just wouldn't allow us to see as much as we need to, much more do what we're supposed to do.
The physiology of sight is a complicated thing, but the bottom line of it is that seeing will be impossible without the presence of light. The human eyes have to catch rays of light that are then absorbed by light receptors in the interior portions of the eye, which will then be processed by the brain into images that will eventually become clear pictures before us.
No matter how sensitive these eye receptors are and how complex their processes can be when it comes to interacting with the brain to form the picture, seeing is not possible if there isn't any ray of light to work on! When our eyes eventually become adjusted to seeing in a dark room (like in a theatre), it is solely because our light receptors in the eyes caught on some light rays. Without light, we are just as blind as a mole!
Can you imagine what it will be like if we never have a sun to light our days? Or if there was never a moon to shine light during the night? We would all be groping around for everything for sure if we never have any source of light!
Living in the dark
It is quite interesting that the Bible talks about the LIGHT that came into our dark world. Isaiah 9:2, prophesied this about the Messiah, who fulfilled it when he visited a certain town in Capernaum:
The prophet Isaiah spoke about those who are walking in darkness, and that they will see light. But take note that he spoke of a light that's not just any kind of light. He said that these people that walked in darkness have seen a GREAT light and that this light shined upon those that dwell in the land of the shadow of death!
There are two (2) things we can observe from Isaiah's prophecy about the people who will see a great light. These people:
God is light. The apostle John made sure we get this message right! God's Word has made it clear that we are all living in darkness and dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, but there IS hope...
We just got reminded that we are all living in darkness and that death is a reality to us all because of our sins. In the end, we really deserve the fullness of DEATH as the book of Revelation calls the lake of fire, the SECOND DEATH. But now we read that GOD IS LIGHT and IN HIM WAS LIFE!
Isn't it amazing that the two main things that are a reality in our lives, God used to be the platform for our HOPE and SALVATION?
Reality Check
One thing has to be placed into consideration, though, because we have been living in darkness for so long. HOW SHOULD WE REACT TO THIS LIGHT that has come upon us? We need to ask ourselves this question because, just as eyes that had been used to the dark for so long are adamant to come to the light; and just as any bright light exposes everything that is hidden in the dark, JESUS, who is the Light of the World will do the same to us in our spiritual darkness!
Jesus' own words will serve as our warning. Light indeed has come to our world, BUT we are sinful people and our deeds are evil. NONE OF US doeth good, according to Psalm 14:3! None of us understands and none of us seeks God, says Romans 3!
John acknowledged this fact in John 1:5, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. We all are unrighteous and all of our secret deeds are evil. The dark conceals all this and DOES NOT ALLOW US TO SEE. We are not aware of this depravity and NEED FOR A SAVIOR until we come to the Light to shine upon us!
Jesus bids all to COME TO HIM. He will not force you to follow Him. It has to be YOUR OWN PERSONAL CHOICE to come to His Light and be EXPOSED FOR WHO YOU REALLY ARE BEFORE HIM.
The LIGHT OF JESUS will expose who we really are--sinful, depraved, spiritually blind, technically dead. The more we come near the Light, the more our evil deeds become manifest before our eyes, and the more the REAL PICTURE OF OUR LIVES come into view.
There's nothing much that anybody can do in the dark. Even with the luxury of owning a source of emergency lighting such as some flashlights, rechargeable lamps (which is what we mostly used at home) and some candles, the dark will still pretty much debilitate us. It just wouldn't allow us to see as much as we need to, much more do what we're supposed to do.
The physiology of sight is a complicated thing, but the bottom line of it is that seeing will be impossible without the presence of light. The human eyes have to catch rays of light that are then absorbed by light receptors in the interior portions of the eye, which will then be processed by the brain into images that will eventually become clear pictures before us.
No matter how sensitive these eye receptors are and how complex their processes can be when it comes to interacting with the brain to form the picture, seeing is not possible if there isn't any ray of light to work on! When our eyes eventually become adjusted to seeing in a dark room (like in a theatre), it is solely because our light receptors in the eyes caught on some light rays. Without light, we are just as blind as a mole!
Can you imagine what it will be like if we never have a sun to light our days? Or if there was never a moon to shine light during the night? We would all be groping around for everything for sure if we never have any source of light!
Living in the dark
It is quite interesting that the Bible talks about the LIGHT that came into our dark world. Isaiah 9:2, prophesied this about the Messiah, who fulfilled it when he visited a certain town in Capernaum:
"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." (KJB)
The prophet Isaiah spoke about those who are walking in darkness, and that they will see light. But take note that he spoke of a light that's not just any kind of light. He said that these people that walked in darkness have seen a GREAT light and that this light shined upon those that dwell in the land of the shadow of death!
There are two (2) things we can observe from Isaiah's prophecy about the people who will see a great light. These people:
- Walked in darkness
- Dwell in the land of the shadow of death
We ought to realize that these does not only describe those who were living in Capernaum. These description fits every human being on planet earth--in a SPIRITUAL SENSE!
We ALL walk in spiritual darkness and we all dwell in the land of the shadow of death! When the fall of Adam happened, the Bible tells us that death became the consequence of that sin of disobedience and that death was passed on to ALL human beings because ALL HAVE SINNED (Romans 3:23)!
Sin alienated us (humankind) from God and our spiritual understanding is darkened because of the sin that is in us (Ephesians 4:18)! Paul even added that there is this "blindness of the heart" in people!
Like in Isaiah's prophecy, God's Word rings true to all of us as we ALL walk in darkness spiritually and that we dwell in this land of the shadow of death! Isn't death a reality to all of us? Isn't death like a shadow to every one of us living on this earth? Death is a shadow as it follows our every move. Death is inevitable!!! This is our reality.
There isn't really any hope in the above situation. We ALL have sinned, says the Word of God and death is upon us all. We are SPIRITUALLY in DARKNESS because there isn't any LIFE IN US ANYMORE because of sin's consequence. Technically, we are already dead IN our sins!
Just like in the physiology of sight, we cannot really SEE OUR REALITY because of our spiritual darkness. UNLESS there be a ray of Light to shine upon us, we are good as dead and hopeless as can be. We just CANNOT HELP OUR OWN SELVES!
The Light has come!
How wonderful it is to read the Bible and be made aware of the consistency of Truth in ALL of God's Word. 1 John 1:5 tells us this:
"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
"1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
We just got reminded that we are all living in darkness and that death is a reality to us all because of our sins. In the end, we really deserve the fullness of DEATH as the book of Revelation calls the lake of fire, the SECOND DEATH. But now we read that GOD IS LIGHT and IN HIM WAS LIFE!
Isn't it amazing that the two main things that are a reality in our lives, God used to be the platform for our HOPE and SALVATION?
- We are living in darkness --> GOD IS LIGHT and HE IS THE LIGHT OF MEN!
- We dwell in the land of the shadow of death --> IN HIM WAS LIFE and the life WAS HE LIGHT OF MEN!
The promised Messiah came in the form of God's only begotten Son. He was the Word that John spoke about and He was the LIGHT that was prophesied in the past.
JESUS CHRIST is the ONLY HOPE and SALVATION for ALL OF US who are in utter darkness.
Joy to the World, the LIGHT has come!
What an AMAZING Creator God! In our depravity and sinfulness, He has provided a way to give us eternal life (John 3:16). In our utter blindness and spiritual darkness, He provided THE LIGHT! In the midst of our dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, He provided LIFE! God indeed does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). He is not willing that any should perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)!!!
What an AMAZING REALITY!!! What a WONDERFUL TRUTH that is! It surely and truly IS JOY TO OUR WORLD which is engulfed in darkness and sin,
because LIGHT has come!
One thing has to be placed into consideration, though, because we have been living in darkness for so long. HOW SHOULD WE REACT TO THIS LIGHT that has come upon us? We need to ask ourselves this question because, just as eyes that had been used to the dark for so long are adamant to come to the light; and just as any bright light exposes everything that is hidden in the dark, JESUS, who is the Light of the World will do the same to us in our spiritual darkness!
"19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John 3:19-21, KJB)
Jesus' own words will serve as our warning. Light indeed has come to our world, BUT we are sinful people and our deeds are evil. NONE OF US doeth good, according to Psalm 14:3! None of us understands and none of us seeks God, says Romans 3!
John acknowledged this fact in John 1:5, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. We all are unrighteous and all of our secret deeds are evil. The dark conceals all this and DOES NOT ALLOW US TO SEE. We are not aware of this depravity and NEED FOR A SAVIOR until we come to the Light to shine upon us!
Jesus bids all to COME TO HIM. He will not force you to follow Him. It has to be YOUR OWN PERSONAL CHOICE to come to His Light and be EXPOSED FOR WHO YOU REALLY ARE BEFORE HIM.
The LIGHT OF JESUS will expose who we really are--sinful, depraved, spiritually blind, technically dead. The more we come near the Light, the more our evil deeds become manifest before our eyes, and the more the REAL PICTURE OF OUR LIVES come into view.
Are we scared to come to the Light? Are we scared to have our evil deeds exposed? Are we too comfortable in the darkness of our sins? WE MUST COME TO THE LIGHT in order for us to be redeemed!
UNLESS WE REALIZE WHAT OUR SPIRITUAL STATE REALLY IS, WE CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND OUR NEED FOR A SAVIOR. NO-ONE WHO LOVES THE DARKNESS COMES TO THE LIGHT. Do YOU love darkness? Or are you willing to risk being exposed for who you are, and come to the LIGHT OF JESUS CHRIST and be saved?
JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD and IN HIM IS LIFE. We cannot continue to live in the dark if we truly want to have LIFE and LIGHT in our world. We cannot continue to convince ourselves that we can attain righteousness and heaven with our own attempts at being good.
COME TO THE LIGHT... COME AND HAVE ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH CHRIST FOR HE IS THE ONLY WAY PROVIDED BY THE FATHER. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. YOU CANNOT SAVE YOURSELF FOR THERE IS ONLY DARKNESS IN YOU. YOU NEED THE LIGHT. YOU NEED THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Will you come to the Light today, beloved? Let HIM open your understanding and shine HIS LIGHT upon you today. Let HIM show you your TOTAL depravity and sinfulness. And let that lead you to a godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Let HIS LIGHT SHINE SO BRIGHTLY IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOU WILL NOT WANT TO GO BACK INTO UTTER DARKNESS AND LIVE IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH.
Repent... turn from your sins... turn to the LIGHT... and follow HIM ALONE!
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