This week God brought to mind the importance of His Light as my granddaughter wanted us to sing “This Little Light of Mine” as I swinged her. Then God began to connect scriptures to unfold this message and its relevance to where we are today. Dr. Jeremiah said recently, “If you’re anything like me, sometimes the craziness of this world can be discouraging. It seems we are all searching for a bit of light during these dark days.” We go to God’s word for the answers. He brought to my mind the words of 1 John 1: 5 where John declares what Jesus said: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” and then to John’s words in John 1: 2-9 where he declared that Jesus was there from the beginning with God; that all things were made by Him; that in Him was life and the life was the light of men; that the light shined in darkness; that He was the true Light which came into the world. We begin to see darkness contrasted with light and the true Light as opposed to the false light or angel of light. Seven times in that passage Jesus is referred to as the Light which is God’s number of completion. Therefore, we can conclude from these verses that Jesus is God, Jesus is Creator, Jesus is Light, Jesus is God in the flesh.
Let’s go back to the first references in scripture to darkness and light for further understanding of the Light that shone in darkness. Genesis 1: 1 reveals that in the beginning God (Elohim—Trinity) created the heaven and the earth. Scripture gives no data for determining how long ago the universe was created. Psalm 90:2 says “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Deuteronomy 33: 27 says “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee…” The word eternal means "everlasting, having no beginning and no end." Since humans measure everything in time, it is very hard for us to conceive of something that had no beginning, but has always been, and will continue forever. However, the Bible does not try to prove God’s existence or His eternality, but simply begins with the statement “In the beginning God” indicating that at the beginning of recorded time, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were already in existence. From duration stretching backward without limit to duration stretching forward without limit, from eternal ages to eternal ages, God was and is forever. We do know that only three creative acts of God are recorded in Chapter 1 of Genesis (1) heaven and the earth, v. 1. (2) animal life, vv. 20-21; and (3) human life. vv. 26-27. The first creative act refers to the dateless past. With this in mind, let’s read about the first reference to darkness in v. 2: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” We have already read in 1 Jn. 1:5 that there is no darkness in God. We can gain insight from other verses. Isaiah 45: 18 tells us that God created the heavens and formed and established it and did not create it desolate but formed it to be inhabited. We gain another important clue from Psalms 104: 30 “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth.” Darkness is related to evil in scripture so we know from the passage in John 1: 2-9 that Jesus is the Light that shined in darkness and the true Light from the beginning as Creator. Therefore, we must conclude that something or someone had made chaos of God’s original creation which required renewal and Divine order. (Consider Isa. 14: 12 and Ezek. 28:12) God saw that all He created was “good” and mankind was created in the image of God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:28 says “And God blessed them and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion…”
We know the rest of the story as Satan entered the serpent and appeared as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11: 14) in order to bring darkness into God’s creation. Their disobedience put enmity between the serpent and his seed and the woman and her seed (Christ). Jesus said in 1 Jn. 3:8 “He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus said in John 8: 12 “I am the Light of the world. The one who follows Me will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus paid the penalty of sin upon the cross and opened the door for us to become children of light. When we accept Jesus as Savior we become children of God—children of Light. Paul in Ephesians 5 8-14 explains the transformation. “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.” He then teaches about the Holy Spirit who begins a work within us to produce the fruit of the Spirit. He warns in verse 11 that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. He gives a command to those who are children of Light in verse 14: “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” And to redeem the time in verse 16 because the days are evil.
This is surely a timely message for us as Christians today. Philippians 2: 15 says that we are to shine as lights in the crooked and perverse nation. Jesus made it clear that His followers are called to be light. In Mt. 5: 14-16 He compels us to be the light of the world to be seen by men that they may see our good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. In John 3: 19-21 warns that every one that does evil hates the light but he that clings to truth comes to the light so that everyone will know that it comes from God. Jesus in Luke 11: 33-36 encourages us to examine our life to make sure that we have no part in darkness but that we are full of His Light. Paul gives Christ followers a stern reminder in Acts 26: 18 to open our eyes, to turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God that we may receive forgiveness of sins and reflect His Light and bring glory to God. Let us see Jesus—the blessed Light and let others see Jesus in us. May this be our daily song: “This little light of mine I am going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine until Jesus comes!”