Light Overcomes Darkness!
We have a wonderful teaching for you today on a very significant topic. Thank you for joining us for this study of God's Word. Eric
Have you ever gone through a trial or faced tribulations that you thought would never end? Have you been affected in a long season of darkness where you were not sure you would see the light again, or possibly even lose the battle? Today, as you read this post, I pray that you will be assured that light will always overcome the darkness. We see this vital truth in the Scriptures. The Word of God gives us wonderful insight into the overcoming power of the light we have in Christ.
John 1:4 and 5 (NIV) reads, "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, through the temptation of satan, his sin precipitated death for all of mankind, with them being born in the 'darkness', with a sin nature (Romans 5:12). That darkness represents forces of evil and unbelief. These forces oppose God's truth. Adam's sin and its effects led to Jesus coming to earth to bring mankind's potential to be set free from the grip of death and the control of the darkness over one's life!
Notice verse 4, it reveals that in Jesus is 'life' - zoe in the Greek, meaning physical and spiritual life. "Throughout the universe, this zoe or life, has only and always come from God's self-existent life." (HELPS Word-studies). Let's look at verse 4 again, "In Him (Jesus) was life and that life was the 'light' of all mankind. 'Light' phos in the Greek, conveys the source of light, meaning to shine, be luminous or fire. 'Light' symbolizes purity, truth, holiness, divine revelation and is associated with God's presence and guidance. The life found in Jesus brings enlightenment (Light) to all of mankind by revealing the truth of God and His plan of salvation. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we have the life and light of Jesus living in us. Verse 5 reveals that the 'light' shines in the darkness. There-in is the difficulty. The Greek word translated 'darkness' is skotia. Skotia means: spiritual darkness, dimness or obscurity. (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance). Spiritual obscurity is the "blocking of the light of God and occurs when faith is lacking" (HELPS Word-studies) in an individual's life. "Metaphorically, 'darkness' is used of ignorance of divine things and is associated with wickedness and the resultant misery." (Thayer's Greek Lexicon). The darkness represents forces of evil and unbelief that oppose God's truth. The 'Light' symbolizes purity, truth and divine revelation. 'Light' is a metaphor for knowledge and understanding, while 'darkness' is a metaphor for ignorance and evil. This helps us understand the constant battle we see in our lives and nations today. We need to understand until Jesus returns and totally defeats satan these battles will continue because the darkness hates the light. The battle is between life and death, light and darkness and good verses evil.
We need not get discouraged by the amount of darkness we see arising today because we read in John 1:5, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." 'Overcome' is defined in the Greek as: comprehend, understand or overpower. The meaning of 'overcome' in this verse reveals this amazing truth - the darkness or evil does not have the ability to extinguish or even understand the divine nature of Christ. For those who have Christ or the Light in us - even though we face various trials and spiritual battles, we know and understand that evil or the darkness our enemy of the light is, has NOT overcome the light and never will.
To continue on, 1 John 1:5 (NLT) reveals, "This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all." Based on our definition of 'light,’ God is purity, holiness, radiant, luminousness, truth and is our source of light. The second part of this verse is very significant - "in Him there is no darkness at all." With the complete absence of darkness in God, we recognize there can be absolutely no sin, evil or wickedness in Him. He is absolute holiness and sin cannot co-exist with Him.
James 4:6 (NIV) reveals that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The 'proud' are those who, in their own estimation are above others. “They are haughty and sometimes even 'treat others with contempt." (Thayer's Greek Lexicon). What we need to recognize here, is that if we live a life of self-reliance and do not acknowledge God as sovereign, we are proud and He will oppose or resist us. We will not have His favor. Therefore, verse 7 instructs us.... "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. "To submit to God calls for a voluntary act of yielding to God's authority and will. If we submit to Him, we will be ready to obey His commands. We will willingly surrender out personal desires for what He desires! And then, when we have submitted our will and plans to God's will and plan for our life, we will see the evidence of the Light of God inside us and where God's light is present - the darkness will flee. Praise God! When we 'resist the devil,' we will choose to stand firm against the temptations, deceptions and lies he presents.
Understand though - our flesh is weak, so when we 'resist,' we do so by the power of God. That is why verse 8 instructs us to "Draw near to God." Through the death of Jesus, the veil which separated man from God's presence was torn in two. He made the way for us to come into God's presence. However, whether or not we 'enter' is our choice! Realize though, to enter into His holiness, we need to be living a repentant life with a pure heart (free from the influences of sin) and loyal to Him alone.
Jesus is the True Light. His light is available to all humanity. When we follow or make a commitment to His teachings and way of life, we will never walk in darkness but we will have the light of life. (John 1:9; John 8:12).
I believe the next few verses will give us insight we don't often think about. Hebrews 1:3 (BSB) reads, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word." 2 Corinthians 4:6 (BSB) reveals, "For God who said, "Let light shine out of the darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." "Glory doxa in the Greek is defined as: honor, splendor, majesty (God's infinite, intrinsic worth, substance and essence)." (HELPS Word-studies).
What an amazing truth! He made His light shine in our hearts so that we can have knowledge of His glory (splendor and majesty)! Wow! God's desire and provision for intimacy with His children reaches levels most of are lacking in! And then, get ready... 2 Corinthians 3:4 (BSB) reveals, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Hallelujah! The glory of the Lord is His divine presence and holiness which to be reflected through our lives! It is not our glory - NO - it is all His!
The transformation that takes place in our lives is a process, where we are gradually conformed to the likeness of Christ. We renew our minds and hearts through His Word and time spent with Him. Then, the Holy Spirit enables us to reflect His glory! When we 'reflect' His glory we are His light and glory bearers. As believers, we are to reflect His divine presence and holiness to all those around us.
We began this post by pointing out we were all once in darkness or "living in the realm of sin, falsehood and satanic deception." (Topical Lexicon Bible Hub). However, as we have seen, that when we receive Christ and His light, we become light bearers to the world! Every day, even as believers, we face the unrelenting efforts of God's and our nemesis to destroy our relationship and walk with the Lord. Here are the directions we receive in Ephesians 5:8 and 9 (NIV), "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth). As I pondered the need for these verses to be given to believers or God's children, (Draw near to God and Live as children of light), I wanted to share also what is revealed in 1 John 2:9 and 11 (CSB), "The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. ... 11 But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he's going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." Believers can be and are being deceived if they continue to live in areas of darkness or sin in their lives. Once you recognize or have the Spirit of God reveal areas of sin in your life if you do not repent, you are definitely at risk of having blind eyes. When you have 'blind eyes' you don't know where you are going and you continue to be led by forces of evil and unbelief that oppose God's truth. Beware! Those who continue to walk in darkness become like those destructive moles that wreck havoc in our lawn. Even though they have eyes, they live in darkness so long their eyes become blind!
Also, the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Stay alert! When believers or unbelievers continue to compromise the commands of God, for a long time, they can have blind eyes and blinded minds.
By the mercy of God we do not lose heart. Though an unbeliever may be a 'good or really nice' person, when they have their minds blinded because they have walked in darkness for so long, their perception is affected as if they were looking through blowing smoke. They have a cloudy perspective and understanding. Having blinded minds causes spiritual blindness and blunted mental discernment which causes them to resist the light.
As you attempt to share the light of Jesus with these who continue to live in darkness, bind up the blind eyes and blinded minds as you begin to share the gospel with them!
We have a responsibility to live in such a way that our actions, attitudes, and speech reveal God's light to the world. Our lives should be impactful for the kingdom of God. We should not look like, sound like or do the same things as those who live in darkness. People should look at us and be drawn to the Light (Jesus in us)!
Our main goal as believers should not be to see how physically or spiritually blessed we can be by the Lord. As we walk with Him, blessings will come, however, our light needs to shine before men so they will be influenced and drawn to Christ and come to glorify Him as well. Never lose sight of this ultimate goal!
Stand firm in your faith! Remember, our adversary 'prows around like a roaring lion.' His modus operandi is to instill fear. Intimidation is his game. He comes against believers and unbelievers alike, with an aggressive personal and targeted attack to instill fear and chaos. Again, stand firm in your faith! He cannot overcome the Light which is in us!
"Faith is a leap into the light, not a step into the darkness." (Reinhard Bonnke).
Draw strength from fellow believers (the body or Christ), the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11).
Always remember: The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has NOT overcome (katalambano) it. 'Katalambano, translated ‘overcome' conveys that the ultimate impotence of evil (darkness) does not comprehend nor overpower the incarnate Word. Praise God!
"The mercy is that if He lights the candle none can blow it out, neither will it go out for lack of substance, nor burn out of itself through a lapse of hours." (CH Spurgeon).
Hallelujah!
Scriptures were taken from the:
NIV New International Version
NLT New Living Translation
CSB Christian Standard Bible