Dragnet Darkness

Jesus is the light of the world who came into the world for the purpose of dispelling darkness and its grip on humanity (John 8:12; 12:46).  Darkness is usually understand as a catch-all for that which is anti-god.  For the biblical world, darkness also referred to ignorance and lack of knowledge.  Jesus came to fulfill that knowledge, the knowledge man has always most lacked, knowledge of God.  Before Jesus, who is the Word, believers only heard the voice of God from His prophets and their writings (Heb. 1:1-2).  But when Jesus came into the world, man was no longer relegated to the darkness, but was able to enter into the light.  The problem is that darkness has a gripping way of keeping people from the light.

When we are in God, we are in the light, meaning that we are authentically and truthfully known.  This can be a terrifying position before a holy and just God.  If we were to stand naked in front of the Lord apart from Jesus covering our transgressions, we would be totally undone and the wretchedness of our selves would be overwhelming.  Because of this, the darkness has a pervasive pull.  Since the darkness holds a place for people to "hide" their sin from God, people naturally choose the darkness (John 3:19).

This is appalling and tragic.  First of all, there is no place that man can hide from God (Psa. 139:11-12; Job 34:22; Dan 2:22).  All of creation and all of reality belongs to Him and thus there is no place to hide from Him.  Hence when we attempt to conceal ourselves from God by hiding in the darkness, we are intentionally adding to the sins that we are covering by trying to cover them.

Also, to think that darkness does not belong to God for His purposes is unbiblical.  Not only does God rule over darkness (Isa. 45:7), but He uses darkness to accomplish His will.  In the first place, darkness is used to conceal His nature from the natural man (1 Kgs. 8:11-12; Psa. 18:11).  This is because the natural, unspiritual man has no need or desire for God and ergo is not fit for His presence (Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2:14).  Additionally, Jesus explains the depths of eternal judgment in terms of the darkness (Matt. 8:112; 22:13).  Under either of these divine uses of darkness, it should be avoided at all cost.

God's Word and thus Christ is the only sure deterrent and lightener of darkness.  Jesus is the light, and His Word is the lamp that guides the paths of righteousness (Psa. 119:105; John 8:12).  Therefore, in order to know that our paths are sufficiently lit so that we will be sure to follow only the Lord's course, we need to dedicate our lives to consistent devotion to Jesus and to His Word.  When we do this, the snares and traps that trip humanity in the darkness will be exposed by the shining light of Christ.