In the physical world, there is no measurable quantity which defines darkness; dark is simply the absence of light. Therefore, the measure of darkness can only be in reference to the measure of light – less darkness is only achieved through more light.
In the spiritual world, darkness represents the evil of the enemy and light represents the holiness of God. Though neither can be truly measured, the concept is the same: the darkness of evil only exists when there is an absence of the light of holiness. Dark and light cannot exist at the same time; when light is increased, darkness must fade.
1 John 1:5-6
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.”
Salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus and not through anything we do (Ephesians 2:8-9). But the purpose of Salvation is to bring glory to God as we walk in intimate fellowship with Jesus – the true and eternal Light. It is not possible to have fellowship with the Light of Christ and still live a life filled with the darkness of sin. Jesus purifies us from all sin (past, present, and future) in the sense of judgment before the Father, but He also illuminates the dark sin in our life and gives us the strength to gradually push it aside.
A life without the Light is in darkness and cannot even recognize true sin. If we attempt to remove sin without first shining the Light, we are simply pushing around the darkness; we clean the outside but leave a heart which is dark and dead. Some outsides are dirtier than others; but no matter how filthy an outside may appear, we ALL need the Light of Christ in our heart before we can be clean; “First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Matthew 23:26). In an instant, the grace of His Light is able to cleanse what no amount of self effort can ever accomplish.
When our own spiritual life becomes “dim,” it usually means our time with the Light has begun to suffer – our discipline of prayer and reading His Word has been replaced with competing distractions. Where we once walked with clear vision, we now bump into walls and continually stub our toes. But God desires to light our path once again. He has “saved us and called us to a holy life” (2 Timothy 1:9), to a life filled with Light, a life of bold clarity in Him.
Let’s share the true and eternal Light of Jesus Christ at every opportunity and refocus our priorities on the only sure way to restore our vision. Let’s commune with Him in prayer and immerse ourselves in His Word. His path will once again be made clear and darkness will surely fade as we increase the Light.
Have a Christ Centered Day!
Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries
