Have you recently stopped to think about our world? Politicians claim to have our best interest at heart and yet their actions prove otherwise. Some of them do not pay their taxes and yet they get a “higher” political position within the government or escape prosecution. Some people lie and then tell us that we did not listen carefully enough. Companies put chemical contaminates into our food in order to make more profit resulting in people getting sick and even dying. Banks and mortgage companies approve risky loans that they suspect the borrowers cannot pay. But they do not care because if the borrower defaults on the loan, they will have the monies the borrower gave them plus the home. The same is true for car loans and many other types of loans. A man swindles $50 billion from thousands of people and then complains that he is confined to his $2 million apartment until his trial. One of the pasts presidents of the United States declares that we are no longer a Christian nation but an eclectic nation of various religions, even though seventy-six percent of the country claims to be Christian. Murdering babies is called “choice,” but the baby does not get to choose. Judges release tens of thousands of California prisoners because they will be too uncomfortable in prison quarters. Citizens are killed on the border, and the government ignores it for political reasons. Marriage is being redefined for the gay community, while at the same time marriage is increasingly considered to be obsolete. Promiscuity is tacitly promoted in the movie theaters, books, and schools, and yet research studies indicate that it increases the likelihood that any long relationship will be unhappy. Lying is encouraged if it helps you. Attorneys twist the intent of a legal document in order to help their client “win.” Children murder their parents. Female teachers have intercourse with their students and are given lenient treatment. Church leaders are more interested in numbers than in teaching the entire Word of Truth. Others claim that one cannot really know the Word of God because there are so many interpretations. That is tantamount to saying that one cannot know the truth. That is the message of post-modernism and the emerging church. So why should we gather on Sundays, except to see our friends?
The Darkness
Did that introduction sound gloomy and dark? Unfortunately, every example is real. We live in a dark world. We should not be surprised. God has said that those who live without Him will walk in darkness. Just read,
. . . every man did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6 (NAS95S)
They ado not know nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness . . . Psalms 82:5 (NAS95S)
The away of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. Proverbs 4:19 (NAS95S)
The prophet Isaiah says that the upright hope for light and brightness but are disappointed.
We hope for light, but behold, darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom. Isaiah 59:9 (NAS95S)
We wish the world was different, but it is not. It is a dark place, with glimmers of light here and there. When a man or woman ignores God, he or she is like a ship out on the seas in a great storm. They are tossed here and there by philosophy and anti-god perspectives. Those who advocate anti-god views are usually not malicious. They are just clueless.
Have you ever been afraid in the dark? I have! One cannot distinguish color, shapes, and fine details very well. The darkness hides the good or bad. It all looks the same. God tells us that the world is full of spiritual darkness. This world is in spiritual darkness and that is not comforting. Those who do not know God are truly in spiritual darkness. The question everyone will face some day is what will happen to me when I die? If you do not believe in Jesus Christ, God says that you are walking in spiritual darkness. It is hard to see spiritual colors and shapes when spiritual evil has blinded you and you do not know it. You are so used to the darkness that you do not know that you need to turn on the light.
The Light
Over two thousand years ago, Jesus declared that He was the Light of the world. Only Jesus Christ – only God – can help a person escape the darkness and discover the Light.
I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. John 8:12 (NAS95S)
The message is simple. Jesus is the Light. He is spiritual Light – spiritual Truth. Jesus is the spiritual lighthouse! Jesus is the One! Only He can guide our ship out of the evil, dark storm tossed seas into spiritual safety.
Did you know that God wants to rescue you – to transfer you into spiritual light? God wrote these words,
. . . to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. Acts 26:18 (NAS95S)
Those who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins will be rescued.
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13 (NAS95S)
. . . if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved . . . Romans 10:9 (NAS95S)
Surprised?
If you are a Christian, you should not be surprised at how dark the world appears. Those who do not believe in God walk in darkness and they do not know better. Their darkness is extremely dark. God has declared that the minds of those who reject God are useless in determining divine truth and walking as they should.
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart . . . Ephesians 4:17-18 (NAS95S)
The Greek word that is translated as “futility” in this passage has the idea of “uselessness.” Their minds cannot know divine truth. They are truly in darkness.
Therefore, we should not be surprised that God has warned us not to enter into business relationships with unbelievers, marriage with unbelievers, or legal arrangements.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NAS95S)
We walk in two different worlds. Our standards of holiness are completely different. Listen to the Spirit’s description of the followers of Christ,
. . . for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness . . . 1 Thessalonians 5:5 (NAS95S)
Conclusion
Those who believe in Jesus Christ are sons of Light – children of Light. We no longer walk in darkness. The followers of Jesus see the wonderful color, exquisite shapes, and the fine details that are a part of spiritual light. So how should we respond? Jesus answered that question during the Sermon on the Mount,
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Matthew 5:14-15 (NAS95S)
The answer is not in protests, complaining, and moaning. The answer is to be light. Tell others about Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of lords, and the King of kings. But best of all, Jesus is the Light of lights and He is the Truth and the Way.
Jesus said . . . “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6 (NAS95S)
Truth and Light are only found in Him. Study the Word of Truth in order to know truth. Study the Word of the Light in order to know the Light. In Him is life, light, and truth. He is the Lighthouse in a dark world. He is our hope on the storm tossed seas. He is our joy and our comfort. He is the One! He is our Light.