From Darkness to Light.

How can we move from darkness to light? This world is full of a darkness that obscures our sight. But light is available through Jesus.

Darkness in the World

There is a lot of darkness in this world.  There is physical darkness which obscures our sight.  There is the darkness of evil, always present, always threatening.  There is the darkness of the soul, when we become overwhelmed, and can no longer find meaning, or purpose, and we lose all hope.  It is darkness that is associated often with death, despair, depression and emptiness.  It is darkness that tries to rule over us, causing us to feel dead inside.

I remember that darkness well. 

I was just out of college, trying to make a way for myself in this world, but life was crumbling around me.  I was buried in debt, overcome with loneliness, and too ashamed, or prideful, or both, to ask for help.  I was living in that darkness, and it was real.  It wasn’t imagined; it wasn’t an illusion or a simple state of mind.  It was real, it was active, it pressed in all around me, smothering me.  I couldn’t fight it, nor could any other person remove it by human effort.  In its worst moments, it found me standing on the ledge of my balcony, looking down and wondering, “Who will notice? Who will care?”  Until finally, the bleakest hope crept in to say, “Maybe tomorrow.” 

I thank God for tomorrow!

I Need to Go to Church Today

It was on one of those tomorrows that I woke up with a single thought on my mind.  “I need to go to church today.”  At the time, I would have told you that it was the most random, illogical, even nonsensical thought I have ever had in my life. I had no idea where it even came from.  But by the end of the day, a real and lasting change had taken place. 

Paul describes that change best in 2 Corinthians 4:6 where he writes,

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

I had heard the gospel before, many times, in fact.  But I had dismissed it as quickly as I heard it.  “Religion” and faith were for weak people, who couldn’t take charge of their own lives.  I wasn’t against it, if it made someone feel better, or brought them comfort, good for them.  But I believed it was fake comfort.  What I heard that morning shattered everything I thought I knew about the subject.

Difficult Times Will Come

The preacher that morning was talking about a passage from 2 Timothy chapter 3.  It says,

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.”

Admittedly I didn’t know the context of this passage, but my thought in that moment was,

“Maybe there is something to this Bible stuff, because that is exactly what people are like these days.”  I went home but was still unsettled by these words.  Later that afternoon, I realized, “That’s exactly what I am like.” 

I thought again about the gospel messages I had heard, only this time I understood, that God was as real as the darkness I had been experiencing, except He was far greater than the darkness, He has overcome the darkness, and He wanted to give all of us His victory over it.

Darkness Caused by Sin

You see, the darkness in this world is caused by sin, caused by those things that mankind does, says, and thinks that go against God’s perfect nature of holiness.  Now, I want to be clear before we go any further.  This does not mean that things like depression, despair and anxiety, are a result of our own individual sin. 

Those things are the reactions of the body, mind, and soul when the darkness around us becomes too much, and we can no longer see any light, any hope.  I was there; I wanted to die.  Then, God showed me that I was already dead, but I didn’t have to be.

Ephesians 2 is one of my favourite passages in the entire Bible.  This is what it says in the first eight verses.

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

I don’t want to focus any more on the darkness, or on sin.  It is all around us, it is within each and every one of us.  Romans 3:23 says it very plainly, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Darkness & Light

I want to talk about the light; the answer to sin and darkness.  In John 8:12, Jesus says,

“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.”

I am not going to tell you that the moment I believed in Jesus and started to follow Him that all my problems disappeared.  But they were different. The feelings of depression and loneliness took time to go away.  If I am honest with myself, I know there are times when they still try to sneak back into my life. 

However, the difference is I now know the truth as stated in John 1 concerning Jesus where it says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  I know that even when I felt unlovable, God loved me more than I could ever imagine.  Jesus loved me enough to lay down His life for me; there is no greater love than that.

When Jesus Came to Earth

When Jesus Christ came to earth as a man, yet still fully God, He accomplished what no other man could ever do.  He defeated sin and death, by offering Himself on the cross as the final and perfect offering for the sin of the world.  When I trusted in Jesus, all my sins were forgiven, forever, because Jesus paid for them.  My hope, that is my assurance, is that I will live forever with Jesus in heaven. 

Yes, I still live in a world wrought with darkness and sin.  I still see the disastrous effects of that sin all around me, even affecting my own life.  I still experience pain and suffering, but I know now that because of what Jesus has done for me, not only is He with me through those challenging times, but any pain is only temporary, my suffering is only for a time and purposed to bring me closer to my God.  That is what God is offering to you today through Jesus.

Some people will call that a crutch.  To that, I say “let them.” A crutch is an instrument that allows a person to walk who would otherwise be unable to.  A crutch is real, and it is necessary.  God’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ allows us to live when we are otherwise unable to, it is real, and it is necessary.

Life Without Faith

Life without faith in Jesus Christ, whether lived in darkness or the false pleasures of this world, can only end one way, destruction.  An eternity spent separated from God in the lake of fire.  In this world, as hard as it may seem to find sometimes, real hope is available to all who seek it through Jesus Christ.  There, in that place of torment and death, all hope is lost, forever.

Where do you stand right now?  Are you still living out your days in the darkness of sin and death that is in this world?  You can be free from it all today, by knowing and believing that God loves you so much He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that if you believe in Him, you will never perish but will have everlasting life.

Colossians 1:13-14 states,

“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.”

Don’t remain in that place of darkness, come to the light today, right now.  Believe in Jesus and be saved and know that He is with you now and always. He has promised He will never leave us nor forsake us, because He loves us. 

How did you move from darkness to light? We would to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.