Darkness is always the opposite of light. Total darkness is the absence of light and where there is light darkness is gone. Darkness has always represented a world of evil and light represented the good. I remember as a child in the old western movies the bad guy always dressed in black and the good guy wore white. Everyone knew from the beginning who the good and bad guy was. In movies now it is a little different, but evil deeds are still done in the dark. Society has muddied the waters now to make bad appear good, and good appear bad, but God’s word has not changed.
In Colossians 1:12-13, we find verses dealing with the light and darkness. In verse 12, we are to give thanks to the Father who qualified us to have an inheritance with other saints in the light. The next verse tells us that he delivered us from the domain of darkness to the Kingdom of Jesus.
Colossians 1:12-13 “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”
Throughout the New Testament we find a multitude of reasons we are to be thankful for our salvation, but partly because as a Christian, we have a mediator now with the Father. We have an advocate that will plead our case with the Father. He has transferred us not only from the darkness, but from the power of darkness. While we were in darkness we were under the leadership of Satan. Darkness is his world and he rules it well.
We know from 1 John 1:6 darkness is his dominion. The idea in this verse is of someone who professes to be in the light, who has fellowship with Jesus, but their actions indicate they are walking in darkness. They are living in sin, and that is evidence they are not walking in the light. This person is a liar. Darkness is Satan’s dominion.
I John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”
Satan is the prince of that dominion. Ephesians 6:12 reveals he is the prince of darkness. A prince indicates he is the ruler. The ruler is in control and he is always seeking his way. Satan’s way is to destroy you. He could not keep Jesus in the grave, and the only way he can hurt Jesus is by convincing you to do wrong. If he cannot destroy your soul, the next best thing is to destroy your testimony so that you will not be an effective witness for Christ.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Satan will do everything in his power to influence you to follow him. He will show you all the fun sides of sin, but not the results. He wishes to take you to utter darkness where your soul will be condemned to Hell forever. He seeks to make you an unprofitable servant of Christ. His desire for the Christian is for you to turn your back on God and follow Him. He is very clever, and the process will be slow, but deliberate. He will start by tempting you in an area that seems so small you don’t think much about it. Then he will tempt you with another sin that you know is wrong, but still doesn’t seem to be a big deal. Each time your conscious becomes altered and seared over. It is no longer soft and pliable toward righteousness. You don’t have to say you are seeking to follow Satan, but by not obeying Christ you are following Satan. You are living in darkness. In Matthew 25:30, the unprofitable servant of Christ will be cast into utter darkness. The description of “utter darkness” means it is complete darkness where there will never be any light.
Matthew 25:30 “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
We who have surrendered our lives to Jesus and seek to follow Him, should be so thankful for an escape from the dominion of sin, the dominion of Satan, and the damnation of Hell, that we fall on our knees everyday and thank Him. He not only gave us freedom from the power of sin, but He transferred us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His dear Son Jesus. That thought alone should make us want to shout!
I Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:”
Everyone of us were in darkness. We are born with a sin nature. One day we will reach that age of accountability where we are old enough to understand sin and become accountable for our sin. Everyone reaches that stage based on their awareness of right and wrong. When that happens we are then held accountable. I am so thankful that God loves us so much that He made a way for us to escape the darkness. We have been transferred to His marvelous light. Now, we are to walk as children of the Light.
Ephesians 5:8 “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”
I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit that God sent to live within me when I surrendered my life to Jesus. He guides me in truth and pricks my heart when the temptation to do wrong is present. He gives me the strength to say no to things that are not pleasing to God, and courage to speak up for what is right. He dwells within me, guides me, comforts me, and directs me continually toward the Light!
Examine your life today. Are there things you watch on TV that are causing you to have sinful thoughts? Does your music appeal to the flesh and not the Spirit? Do your words edify others or tear them down? Are you giving the best possible representation of Christ to everyone around you? All of these are questions we need to ask ourselves if we are to stay in the center of the Light and not allow darkness to invade the Light.
