Walking along a well lit street at night probably does not cause much of a concern.  Sure, there are shadows lurking everywhere, but the light from the street lamps and yard lights provide a sense of comfort and security.  Now, think about walking down an unlit country lane in the dead of night under an overcast sky.  It’s hard to see your hand in front of your face.  You could trip and fall over almost anything.  Every sound causes the hair on the back of your neck to rise.  This is very similar to the way it is when we are spiritually walking in the dark.

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No Fellowship

The apostle John makes a very important statement that we must pay attention to.

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  1^st John 1:6

To have fellowship with someone is to walk and work together with them on the basis of shared interests.  Man was created in the image of God for the purpose of having unbroken fellowship with Him.  Unfortunately, man elected to turn his back on God and work life out on his own terms.  Refusing to retain God in his thoughts caused man to be plunged into the quagmire of spiritual darkness; a state of complete separation from God.  This is why John so emphatically states that anyone who walks in the darkness and claims to have fellowship with God is a liar.  It is impossible to walk with the God who is while living as though He is not.  Those claiming to walk with God while walking in the dark are walking with a god that is merely the figment of their own imagination.

Lovers of Darkness

Living in this state of unenlightened separation from God cause one to actually grow to love the darkness.  Even though existing in a state of isolation where the way is treacherous and there are more questions than answers, at least it is familiar.  One can also hide in the dark.  One can avoid scrutiny in the dark.  The darkness brings with it a certain sense of freedom where one can do what they want without anyone else noticing.  So man avoids the light and clings to the darkness.

This is the basis for God’s judgment on man.  The light has come, but man chose darkness over the light.  Notice what Jesus says in John 3:16 – 20.

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

Man cannot hide in the light.  He is fully exposed for who he truly is.  In the light man has to give an account of himself to the One who created him.  Man is not the determiner of his own destiny in the light.  In the light man has to make choices and be accountable for those choices.  And so man flees the light, which means running from the God who loves him enough to die for him in his fallen state.  At all costs he avoids the God who would free him from the bankruptcy of darkness and cause him to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12).

Lost in the Dark

Apart from God, man remains lost in the dark.  As surely as a  man stumbling through an unfamiliar forest in the dead of night, man is left to grope, and feel, and puzzle his way through life all on his own.  He falls and hurts himself in a countless number of ways.  Even though the God who is light calls to him continually, man closes his ears and continues to stumble on.  This is indeed a sad state of affairs.

The Light Has Come

As Jesus said in John 3:19, the light has come into the world.  That light is Jesus Christ Himself.  In Him we see God as He is as well as man the way he was meant to be.  Please don’t walk another minute in the dark.  Walk out of the darkness and into the light by living in the Reign.

M

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.