December 17, 2016 - Church at Worship

Darkness is a word the Scripture often uses to describe the condition of people who are lost. For example, in writing to the church in ancient Colossae, Paul told them that God had “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves” (Colossians 1:13, TNIV). He added to that same line of thinking when he wrote to the Thessalonians saying, “We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5, TNIV). In making these references, Paul reflects a perspective that identities darkness as the condition of separation from God.

On the other hand, light, in Scripture, often identities the righteousness which is found in God. For example, in his gospel, John identities light as being integral to Jesus, the Word made flesh. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4–5, TNIV). God desires His children to live in the light that God shines on us through Jesus.