What is darkness? ∙

What is darkness? ∙

[The Lord Jesus Christ] alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light. – 1 Timothy 6:16

1 John 1:5-10

 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.

 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

A story has been told regarding a conversation between a professor and a student. It is most likely an urban legend in that there is no factual evidence to confirm that this exchange ever took place. But the story illustrates a very important point.

A university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, “Yes, he did!”

“God created everything?” The professor asked.

“Yes sir,” the student replied.

The professor answered, “If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”

The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, “Can I ask you a question professor?”

“Of course,” replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, “Professor, does cold exist?”

“What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?” The students snickered at the young man’s question.

The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is, in reality the absence of heat. Every object or body is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.”

The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?”

The professor responded, “Of course it does.”

The student replied, “Once again, you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is, in reality, the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

Finally, the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?”

Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course, as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man created to describe God’s absence. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith or love that exist, just as does light and heat. Evil results from what happens when a man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.

The young man’s name is Albert Einstein (Google it).

Absolute light exists. The Father is absolute, perfect light. Children of the King can walk in the light and are the light of the world. However, they are tainted by darkness and will never be absolute and perfect light. This is obvious, yet confusing.

This may clarify. Some of the Father’s attributes are incommunicable such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and infinity. These He cannot share with His children. But other of His attributes are communicable such as spirituality, knowledge, wisdom, goodness, love, mercy, peace, righteousness, beauty, and light.

No child of the King is perfect in their spirituality, goodness, mercy, or light. These qualities wax and wane among us. Sadly, we are essentially inconsistent and often self-absorbed. It can be very discouraging to us and those that love us.

REFLECT & PRAY

That God is light speaks of his splendor and glory, purity and holiness. He is self-revealing and ready to shine a light on our path (Barclay).

Father thank You that You are light and brought light into my life when I met the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. Encourage me to walk in the light as You are in the light and enjoy the sweet fellowship of knowing You.

INSIGHT

The apostle John had spent 3 1/2 years close to the Lord Jesus Christ. John was closer to Him than anyone else among the twelve apostles. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23). On the night of the last supper, John snuggled up close to Jesus; the Greek could well be translated as “was reclining on Jesus’ bosom.” Imagine a young child nuzzling up as close as possible and lying by the side of one of its parents to enjoy the warmth, proximity, and safety. The King James translation catches the word picture.

John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

John was totally awestruck by the Lord Jesus Christ and declared, “God is light; in Him, there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). The Lord Jesus Christ unequivocally stated, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Light is simply light. When light is absent, the result is what we have come to call darkness. Living and walking in darkness is totally incompatible with having fellowship with the Father. All children of the King were once children of darkness. But now we are children of light. The Father wants us to act like it (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

Ephesians 5:8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 12-11-2

© Dr. H 2022