Darkness into light is a repeating theme throughout the Bible. God spoke, “Let there be light.” The very beginning of the God story was from darkness into light. After the disobedience of Adam to God’s command not to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil, the world was thrown into darkness…the separation of humanity from God. God is light and without Him, it is nothing but darkness.

Realizing this darkness is often hard for us to know because we are so engulfed in the world as we know it. However, Isaiah 60:2 describes the world as it is, “Darkness now covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples.” However, God has ALWAYS determined to rescue His creation from the grips of satan and his effort to “kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10:10). The second half of verse 10 has Jesus again declaring darkness to light saying, “I have come that they (creation who believes) may have life, and have it to the full.”

Isaiah 60:1 tells of God’s speaking of light into darkness. God through the prophet Isaiah states, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” While this is a reference to the coming Messiah, we as Christians are the body of Christ to distribute the light of God to a dark and hurting world.

The first verse of the Christmas carol “O Holy Night” describes the world at Jesus’ birth, but also mirrors the world of today.

Oh, holy night,
The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night
Of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world,
In sin and error pining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn.

The key line that jumps out to me is “till he (Jesus) appeared and the soul felt its worth.” As I said earlier, we often don’t realize that we are in a dark world without the light of God. Our hope is in our “soul” finding the light of God, not the acquisition of wealth and things.

God never leaves us in the dark. God ALWAYS introjects light into the darkness. God’s light is the good news of Jesus coming as the Savior of all Mankind. Isaiah 61:1-3 declares:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion –
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning
and a garment of praise
Instead of a spirit of despair.

This is the “Good News” that God has commissioned us as His children to declare to a dark and dying world. Light penetrates through darkness. Light attracts those who want warmth and direction. Light generates hope of a breakthrough of the darkness that so enslaves us as humanity. Jesus’ light in our life is the true FREEDOM of the “soul finding its worth”. Let us take the torch of Jesus and hold the “Good News” high to draw those who are still in darkness into the light and warmth of God’s eternal plan of salvation. This is the ultimate darkness to light that God provided through His son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.