OVERCOMING DARKNESS, THE DISTORTION OF TRUTH.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall rise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you. The nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising – Is. 60:1-3.

The imagery’ darkness shall cover the earth, thick darkness; the people point to nations, homes, and churches. Darkness should lead to a new day. Hence, the call to arise and shine for our Light has come. Even now, Jesus said to His followers, “Let your light shine before men, before people, before nations, that they may see the light of Christ in your life and give glory to God” (Matt 5).

Overcoming darkness as a metaphor for the distortion of Truth through the evil one and his fallen system of the world and Light as a metaphor for God’s Truth offers the opportunity to show God’s glory. God is never short of displaying His glory amid the most challenging times in culture and society. For those who understand God’s principle, every challenge is an opportunity to elevate our capacity. Paul, directly quoting Isaiah 60, said, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and Truth), and find out what pleases the Lord (Eph 5:8-10).

The darkness (distortion of Truth) upon the face of the deep from the beginning is increasing in many hearts and around the world today (Gen. 1). The scripture draws our attention to the fact that darkness had an absolute beginning. Born into sin in a dark world and culture, issues of darkness – anxiety, pornography, lust, pride, anger, and other physical and heart wounds are on the increase.

Beloved, the mandate of God for all His handmaids in 2024 is to defeat the darkness, the distortion of Truth. The answer is Jesus. He is the Truth, the Light that overcomes darkness. The beginning of the Gospel of John relates to the beginning of the book of Genesis. John 1:4-5 says, “In him was life, and that life was the Light of all humanity. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In Jesus is abundant life; without Jesus, the church, home, and nations will be under darkness.

To overcome darkness calls us to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and allow Him to take residence in our hearts. Jesus, the Light of the world, overcomes all darkness. When we walk with the Lord Jesus in the Light of His Word, He shows and sheds glory in all our endeavours.

God speaks Light and other things into being because He is God. He is fully divine, and everything in all creation is subject to obey Him. Any act of disobedience to God amounts to rebellion. When God tells the Light to come into being, it is divinely created. The Apostle Paul tells us, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his Light shine in our hearts to give us the Light, (the Truth) of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corin 4:6). God created the Light and separated it from the darkness just as Jesus came into the world as the Light and the Truth to redeem humanity from falsehood.

Jesus is the Light of salvation in a dark and unbelieving world. Jesus, during His earthly ministry, said, ‘I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the Light of life” (Jn 8:12). Any church that wants to overcome the darkness of decline, falsehood, and immorality must follow Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Any nation that must overcome pride and corruption must follow Jesus. Any home, marriage, church, and nation without Jesus as the Light is in darkness and blind to sin. When we are in the darkness of falsehood and lies, it is difficult to accept Jesus as the Light, but the good news is that Jesus, the Light, is persistent, not interested in the sinners dying in their sins but in coming to repentance (Jn 3:16).

Paul reminds us that ‘all things become visible when exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.’ To overcome darkness, which is the distortion of Truth, Paul says, ‘awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’ (Eph 5:15). Beloved, in this New Year, let Jesus Christ, the Light shine on you, walking not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of our time, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:16).

Let us prayerfully sing with Graham Kendrick:

Lord, the light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness, shining
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us
Set us free by the truth You now bring us.

Shine on me, shine on me

Shine, Jesus, shine, fill this land with the Father’s glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word, Lord, and let there be light.

Lord, I come to Your awesome presence
From the shadows into Your radiance
By the blood, I may enter Your brightness
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness.

Shine on me, shine on me

As we gaze on Your kingly brightness
So our faces display Your likeness
Ever-changing from glory to glory
Mirrored here, may our lives tell Your story.

Shine on me, shine on me