154. Turn from Darkness to Light
Acts 26:18b And to turn them from darkness to light….
Paul is sent to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The second promise contained in the commission is that they will be turned from darkness to light. Human beings since the Fall into Sin are plunged into darkness; the darkness is spiritual darkness, meaning they cannot see God or come to Him because they can only grope their way and cannot come to Him. The darkness of sin means they are spiritually stupid and cannot by their own reason or strength believe in Christ or come to Him. The best we can do is grope, but we cannot find.
God Himself must break into the darkness with the Light. Jesus is the Light and when He comes on the preaching of the Gospel He brings the Light to those who will receive Him. The light penetrates the darkness in the soul and shines on every corner of our lives, rooting out sin and replacing it with God’s love and life. The shining of light into the darkness is an ongoing activity; once we are turned to the light it continues to shine and brighten our lives.
The Gospel reveals both the darkness and the light. We do not naturally see the darkness because it is dark; in other words, we cannot by ourselves see, recognize or admit the sin and darkness. And we do not naturally see light unless the Holy Spirit reveals it through the Gospel. The Gospel brings the light, and we see. We continually stay in the light by repentance and faith in the Gospel. Truth is revealed and believed, and now we know the truth and walk in the light. It is vital to our life to “walk in the light as he is in the light;” In the light of the Gospel the “blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
We continue to sin and fail and we try walk back into the darkness when we sin, but the blood of Jesus is always available to cleanse us and so bring us back into the light. In the light we see and understand what is really going on. We bask in the light of God’s warm love; we know we are right; we are comfortable being on the right side, the side of God the Eternal Creator. “In Thy light we see light.”