Journey From Darkness To Light Series

For five weeks we have going on a fast paced journey through the Bible and it all culminates today. If you've been watching the Bible miniseries you've seen many of the major stories of the Bible and you have probably noticed that this series was targeted not so much at people who know the Bible well, but more to help those who don't know it and haven't had an interest in knowing it.

And though it has taken some liberties, and dramatized things a little, I think they did a good job of getting the meaning of the stories across, and causing an interest in the Bible for those who haven't had it before. And they have made it all lead up to the most important part, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. None of the rest of it would really matter if it weren't for what we are remembering this weekend. Let's watch our clip for this week.

When I title this message journey from darkness to light, I am talking about that on two levels. The obvious one being Jesus walking out of the tomb from darkness to light. But much more it is about us walking from spiritual darkness to incredible light as we trust in and walk with Jesus. John says it well in his first letter chapter 1 verses 5-7:

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

And there's a passage back in verse 2 of that chapter 9 in Isaiah that says, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shined".

The people who walked in darkness refers to those who refused the appeal in Isaiah 2:5 "… come let's walk in the light of the Lord". To those who accept that the light has come into the world they have great joy as they experience the grace of God falling upon them.

The famous first chapter of the book of John, which is a bit of a mirror of the first chapter of Genesis also exlains this, and is our primary passage for thise morning. Read Jn 1:1-18.

In verse 14 John clearly identifies Jesus as the word who became flesh. So as we return to verse 1 we see that John is making it clear that Jesus is definitely divine, that in every way he is God, he was with God and was God even in the beginning, he was never not God. All things were made through him including light. Without him not anything was made. He is not a created being, he is the creator and sustainer off all things, nothing can exist without his will. In him was life - eternal life, and that life was the light of men.

Ok what is the light? It is this eternal life that is in Jesus. From that we can conclude that light here refers to hope and darkness refers to death. If we take that back to the Isaiah passage we see that the people walked in death. Death is the destiny of all human beings since the fall in the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ gave us this life, this light, when he died on the cross, because only he can give this life.

But not only is this light eternal life, it is also illumination. You may recall that when I spoke about creation in the past that this word for light in Genesis can mean literal light, but it can also mean the illumination of awareness. We have the expression, "let me shine some light on that for you", in the sense of understanding and knowledge.

So this light also brings understanding and awareness to a dark or deceived world. That is why Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. Why does he make that arrogant statement? Because it's true, no one can know the true God without the light of Christ shining in the darkness of ignorance. The truth is in Jesus and no one else.

Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of death because the darkness has not overcome it. The apostle John goes on to talk about John the Baptist being a witness of the light that all may believe through Him.