What Jesus said About

Light versus Darkness

Adapted from the series,“Jesus Said” by Michael Wiley

http://www.sermoncloud.com/the-vine/what-jesus-said-about-light-verses-darkness/

John 1:1 ESV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and

the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were

made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 3:19 ESV And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes

to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried

out in God."

I was deer hunting with my brother one year. On the first day of the season we

were in the perfect spot waiting for daylight so we could load our rifles & be

ready for the big buck.

When light came we were shocked to see a cloud of orange all around us. If a

blind buck that couldn’t smell would have wondered in, there would have

been several dead hunters from all the cross fire.

It struck me how quickly the sun actually rises and how quickly light overcomes

darkness.

Jesus had something to say about light and darkness. I want to cover two

passages in the gospel of John today and see how the writer John uses this

light and darkness theme throughout his message.

John 1:1 ESV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and

the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were

made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He

was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light,

which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John will develop the thought throughout the gospel.

Darkness did not receive, understand, overcome or put out the Light

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The

word the ESV translated “overcome” is a tricky word. Other translations translate it a bit differently: KJV = comprehend, NIV=understood, AMP = overpowered, Young’s = perceive, NET= mastered, CEV= put it out, GW= extinguished.

The Greek word is katalambano.kat-al-am-ban'-o

Lambano means “to take hold of / receive.” Kata is a prefix that means

“down from”

Let’s continue with John’s thought in verses 8-12, & see if they help us

understand the message he wants us to learn.

John 1:8 ESV He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right

to become children of God,

In verse 11 – ESV = receive the Greek word is “paralambano”

par-al-am-ban'-o Again Lambano is “to take hold of /

receive.”The prefix “para” means “from beside.”

Other versions translate it as, take, accept, want.

Verse 12 – ESV= receive is “lambano” lam-ban'-o Other versions translate it as, received, accepted, obtained, take, want

Remember the story of Israel?

Israel saw a great light through Moses, but it seems they loved the darkness of Egypt. Amos tells us Israel carried the

idols of Egypt for the full 40 years in the wilderness.

Amos 5:25 ESV “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty

years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 You shall take up Sikkuth your

king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27

and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose

name is the God of hosts.

Why is it so difficult to give up a system that afflicts you and causes you to be a

servant? Why desire to return to a nation that made life difficult and killed your

firstborn sons? Why remain in a condition of slavery when freedom

beckons?

God took Israel out of Egypt with tremendous miracles and wonders. He literally ripped them from the grasp of Pharaoh. The crossing of the Red Sea alone ought to have been enough for

them to change their ways. Forty years of bread from heaven and their clothes not wearing out should have shown the benefits of following this new way. But

Israel only made a few feeble attempts to use the light that God offered.

How telling are our lives? How often do we choose to walk in darkness instead

of the light?

Jesus is the True Light

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. Light is synonymous with Life – with

Truth—with Christ.Luke 21:8 ESV And he said, "See that you are not led astray. For many will

come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after

them.

Throughout history who could count all those who came claiming to have “the” truth while calling people to follow them

and their “spirituality”

Lisa Miller wrote a Newsweek article titled,

"We Are All Hindus Now""We are, it is true, (she writes) a nation

founded by Christians…

But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly

becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we

think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity... One way we are like the

Hindus is the belief that "None is better than any other; all are equal.”

The most traditional, conservative Christians have not been taught to think

like this. They learn in Sunday school that their religion is true, and others are

false. Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father

except through me.'

This leads to a 2008 Pew Forum survey, which showed 65 percent of us believe that 'many religions can lead to eternal

life' - including 37 percent of white evangelicals, the group most likely to believe that salvation is theirs alone.

So here is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in

reincarnation, according to a 2008 Harris poll.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/08/14/we-are-all-hindus-now.html

Few people have not heard of Sung Myung Moon, (leader of the Unification

Church) who since the forties has claimed to be the Messiah returned to bring peace on earth and thousands

have followed.Messiahs have come and gone and lived and died, BUT only one Messiah walked

from His grave to save mankind from their darkness.

To get to what Jesus said about it we must go to John 3.

Sin Loves the Darkness

John 3:19 ESV And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Even though Christ “so loved the world,” the world “so loves darkness.”

By and large we are creatures of the Dark.

Think about it. The first words God speaks in our Biblical record are --- “Let

there be light…”

Genesis 1:3 ESV And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

The first time we hear from man he is figuring out what to call this creature

made from his side. Genesis 2:23 ESV Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called

Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

The next time we hear from mankind the woman is speaking with the serpent.

Genesis 3:2 ESV And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree

that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

The Devil is the Ruler of Darkness who took the form of a serpent to deceive

Eve.

In his letter to the Saints in Ephesus the Apostle Paul points out this is who we

are fighting against.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but

against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly

places.They ate of the tree! Where do we find them in the next scene? Hiding! They needed something to cover their sin.

Can man dare hide from God?King David wrote,

Psalms 139:7 ESV Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from

your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold

me.

I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is

as light with you.

You may hide your sin from others. But it cannot be hidden from God.

Light Exposes DarknessJohn 3:20 ESV For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does

not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. Have you ever

watched Dr. Phil? Why do you think his blunt-to-the-point-of-cruel talk got him such an audience? A few people are

ready to be told the truth about themselves on national television, even

when it hurts. The rest of us enjoy watching them get it.

Are you ready to tell the truth, honestly face up to the reality that you are still

living in the world of darkness and you want God’s searchlight in Christ to find

you?Isn’t it curious that when we think of

“evil,” we almost never think of anything within us? Evil is always depicted by us

as an impersonal source outside ourselves—tornadoes, floods,

earthquakes, and sickness.

“With all the suffering and evil in the world, how can I believe in God,”

implicating God in our experience of evil. Yet Genesis depicts a world that

was pleasant, innocent, sinless until that day when we arrived. Evil arises with the

advent of humanity, not with God’s creation of the world.

Jesus said that evil arose, not from the way the world is set up, but from what

comes up out of the human heart.

Mark 7:20 ESV And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles

him.

Light Exposes TruthJohn 3:21 ESV But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be

clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.“

Just as “The light exposes sin.” The light exposes what is good and clarifies

what is good.

Where you walk is a choice. If you walk to serve, you have made a good choice.

If you walk towards foolishness, you have made a bad choice.

You can choose to walk in a true path or in a false path.

Now if we say that we are Christians, we should walk in the path of Light. The

path of light is filled with love and truth. It is the path we take when we follow

God’s instructions.

If you say that you are a Christian, but you walk in darkness, then you are

lying. You can not say that you love God, but then hate and lie and steal. You can not say that you love God, and enjoy doing the things that God tells you not

to do.

God will bless us when we walk in the light.

1 John 1:7 ESV 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.

When we walk in the light of God, we are able to live in fellowship with other

believers. We do not have to be at war, but we can have love for each other.

When we walk in the light of God, we are able to enjoy the forgiveness of our

sins. We do not have to feel guilty, but we can know that our sins have been

forgiven.

It is important to choose Light.

King Ahab wanted Naboth’s land so badly that it hurt. (1 Kings 21) He offered

Naboth money, even a better vineyard and still Naboth would not relinquish his land. While a disappointed Ahab pouted

in the palace, his wife Jezebel quietly arranged the murder of Naboth.

When Naboth had been falsely accused of blasphemy and stoned, Jezebel

announced to Ahab that Naboth was dead and his land could now be taken. Ahab hurried to take possession of the coveted land, probably not asking too

many questions.

While Ahab was in his new vineyard, the prophet Elijah arrived, having been sent

by God to rebuke Ahab for his wickedness.

1 Kings 21:20 ESV Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because

you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.

Ahab’s "warm" greeting to Elijah answers a question which has puzzled many people. It seems that frequently

the person who is trying to live a decent, moral lifestyle becomes the object of vehement criticism or ridicule from

others. Why does that happen?

Why wouldn’t everybody want to associate with a person whose humor is clean, whose vocabulary doesn’t include obscenities, who always tells the truth?

Why wouldn’t everybody want to associate with a person who won’t steal, who doesn’t commit adultery, who is just

basically a good citizen?

King Ahab regarded Elijah as his enemy because Elijah stood for righteousness and had rebuked Ahab’s behavior in the

past. The king resented Elijah as the messenger of reproof although it was

the king’s own behavior which brought about divine rebuke. In the area of

correction, it is always easier to attack the messenger than to change one’s life

in response to the message!

Ahab, Jezebel and Elijah are long gone, but not much has changed since their

time. It is frequently not even necessary to voice any rebuke of the corrupt lifestyle of others to receive their

criticism or ridicule. The immoral, the ungodly, the corrupt still often resent the godly individual because that person’s life is a non-verbal rebuke to their own

lifestyle.

Their behavior is seen more clearly for what it is by its contrast with the life of

the one who is dedicated to obeying God’s commandments.

It is easy, isn’t it—to see the darkness in the world. Sin and evil permeates our society. Just watch the evening news.

We long for “good” news – a ray of hope.

It is easy to see the darkness in my neighbor or friend. When I’m lied to,

stolen from, hurt or put out.

It is more difficult to see the darkness inside of myself. But that is where I must turn – that is where I must allow the light

to shine.

If I allow it, the light of Christ will shine in my darkness. It will root out my sin—bring light and forgiveness, and hope,

and freedom…

As John said, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not

overcome it.John 1:5 ESV