Maybe it’s just the early sunsets lately speaking to me, but does it feel like we live in dark times? With all modern society’s distractions and trappings and other avenues for self-fulfillment, it seems that more & more people are trying to find something to fill their life in ways other than God. Of course, God is working in many ways through many believers & many great works are being done in His name, but it can be easy in our humanly narrow vision to feel defeatist these days about the plague of spiritual darkness.
If you relate to seeing this darkness in the world, perhaps Isaiah 60 is the Friday celebration of God’s glory to read. In it, the prophet describes the coming glory of the final Kingdom of God. Verses 1-3; “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Isaiah has foreseen a world shrouded in darkness, drawn to the joy and celebration of those who know God’s glory. This chapter describes a glorious kingdom built up on God’s glory, with nothing to want and nothing but peace to be had among God’s chosen. In verses 10-12 of this chapter, and verses 19 & 20, Isaiah prophesies the forthcomings of Revelations 21, displayed in verses 22-27: “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
There will come a day when the glory of God’s kingdom will be all that’s left, as has been foretold. We know, as Jesus puts it in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” I think of David’s song of deliverance in 2 Samuel 22, verse 29: “For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness.” In a world of spiritual darkness, of distance & separation from God, we have an incredible guiding gift in knowledge & trust of the goodness & sanctity of the Lord God & our Savior Jesus Christ, who is with us and grants the faithful unfailing hope in the darkest & toughest of times, as many of us can attest.
But even more than just this life of hope, it is worth noting how it’s worded when Paul references this scripture in Ephesians 5:11-14 when he writes, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness’, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’” Our coming into the light form darkness is akin to death, and in rising in the light from darkness, we find life. Chet went into it yesterday in his powerful writing on Romans 6; we become dead to sin, and alive in Christ in accepting Him.
When we accept Christ and His light shines on us, we are called to shine that light to that world of darkness that needs it, that all the world & its leaders may seek His glory. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus tells His followers: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” We can live as slaves to sin & death, indistinguishable from the darkness of separation from Christ around us, or in anything we do, we can show hope, joy, and strength in Christ in a way that people will notice, and will draw others to Him. Is the celebration of God’s glory not reason enough for this? Is the glory of His people and His kingdom as the prophet Isaiah describes here not amazing enough to draw even the most downtrodden & hopeless into a hope that can overcome anything? I would pray for us all this morning, that in a world of spiritual darkness, we would joyously thank the Lord for shining the light of His glory upon us, and a song of thanks that we may shine His light for the world to see.