the world. The light that rejoices the eyes of all mankind is the light that is shed on them from Christ. The visible is to teach us of the invisible. From the natural we are to learn of the spiritual. The physical light that shines in the world is designed to teach us that God is light, and that spiritual light from Him shines as freely for all, and is none the less real. ‘Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness’ (Ps. 112:4), so that He may say, ‘Rejoice not against Me, O Mine enemy: when I shall fall, I shall arise: when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto Me.’ Micah 7:8.
Christ is the light of the world. So we read that when He went into Galilee the words of the prophet concerning the region were fulfilled: ‘The land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up.’ Matt. 4: 15, 16, R.V. Sin is darkness. It comes from the prince of darkness, and it brings darkness. The Word of the Lord is light; but that was virtually hidden from the people when the Lord came to earth. Men wise in their own conceit [Prov. 26:5, 12] had taken upon themselves the ‘interpretation’ of the law of God, and, as a consequence, had covered it up. They had taken away the key of knowledge. Even thus it was in the Middle Ages, which are generally known as the Dark Ages, for then the Bible was a proscribed [forbidden] book. It was imprisoned in the dark cell, and its rays did not enlighten the people. Men groped for light, and did not know which way to go. The knowledge of God well-nigh departed from the land; for even the priests whose lips should keep knowledge, were ignorant of the Living Oracles. Satan had caused false ideas of God and the right to prevail.
It was into darkness similar to this, that Christ, the Light of the world, came. To them that sat in darkness, light sprang up. The light shone in the darkness did not apprehend or overcome it. Nothing could quench that holy, living Light. When men groped in the darkness, and knew not the way of truth, the light of Christ’s life shone forth in the darkness, to show them the way. All this the aged Simeon saw when he took the infant Jesus in his arms, and said, ‘Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.’ Luke 2: 30-32.
The Light of Life. As sin is darkness, so it is death. ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.’ Rom. 5:12. ‘For to be carnally-minded is death.’ Rom. 8:6. ‘Sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death’ (James 1:15, R.V.): for ‘the sting of death is sin.’ 1 Cor. 15: 56. Sin and death came from Satan, for it is he that has power of death. Therefore it is that we are told that ‘we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with the rulers of the darkness of this world. The darkness of this world is the darkness of sin, and that is the darkness of the shadow of death. Those who sit in sin, sit in the shadow of death; and the light that springs up to such is the light of Christ’s sinless life.
As sin is death, so righteousness is life. ‘To be spiritually-minded is life’ [Rom. 8:6]. To be spiritually minded is to have the mind of the Spirit of God [1 Cor. 2: 10, 11]; and that is to have His life and righteousness. It is to have the law of God in the mind, ‘For we know that the law is spiritual’ [Rom. 7:14].
But the life of man cannot gain the victory over death, for it is death itself. Sin is natural to the heart of mankind. ‘For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7: 21-23. But the heart is the seat of life, ‘for out of it are the issues of life.’ Prov. 4:23. Therefore, since sin is death, and sin in all its various forms springs from the heart, it follows that the versy source of man’s life is poisoned with death. The life of man is but a living death. The apostle Paul, after bemoaning the utter sinfulness of the natural man, cried out, ‘O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?’ Rom. 7: 24, margin.” pp. 18-20.
As to what may parallel the density of darkness of the three-day-plague of darkness in Egypt (the ninth of the 10 plagues, Exo. 10:22, 23), was the darkening of the sun and the moon on May 19, 1780, in fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy recorded in Mark 13:24. This unexplainable phenomenon by science “was observed in whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New England. . . . Since the time of Moses no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded. The description of this event, as … (click “Next Post” to continue)