Everlasting Light

When the Bible begins, in the book of Genesis, we find God, the Creator of All There Is, "in the beginning", lighting up the darkness.

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.4God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:1-4

The first time we meet God, He is banishing darkness, a darkness which covered everything, consumed all.  The entire creation was drowning in darkness, literally.  Water and darkness were everywhere.  Yet with a handful of spoken words, by the mouth of The Word (John 1:1), darkness fled.

The Israelites stumbled around in the desert until their Jehovah Nissi, their Yahweh God, lit up the night sky with a pillar of fire, a beacon that called them to Him, that guided their way.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; 

Those who dwelled in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined."

Isaiah 9:2

While meditating on this theme, I poked around the internet, doing a search for quotes about "darkness". What a sad endeavor that was!  There were many quotes from many gifted writers and worldly people.  Most of them were very fatalistic, along the theme of "yes, I'm smothered in the darkness of life with no possibility of escape."  And, yes, this is one of Satan's chief lies.  This is the world's mantra.  Right in the middle of that, God turns the light on.

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us, a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

and His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

God shines brilliantly the light of life on those who "live in Shadowland".  That's all of us, until we embrace His Son, the Light of the World.  Despite our best "efforts", we are unable to banish our own darkness.  As usual, God does it in a way none of us would predict: "the zeal of the God of Angel Armies will accomplish this."  He dispels the darkness in the form of a Child, laid in a feeding trough, in a stable cave.  The Light of the World breaks open the darkness as He is born, Mary's child, yet infant King.

King Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  John 8:12

In the bleariness of mid-December darkness, we light Advent candles, to symbolize the eternality of the Light of the World, to proclaim to the lost, to those stumbling in the darkness of this fallen world, that Jesus came for them.  He didn't come just for "the good" or "the shiny ones".  There are no shiny ones.   Until we meet Him, until He floods our souls with eternal Light, His glory divine, we are all feeling our way through the darkness of life.

Those of us who have encountered and embraced Him as our own may be overshadowed by darkness at times.  We may even in our confusion and despair be overcome by it momentarily.  But, this is truth:  Satan's darkness can never triumph over the eternal Light which takes up permanent residence in the heart of the Believer.  That Light can never be extinguished.  Everlasting Light!

Right now, Believer, His Light dwells in you, even as you abide in Him!  We are His light-bearers to a dark world.  One day, though, we will dwell in Heaven, a place where there is no darkness, "no night there".

22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).

Rev. 21:22-25

Enveloped in Everlasting Light, what a beautiful, blessed certainty!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvD91VKYbM8

Dearest Father, thank you for shining Your everlasting light, "the light of a million mornings", on me. My dearest, most precious desire is to shine Your light wherever You see fit to send me.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

"Everlasting Light: A Christmas Carol for a Dark World", by Claire Cloniger and Mark Hayes
WORD Music, 1986.