Darkness has existed since the beginning. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It had no form, a big void, and darkness all around.
Have you ever been somewhere that was dark? When my family lived in Texas, we traveled to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. On one of the guided tours, they take you deep into the cave and then tell you they will turn off the lights. They also ask you to turn off phones and any other electronic devices. They give a few minutes to turn everything off and then turn off the cave lighting.
Complete darkness now surrounds you. You try blinking, but no matter how hard you try, your eyes cannot find Light. I even tried to find the hand I had placed in front of my face, but I couldn’t see it, even though I knew it was there. Then, after a few minutes, the park ranger turns on the lights, and life returns to normal.
As I sat in the cave, God showed me some things. Sin is like darkness; it is darkness. Many do not know they are in darkness because they have never seen Light. They sit in the cave of sin, blinking their eyes, looking for something, but cannot see it.
Then God said, “Let there be Light”! And God the Son became the Light of the world. The Light is now overcoming the darkness through Jesus. In John 8, Jesus tells the Pharisees that he is the Light of the world and that whoever follows him will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.
Jesus came to shine a light on our sins so that we could confess them and find forgiveness. Then, we walk in the Light and become God’s Light.
When Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount, He told those who were listening (and us today) that they “are the light of the world, a city on a hill.” What is He saying? Like the park ranger, Jesus enters our sin cave and turns on the lights. He reveals our need for Him, and His Light comes into us when we accept Him.
I took a mini-retreat in early February and stayed at a lodge on a mountain. At night, there are lights along the path around the lodge, and, of course, the rooms where people stay are lit. So, in the valley below, you can see the lodge lights or the little city when you look up.
Have you ever flown at night? Looking down from the window and seeing the lights of towns and cities as you fly high above them is an excellent image of what Jesus meant when He said, “A city on a hill cannot hide.” You can see the city lights from above and know people live there.
In the old days, people turned on the porch Light to Light the way home when they had been out playing all day. If there wasn’t a porch light, there was always a window with a lamp turned on to light the way. We always knew the porch light or the Light in the window would guide us home. As God’s Light to the world, we are that porch light. We become this Light when we say yes to Jesus, who lives inside us. Then, because of His Light shining through and in us, we are the city on the hill, and he shines His Light in the darkness for others to see.
Check out another post about building a spiritual foundation!
Genesis 1:3 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/GEN.1.3
Isaiah 9:2 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/ISA.9.2
John 1:4 & 5 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/JHN.1.4-5
Matthew 5:14 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/MAT.5.14
